The three previous articles in the series, in the order that they appeared, are:

• Made in Vermont – Burlington Region
• Made in Vermont – The Spine of the Green Mountains
• Made in Vermont – The Northeast Kingdom

I count myself as truly fortunate to live in a state that caters so heavily to the craft beer movement and I am exceptionally lucky that Vermont is such a small place that each of these breweries is but a short drive away. Several of Vermont’s breweries have won medals and awards in both national and international competitions. You need to understand, however, that Vermonters are not ones to rest on their laurels and the state’s beer industry is in constant flux. For example, I am aware of at least two new breweries in the development stages and there are several of the existing breweries that are in the process of expanding their operations; some of them significantly.

The Long Trail Brewery is located at the junction of Routes 4 and 100A in the tiny burgh of Bridgewater Corners. The brewery and the small store nearby represent nearly all of what this town has to offer. In spite of its relatively remote location, Long Trail is both one of the oldest and largest commercial breweries in Vermont. They recently purchased the Otter Creek/Wolvers brewery up in Middlebury to give them increased capacity and a better avenue for the distribution of all of their beer. Long Trail Ale was one of my first experiences with a non-macro beer and it was love at first drink for sure. I have a number of other favorites from this brewer. They relatively recently began producing a “Brewmaster Series” of beers and a couple of those have become some of my most sought after Vermont beers; the Centennial Red and the Coffee Stout in particular.

The other major brewery that calls southern Vermont its home would be the Harpoon Brewery. Although headquartered in Boston, where they have another brewery, the brewery in Vermont inhabits the former Catamount brewery facility in Windsor. I have talked frequently of the events that they hold at the Vermont location as well as of their significant contributions to Vermont communities, charities and social causes. For one event or another, I end up visiting this venue several times each year and I look forward to that each and every time that it happens. Harpoon’s IPA was an early favorite in my craft beer career and to this day you will find a can or two of this beer in my fridge awaiting my enjoyment. Like many brewers, Harpoon offers a“premium” line of beer, two of them in fact; the “100 Barrel Series” and the “Leviathan” series. I am a big fan of several of these Harpoon beers and like their IPA, you are apt to find at least one of these higher end brands either aging in my beer larder or being chilled in preparation for its final showing.

From there we move from beer production on a much smaller scale. Northshire Brewery is located in Bennington, at the very southwest tip of Vermont. Relatively new to the Vermont craft beer scene, I am starting to see their beer in more places, some of them farther north where I have easier access to them. Most of my experience to date with their beer has been as samples at the Vermont Brewers Festival, held every summer in Burlington. Having just visited their Web site, I can see that they have greatly expanded the number of places where their beer can be purchased. I definitely plan to catch-up with them at one of these new locations in the very near future.

Madison Brewing Company & Pub is also located in Bennington and right on Main Street in the downtown area. Madison offers a very nice location to both have some great food and to sample some of their fine beer. Like most brewpubs, they offer a regular selection of beers that are nearly always available and then seasonal or special offerings to fill in at different times of the year. I particularly enjoyed their Old 76 Strong Ale the last time that I was there, along with something called a “New England Bog Salad” for a light lunch.

Last on our list of breweries, but hardly least, we finally come to McNeill’s Brewery, which is located in Brattleboro. McNeill’s is another of Vermont’s breweries that have been around for a while and it has been producing high quality beers for as long as it has been around. One of my long-time favorites had been their Imperial Stout , which is no longer made. Some of Ray McNeill’s latest creations are coming on strong though; like his Warlord Imperial IPA, a hop head’s dream and one that I grab now and again just to satisfy my hop cravings.

Well that brings us to the end of our series on the current list of 21 Vermont breweries. Don’t you think for one moment that this is the last that you will hear of Vermont’s fine beers. Vermont can rightfully be called a craft beer-lover’s mecca and I think that it is high time that you finally planned a vacation (or beer quest) to a state that is just bursting with both scenic beauty and great beer, no matter where you are in the state. Although our winters are long here, which is a good thing for some of the best ski areas in the East, it is not cold and snowy all year long. The summers here are a perfect escape from the sweltering heat of the real deep south and the colors of our autumn can’t be matched anywhere. Come to Vermont and enjoy our people, enjoy our scenery and enjoy some of the best beer this side of anywhere!

