The Preamble

The push toward Prohibition actually began in the nineteenth century, soon after the American Revolution. This period saw the rise of the Temperance movement, which saw the drinking of alcohol as the root of much of society’s evils; particularly various crimes and even murder. These Temperance organizations effectively used the arguments that Prohibition would stop husbands from throwing away the family’s money on alcohol and would reduce the number and severity of industrial accidents caused by hangovers and “2-martini lunches”.

The Act

By the beginning of the 20^th century, there were Temperance organizations in nearly every state and by 1916 nearly half of the states had passed laws prohibiting alcohol. In 1919 the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, which prohibited the “manufacture, transport and sale” of alcohol. The new law went into effect on January 16, 1920. Since this new Constitutional Amendment by itself did not have enough “teeth” to actually do what it was intended, the Volstead Act was passed soon after, which granted authority to government agencies to enforce the new law and set forth penalties for its violation.

Let the Good Times Roll

Like most laws, the newly christened 18^th Amendment and the Volstead Act had some pretty significant loopholes. For one thing, these new laws did NOT make it illegal to actually drink alcohol and they allowed for alcohol to be prescribed by doctors for “medical purposes”. As you can imagine, being inherently creative, these loopholes allowed your average drinker with some spare change to buy and stockpile quantities of alcoholic beverages before Prohibition went into effect and the number of alcohol prescriptions written by doctors rose dramatically. In spite of the prohibitions of the new laws, nasty characters like Al Capone and other organized crime elements saw an opportunity to turn a tidy profit. Private social/drinking clubs, sometimes called “speakeasys”, sprang up in many areas around the country which served “bootlegged” liquor of various types; rum brought in from the Caribbean (by “rum runners”), whiskey from Canada, “moonshine” and the proverbial “bathtub gin”. As you can see, Prohibition was far from the effective prevention of the consumption of alcohol that had been anticipated by supportive law makers and the Temperance folks and I think that there is a very good reason why that time period is sometimes called “The Roaring 20′s”.

The Repeal

Almost immediately after the 18^th Amendment went into effect there were several attempts to repeal it. While these were not successful, the anti-Prohibition movement continued to gain strength during the 1920′s. As the nation moved into the Great Depression and jobs disappeared, the repeal of Prohibition was viewed as a way to create many new jobs across the country and create new tax revenues for the struggling government. On December 5, 1933 the 21^st Amendment was passed, repealing the 18^th Amendment and effectively ending Prohibition. The 18^th Amendment is the only Constitutional Amendment to ever be repealed.

New Beer’s Eve and National Beer Day

Well, I guess that was a good history lesson, but we still have not answered the question of where New Beer’s Eve and National Beer Day came from. Before the 21^st Amendment was passed in 1933 and as Prohibition began to lose its support, Congress passed the Cullen-Harrison Act in March of 1933, which allowed the sale of 3.2% (4% ABV) beer in those states that did not have their own laws prohibiting it. This first shot across the Prohibition bow went into effect at midnight on April 7, 1933. On the evening of April 6^th that year, people lined up in front of breweries and taverns waiting for midnight, when they would be able to legally purchase beer for the first time in over 13 years. Henceforth, April 6^th is traditionally celebrated as “New Beer’s Eve” and April 7^th is celebrated as “National Beer Day” in remembrance of this event.

The judges for this event are all brewers and beer connoisseurs, from all over the US, which meet during the tournament to grade each IPA pairing. These judges are organized in panels of 3 and are served the pair of beers to be judged without knowing what the beers are (blind tasting). Within the 3-member panel, the majority vote determines which of the beers in the judged pair wins. I don’t have any idea who you have to know (or?) to get to be one of these judges, but as a professed and acknowledged hop head, I would want/need/love to be a part of the judging for this event (hint, hint)!

The Brewing News has run this IPA tournament since 2008, when it was only a competition among 32 IPA “teams”. Previous year’s winners include:

• In 2008, after four rounds of pairings, Green Flash Brewing’s Green Flash IPA was declared the winner in this first ever NIPAC final challenge against Bell’s Brewing Two Hearted Ale.
• In 2009 they doubled the number of competing beers to 64 IPA teams and the final winner was Big Sky Brewing’s Big Sky IPA in a competition against Laurelwood Brewing’s Workhorse IPA
• In 2010 they, again, doubled the number of IPA teams to 128. The final winner last year was Fat Head Brewing’s Head Hunter IPA in a final battle against Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA.

