Climbing the Green Mountain

Gilligan was out for a 3 hour tour, but I figured I needed to be back in 10.  Carlos is a great dog, but his bladder can only last so long.  So when I got a day to myself, and I couldn’t get a ticket to the Vermont Brewers Festival, I decided to make a run through VT to see what is new in the world of beer. 

My first stop was the Harpoon Brewery, in Windsor, VT.  They’ve expanded since the last time I was there with a bigger restaurant, and they’ve started to experiment with cask ales on the weekends.  I tried their oak-aged extra IPA on cask, as well as their Leviathan Imperial Rye.  Both were great.  I got some bottles to go, as well as a replacement for my Phillies flip-flops.  A band was setting up and they were having a bar-b-que that night, but I couldn’t stay (deadline, remember). 

So I headed up the road to the quaint Norwich Inn and the Jasper Murdock Alehouse.  Draft magazine recommended the spot as one of the beer-related inns in the country.  The kitchen wasn’t quite open, but the bar was.  I tried their version of a Black IPA called Dark Humor.  I think I liked the place more than the beer, but it could be a place that I could take Jenn for a nice, romantic get-a-way.

I next had a decision to make about how far I wanted to drive, and since it was such a beautiful day and I was enjoying my audio book, I decided to head due north (I think they were speaking Canadian) to Hill Farmstead brewery.  Only a year old, their beers have been receiving rave reviews online.  They have a tasting room in a barn, and offered a few of their favorites.   I especially liked their Mikkeller, an Imperial Stout brewed with the famous Danish brewer to celebrate their one year anniversary.  I also got a bottle of Anna to go, a honey saison that I can’t wait to share with my cousin Brian. 

And now that I was as far away from home as I could be, it was time to head home.  But on the way was the Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier, a top 100 beer bar according to Draft magazine, and by now I was starvin’.  So I got a salami sandwich (delish) to go with a Trapp Family Helles Lager.  Yes, that is the Sound of Music Trapp family, and apparently they have started to serve damn good beer. 

What a day!  I made it home to support Carlos (great bladder control) and was ready to relax.  It was my mother-in-law’s birthday, and my family was out in NH to celebrate that minor miracle.  I was celebrating too, just in a different way. – 5795/11088

"A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her." - W.C. Fields