My first article in this series – The Burlington Region – covered the seven breweries to be found in the northwestern portion of our state; those nearest our largest city, Burlington (pop. only 38,647 in 2009). The second article in the series – The Spine of the Green Mountains – focused on the north central portion of the state; in the region surrounding the capital city of Vermont, Montpelier, near where I live. In today’s article I will highlight the three breweries that can be found in the northeastern portion of the state; known to all Vermonters as “The Northeast Kingdom” or NEK. This “wild” and sparsely populated region of the state is not necessarily a “destination” for visitors coming in from out-of-state; unless you are a skier and are looking for the deep powder and long skiing season to be found at the Jay Peak ski area, which is located in the heart of the NEK.

Trout River Brewing – Located in tiny Lyndonville, VT and owned by Dan and Laura Gates, Trout River has been producing fine beer since 1996. Their beer is a common offering at many restaurants across the northern half of the state and a few of their beers are among my Vermont favorites. I am particularly fond of the two heavyweights in their lineup; Boneyard Barley Wine and Knight Slayer Imperial Stout.

The Vermont Beer Co. – Located in Bradford, VT and housed in The Perfect Pear Cafe, this is one of Vermont’s newest and definitely our smallest brewers. Beer here is produced in 10-gallon batches. I have been there twice, so far, but have only been able to sample their beer one of those times. Exhibiting some signs of an early startup operation, they offer only limited hours of operation (why I missed their beer the first time) and the brewer is also the head chef for the cafe, which leaves little time to try and keep all the “balls“ in the air at the same time. Food at the cafe was excellent, but I was only able to try their Devil’s Den Brown Porter because the tap for their IPA was not working that day. I was disappointed, since the hoppy beers tend to be my sweet spot and the porter was pretty good. I have heard rumors that the owner/chef/brewer has hired a chef to take over the kitchen, so that the brewing can be given its due. I look forward to returning soon to see the improvements that have been made since this last summer.

Jasper Murdocks Alehouse – Located in Norwich, VT and housed in The Norwich Inn, a historic property that traces its roots all the way back to 1797. This quaint establishment offers not only great beers, but also fine dining and excellent accommodations. Specializing in English-style ales, some of which are award winning recipes and only served on-site, I find that most of their beers to be quite “sessionable” and easy drinking. A particular favorite of mine, when I can get it, is their Old Slipperyskin IPA.  This establishment has become famous for offering events that combine some of the services that they offer. Most notable of these are their Brewers Weekends and Brewers Banquets. The Brewers Weekend, which I hope to participate in one day, offers two nights stay at the Inn, meals (including a Brewers Banquet) and an opportunity to get some hands-on instruction in beer making from their resident brewer. The Brewers Banquets are meals that highlight Jasper Murdock beers paired with specially prepared foods from their kitchen. Participation in one of these banquet events does not necessarily need to be in conjunction with a Brewers Weekend (less expensive that way) and are open to the paying public.

Well, there it is, short and sweet, the third article in my series highlighting 3 more of Vermont’s 21 brewers. The fourth and last article in this series will focus on the brewers found in the southern part of the state. For those of you that have not had the chance to visit our beautiful state, I encourage you to make that plan now. Vermont offers unmatched scenery in all four seasons and, in spite of our small size, there is plenty to do and see here throughout the year. I promise to save you some beer for when you arrive!

Courtesy of Vermont Brewers Association

So that brings us back to Myrtle Beach and the vacation quest for new and different craft beers. I had already heard from some of my fellow HopPress writers and from other craft beer drinkers that Myrtle Beach was a “craft beer desert”; virtually devoid of any significant amounts of craft beer. I will have to tell you that from my initial explorations here, that might be true for those that aren’t willing to work a little bit to expose what offerings that there are. I thought that it might be interesting for some of you to outline the process that my wife and I went through to find the craft beer oases in this craft beer desert.