I have competed in all of these NIPAC events so far and I have to admit, like this year’s basketball tournament, I have not done very well in picking the final winner or even the winners of the many IPA pairings each year. The only excuse that I have, if you’ll allow that (Mulligan please), is that many/most of these beers are not available in Vermont and I have not (yet) had the pleasure to sample that many of them. That being said, my wife would tell you that I am the “worst” when it comes to “betting” of any kind of anyone that she has ever met… I am useless in a casino and she won’t even let me touch the lottery tickets, which we splurge on occasionally, for fear that I will “contaminate” them with my bad luck. I still have fun with NIPAC and, since it costs nothing to enter, the damage is inherently/fortunately limited in this particular case.

Participating in this year’s NIPAC competition was decidedly different for me. This year there was a Vermont brewer involved in the competition for the very first time… Lawson’s Finest Liquids had entered their Triple Play IPA… a truly excellent IPA, I might add. You have heard me speak before of Lawson’s, the 1-barrel brewer from tiny Warren, Vermont, as the “mouse that roared” at last year’s World Beer Cup, when Sean Lawson’s Maple Tripple won a bronze medal in the specialty beer category. Sean has steadily been building his skills and repertoire as a first-class brewer through his high showings in both national and international events like NIPAC and the WBC.

To make this story short and very sweet (for me), Lawson’s Triple Play IPA beat out the other 127 best IPAs in this year’s tournament and was declared the winner of the 2011 NIPAC challenge against Big Dog Brewing’s Dirty Dog IPA in the final round.

Like some of the smaller, “Cinderella” teams in the NCAA tournament, Lawson’s Finest Liquids continues to show the nation and the world that being small does not necessarily mean that you can’t compete at the same level as the better-funded and much larger brewers which enter these events. No brewer has ever repeated as a NIPAC winner… I am looking forward to 2012 and the chance to see Lawson’s Finest Liquids be the first to attain that lofty and very unique distinction!

Enough with the science lesson as the real question to be answered here today is whether or not full moons, not to mention the unusual full moon this month, can contribute to better beer? There is much folk lore about the supposed benefit and detriment of full moons; such as the benefit of planting or harvesting of crops or the supposed rise in crime or mental illness (lunacy?) that may occur during these events. Why not suppose that this lunar cycle can affect the beer as it is being brewed?

A quick search of the Internet and Ratebeer located a number of beers being brewed by various brewers which claim that brewing under the watchful eye of “The Man” has the decided effect of producing better or “different” beer than normal. Some examples of this type of beer are:

• A Japanese brewer, GBC Ltd., produces a beer called Full Moon Beer. According to the commercial description on their Web site, this beer “uses hand-selected premium raw materials, is brewed in dawn of each full moon night and slowly matured for a whole lunar cycle, with special yeast”.
• Wychwood makes a beer called King Goblin which is produced under a full moon. I actually have one of these in my beer larder and plan to drink it tomorrow night just to see if the double effect of producing and drinking with a full moon adds anything to the experience.
• Brasserie Caulier has produced a limited-release full moon brewed Belgian Strong Ale called Paix-Dieu of which only 12,000 bottles were produced.
• For you unimaginative or lazy shopper types, there is always Blue Moon Belgian White Ale. Coors Brewing Company (MillerCoors) makes no claims about it being produced during a full moon, but it is interesting to note that a “blue moon”, of the “once in a blue moon” fame, is actually the second full moon to occur in a calendar month. The lunar cycle runs about 28 days, so it isn’t hard to see that, with nearly all months having more days than that, a “blue moon” happens pretty often.  However, if you need one, it is still a good excuse to drink beer…

A search of Ratebeer turned up 27 beers with the phrase “full moon” in their names. Try something different for a change… find one of these beers today to drink under the “supermoon” tonight. If you do, look for me out under the stars; I’ll be the one howling at the moon!

