One of the most fun times I've ever had while on vacation visiting wineries in California. And why not? California is one of those great wine destinations so famed that they've made movies about it. But you don't have to be Paul Giamatti or Lowell from Wings in Sideways or have a voice like Bottle Shock's Alan Rickman (if you do have a voice like Alan Rickman, please call so I can have you read to me) to visit Sonoma or Paso Robles. You don't have to be a fat guy who swears a lot and really loves grapes to visit the Finger Lakes in New York, another fabled wine destination. Thousands upon thousands of thirsty travelers wine it up in places like this each season. But why go so far when you can find something tasty and liquid much, much closer to home?
Sure, there are plenty of vineyards around. In fact, there are vineyards in every state of New England. Still, thanks to the craft beer explosion and the fact that you can have a proper facility in a relatively small industrial space, the number of breweries around are legion. And when you throw brewpubs in, the numbers get truly crazy.
I started out the last blog, appropriately about my palette's personal origins in the realm of craft beer, by mentioning that I had been on a trip to Vermont. We had several stops that day, including Hill Farmstead Brewery and The Alchemist Cannery. We also stopped at a few noted craft beer-selling pubs and bottle shops, and it was one very long day... but we just barely scratched the surface.
Even though they have a Governor that might turn a blind eye to it (if I'm being kind), Vermont has an incredible craft "beer corridor" that spans the major thoroughfares of the state, and they advertise it well. It was in The Alchemist Cannery itself that I saw this poster for the first time (but certainly not for the last):
On our drive, we began at Hill Farmstead Brewery for a bottle release. Of course, if you're into craft beer, you know this brewery's name. They make underpants-exploding amazing brews on a farm between two instances of nowhere, but that wouldn't be nearly enough to deter any beer traveler in the know. Neither is the fact that this remote Valhalla is cash-only. Also, don't expect your cell phone to work... but I suspect the brewery doesn't have much to do with that one.
From there, we made our way towards Waterbury and passed Rock Art Brewery on the way. Once in town, and after picking up plenty of Heady Topper at The Alchemist Cannery, we found much more great beer to be had at the area pubs. We stopped at The Blackback Pub & Fly Shop (you read that right... it also has a sushi restaurant attached, for a winning trifecta), The Reservoir Restaurant and, later in Montpelier, Three Penny Taproom. Those are three great places to slake your thirst on your beer trip, but I really only mention these because of the meal we encountered at The Reservoir Restaurant. I give you... The Truck Driver.
"1 lb. of Blue Cheese Stuffed Vermont Family Farm Ground Beef | Fried Egg
Vermont Smoke & Cure Bacon | Leaf Lettuce | Onion | Pickle | American Flag | No Joke!!"
It's hard to appreciate the sheer mass of this thing from a picture alone, especially given I had to take it at a weird angle just to fit it in the picture. The way I always explain it to people is this: have you ever had soup in a bread bowl? Well, instead of hollowing out a bread bowl, they just sliced it and used that as the bun. The other way I explain it is that I ate this on Saturday and didn't have a full meal again until Tuesday. I'm just saying... if you're going on a big trip, sometimes you need a big burger.
A little closer to the NH Seacoast, Maine is also filled-to-the-brim with brewery goodness. In the Portland area alone, you can easily visit Shipyard Brewing Company, Allegash Brewing, Maine Beer Company and Rising Tide Brewing Company, as well as brewpubs like D.L. Geary's Brewing Co, Gritty McDuff's and Sebago Brewing Co. And I'm sure there's more that I forgot, but that just goes to show you the robustitude of the local scene.
Then there's Massachusetts. Try as they might with their often nonsensical laws and regulations, Mass drinkers have a great appreciation for craft beer. I partially credit my move to the Boston area with my burgeoning love for the liquid arts, because so many breweries from across the nation ship their wares here in comparison to what's made available in my former but forever home, New Hampshire. Of course, that's most due to NH's own weird-ass laws, but that's a story for another day.
Focusing on the Boston area, the first "beer corridor" I discovered here began with probably the closest, proximity-wise, breweries I've ever know. Idle Hands Craft Ales and Night Shift Brewing are located in adjacent factory spaces just off Route 99 in Everett. They're a little hard to find unless you know where to look, but extremely worth the trip. Just down the road in Chelsea, you can visit the newly-christened Mystic Brewery taproom. Moving in to Boston proper, you can easily visit the city's three breweries by T and by foot. Of course there's Jamaica Plain's Sam Adams R&D brewery, but don't forget to stop by South Boston and Fort Point and hit up Harpoon Brewery (which recently opened up it's own beer hall) and the newest Boston brewery, Trillium Brewing Company. From there, you might as well hit Cambridge because you'd be silly not to check out Cambridge Brewing Company's brewpub. To be sure, there are plenty of brewpubs in the area, but these guys are stand-out. And with good reason.
Next you can visit North Hampton's Throwback Brewery, which I'm happy to add is female owned and operated. Throwback focuses on local ingredients and, among their many other beers, does a porter and stout "series" of beers (called Unafraid of the Dark) each winter. Each beer in the series highlights an ingredient from an area farm. This could be anything from chai to pumpkin to chaga mushrooms. They also make one of my favorite beers, their Maple-Kissed Wheat Porter. Nearby, Smuttynose Brewing Company has already broke ground on their new facility, making this little pocket south of Portsmouth a veritable craft beer hotspot. Oh, and in case you need to get thee to a rumery, there's a craft distillery that opened up recently in town.
Portsmouth itself is home to The Portsmouth Brewery brewpub and restaurant, as well as Red Hook Brewery and their Cataqua Public House, but you might not know about Earth Eagle Brewings, located right downtown. Occupying a small room in a homebrew supply store, this new brewery focuses on gruits, or ancient "herbed" ales. This is a style of beer that predates the inclusion of hops. Firsthand... this place is a revelation. I had tried one or two gruits before my first visit to Earth Eagle, and I didn't like either. One of them I outright hated. Luckily, I've always made a habit of revisiting and retesting my tastes, because I would have never tried the beers here if I had gone based on my first impressions of the style. Earth Eagle works in small batches, which means plenty of room for dabbling and experimentation. Plus they have the cutest damn half-growlers ever.
Finally, Dover. Aside from the newly-expanded-into-a-brewpub Barley Pub, Dover is soon to be home to 7th Settlement Brewery, a community-supported brewery, as well as... you guessed it! Big Red Beard Brewing Company! Once these two bad boys get going, you'll be able to visit nearly 10 craft spots while barely crossing over four town lines. And just five... no, even three years ago, you would have had to go to Portland, Boston or as far as Vermont to get a similar diversity of fine drinkables. Only now, as tastes and laws each change, is this age of wonder possible.
Very soon, we're going to have to talk about some of those "laws" I keep mentioning, but next time we're going to get down to it. That's right. This bearded blogger is finally going to devote a post to his benefactors with a salute to... yeast?
Until then: What's your favorite (or ideal, if you're still aspiring to a beercation) beer trip?
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