I have worked with computers for a living for about 30 years and I firmly believe that coupled with the Internet, Google truly does know “everything”; that’s a good thing in this case. A quick search for breweries on the Ratebeer site and on Google found only one local commercial brewery (New South Brewing Company) and a few brewpubs spread out along the 60 mile “Grand Strand” that makes up the greater Myrtle Beach area.

Two of the brewpubs, T-Bonz (New South makes their beer) and Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery (who makes their own beer) were easy enough to find as they were located in major restaurants and heavily advertised locally. We visited both of these establishments (both owned by the T-Bonz Restaurant Group) and had very good meals at both of them. Both of them also offered one of my favorite things when trying out a new beer “joint”… a sampler rack of beers… a cheap and effective way to sample a larger number of new beers without getting too smashed in the process. Over the course of a couple of visits I was able to sample all six beers that each brewpub was currently offering… 12 new beers, a really nice boost to my beer collection.

I had learned previously that South Carolina beer laws do not allow tasting rooms at breweries, so we did not bother to seek out the actual brewery itself. Our only option to taste their beers, other than at T-Bonz, was to find bars serving their beer or stores selling their beers. As it turns out, neither of those was an easy process. Since we needed groceries anyway, we surveyed two of the largest grocery stores in the immediate area (a SuperWalMart and a Food Lion) hoping to find a variety of regional beers. We did find just a couple; hidden in amongst the stacks and stacks of a large variety of AB-InBev products, which dominate this beer marketplace, but found no New South or any other South Carolina beers in the selections at either place.

Our quest then turned to local beer stores. Again, using Google and Ratebeer, we were able to locate one place in particular (Green’s) that seemed like it would carry what we were seeking. We visited this store and found a good variety of craft beers, many of them from brewers that do not sell in Vermont. I am like a “kid in a candy shop” when it comes to good beer stores and spent way too much money gathering up some “prizes” to take home with me. While there were plenty of good beers here, they did not carry any of New South’s beers or any other beers from South Carolina… puzzling, at best.

There are quite a number of beer stores located up and down the main thoroughfare, but visiting each one of them would be time consuming and, really, driving around in a car is not what I came to Myrtle Beach for. My wife had the great idea of calling New South to see if they could tell us where we might find their beer. The gentleman that she spoke with was very nice and quite helpful. He first explained that they only began putting their beer into cans last November, so quantities, even in the local area, were pretty limited. That helped to explain our difficulty in finding their beer in stores. He then went on to tell us about a local bar and another grocery that he was sure would carry their products.

The bar that he referenced, Bully’s, just happened to be in the same Barefoot Landing complex as the T-Bonz restaurant/brewpub, so that made for an efficient trip for both dinner and a chance to sample some different beers. Bully’s, as it turns out, had about 30 taps going with a very wide variety of beers from all over, both domestic and foreign, and including a couple of Vermont beers, which I was very happy to see. They did, in fact, have one New South beer on tap; their White Ale, which was pretty good. Our original mission to find a New South beer was now accomplished. Bully’s also had a couple of New Belgium beers (not available in VT) on tap and I had a chance to try their excellent Ranger IPA.

The grocery store (Lowes Foods) turned out to be a bit more of a trip, but well worth it. They carried a much bigger variety of craft beers than we had seen at the other groceries (and less of the AB-InBev stuff). They also offered a “singles” selection as well as a small selection of 22oz and 750ml bottled beers. We were able to find a large number of North and South Carolina beers. Again, I spent too much, but I just can’t pass up those “prizes”.

From beginning to end the process above took us about 7 days. A beer quest is not the primary focus of our vacation here in Myrtle Beach, but it does add, for me, an additional amount of pleasure and excitement. We are here for just a few more days before heading north again. There are still a couple more places that we could check out, but quite honestly, I have spent plenty of my vacation on this fun project and it is really time to focus more on the beach and the sunshine. Our trip home could be another matter though, as we plan to make several stops along the way. Those stops, of course, will present opportunities for more beer adventures. Gosh, I hope I have room in the car for all the beer!

I am certain that some of you from larger, more densely populated areas… Montpelier is the nation’s smallest state capital at only about 7,700 residents… would see this as an insignificant event hardly worth mentioning. However, nothing could be further from the truth in this case. The event was held in a small (less than 100 yards squared) parking lot owned by another store in back of the TPT’s storefront location. The event was attended by an estimated (by me) 750 people. Not big you say… figure that if they were all from Montpelier, this would represent nearly 10% of Montpelier’s total population. They were not all from Montpelier, of course, and more likely hailed from the entire northern part of New England and even some from southern Quebec, Canada. The event featured 12+ casks of beer from quality brewers all over the US… Stone, Stoudt’s, Otter Creek, Hill Farmstead, Trapp Family, Zero Gravity, Berkshire Brewing, Lawson’s Finest and Smuttynose. As a matter of fact a couple of the brewers offering these beers accounted for 4 of the 6 medals won by Vermonters at the recent WBC 2010 Competition (see Vermonters Take WBC by Storm for details). By just about any measurement you want to apply, this was a very successful event and one that the TPT hopes to repeat annually… Bravo!

WBC medal winner Sean Lawson (tan hat)

More importantly, the “yummy center”, has to do with the overwhelming success of the Three Penny Taproom as a small business in this small Vermont community. Unlike many other parts of the country, the “taproom” as a business model is a very new arrival in the Vermont marketplace. There have always been bars here, of course, but TPT was really the first to carve out this niche in any kind of an organized way… and they did so in tiny Montpelier, rather than one of the more populated regions of the state… and they started in tough economic times… talk about your risk takers!

The TPT "Boys" hustling for the crowd

Owners Scott Kerner, Wes Hamilton and Matt McCarthy have all “kicked around” the Central Vermont business scene for years… Scott has worked as a bartender at various locations in the area for more than 14 years, Wes (among many other skills) was one of the founders of the Langdon Street Cafe (another downtown Montpelier business) and Matt actually worked as a brewer for The Shed in Stowe. Together the three of them bring what are, apparently, the right mix of skills and talents to make this business not just simply prosper, but boom! The TPT has become a true phenomenon in the Vermont beer scene. As “they” will tell you, imitation is the highest form of flattery and as you scan the local Vermont papers you might be able to count as many as 6 other businesses advertising themselves as having a “taproom”. The use of that term, not to mention the capabilities that that word implies, did not exist prior to the appearance of the Three Penny Taproom and most of these “copycats” have appeared within the last 6-9 months. I think that this is sure sign that the TPT has hit the nail on the head and set a very high bar for these other establishments to meet. Perhaps the surest sign that the TPT has hit its stride is the fact that the Montpelier chapter of Rotarians holds a once-monthly “beer meeting” at the TPT for a couple of hours during a “Thirsty Thursday” evening… even the “good old boys” of the local Montpelier business community like the TPT!

TPT's "Mr. Beer", Scott Kerner

I believe that competition from these “look-alikes” is a wonderful thing and that this can only help to expand the beer market in Vermont, a market which has been notorious in the past for the limited selection of beers available within its borders. Taprooms, like the TPT, which cater to the growing crowd of craft beer drinkers in this state, which both like and are accustomed to drinking high-end and, sometimes, hard to obtain brews, will provide some much needed momentum to the craft beer movement in Vermont and, perhaps, across much of northern New England.

In addition to becoming a successful business monetarily, the TPT also does what every successful business must; support the community that they live and work in. Events surrounding Earth Day, local charities and many other causes are all apart of the overall appeal of this business community member. Scott, Wes and Matt have paid their “dues”, probably long before founding the Three Penny Taproom, and it is refreshing to me to see all of their experience and hard work come together in the form of this highly successful venture. I truly look forward to the next Montbeerlier Festival… not only for the good time and the great beer, but also as an affirmation that my favorite Montpelier watering hole will likely be around for another year. Thanks guys… I love your place!

I join the rest of the craft brewer community in mourning his loss and my condolences go out to his family, friends and employees.