Growlers have, of course, been available in Vermont for a while, but a quirky twist to our laws here required that these growlers be filled “from the source”; that is they had to be filled by a brewer at the brewery where the beer was produced. They could then be sold in other places after that, but as all of you know, the shelf life of this type of beer is not conducive to wide distribution without significant loss of quality. The sale of growlers in Vermont outside of that relatively narrow definition were not legal… until recently. In an effort pioneered by two retailers (the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier and the Bennington Beverage Outlet in Bennington, of course), supported heavily by many members of the Vermont Brewers Association as well as a large group of the State’s beverage retailers, the Vermont Department of Liquor Control (DLC) has begun to push forward a rule change that will eventually loosen, significantly, the rules governing the sale of growler-based beer in this state. Like many things in life, this pending rule change has a story behind it… and the story does not have an ending, yet.

Earlier this year, after some discussions with area brewers (Allen van Anda of Trapp Lagers in particular), Patrick Luce, the head beer buyer at the Hunger Mountain Coop, decided that he would start to offer freshly filled growlers of beer for sale at the Coop… a weekly “growler night” that would highlight one brewer each week. The Coop already maintains the best beer selection in the greater central Vermont region, so the opportunity to also buy nice fresh beer to take home appealed to many. These growler nights were a big hit among Coop members and the general beer community of the area (including me).  Unfortunately, as is often the case, the event’s popularity caused its notice by the DLC, the authority charged with the regulation of beer sales in Vermont. As described above, according to the strict interpretation of the laws, this weekly growler sales event was illegal and Patrick was ordered to stop them. Vermont laws, like those in other places, are quite often difficult to interpret; the DLC determined that Hunger Mountain had fallen prey to this complexity and no fines were issued.

Disappointed, but not discouraged, Patrick knew that there were other retailers, like the Bennington Beverage Outlet, that were either considering or were already developing similar growler sales programs around the state. Similar laws exist in many other states (Piggly Wiggly stores in South Carolina sell a tremendous amount of beer this way) and the DLC was already aware of quite a few other Vermont retail organizations wishing to sell beer in this manner. Knowing this, Patrick moved ahead to officially petition the DLC to consider changing the Vermont beer laws to allow the type of growler sales that he and others sought.  On September 22^nd Patrick attended a Liquor Control Board meeting to submit his request. However, bureaucracies are want to move slowly and the process to make this seemingly simple change was destined to be a long one. Once the request was formally submitted, the DLC had 120 days to consider its decision. If they initially agreed to the request, it was then passed along to a Vermont Legislative Committee for 30 days of consideration. Finally, if it got past them, the rule change had to be publicly noticed/warned in the media around the state with the public at large having 30 days to make comment on the change. If no objections are received, the rule change comes back to the DLC to be put into effect.

Some quick math shows the process that began in September could easily stretch to March next year… with no guarantees that objections would not delay it further or kill it completely. Fortunately saner heads have prevailed and, since both Bennington Beverage and Hunger Mountain had already made significant financial commitments to get their programs up and running, these two establishments have been given preliminary approval to proceed with their plans. Tonight (Thursday) I attended the second weekly event of Hunger Mountain’s resurrected Growler Night. Victory Brewing was there selling freshly filled growlers of their Prima Pils and Yakima Glory (used to be Yakima Twilight). In a totally selfless act (not), I bought one of each to help them celebrate and to support their effort.

The rule change still has a long way to go and there is no guarantee that final approval will be granted; though the preliminary authorization of Hunger Mountain and Bennington Beverage gives all of us significant hope. Other establishments are being told that they have to wait for final approval and I know that some of them are very anxious to get their own programs up and running.

My heart-felt thanks go out to Patrick (and the others involved) who had the courage and conviction to follow through on making this welcome change possible. Their hard work and dedication made a difference… to me and many other Vermonters. I am reasonably certain that scenarios like this are being played out all over the country. There are lots of bad, outdated and heavily anti-alcohol biased laws out there just waiting to be and needing to be changed. Someone (perhaps you) will need to step up to the task of fighting to change these things. Make a difference today and please support your local beer cause… you’ll be glad that you did!!

Patrick Luce (left) at Hunger Mountain Coop's Growler Night

I was disappointed that I missed the opportunity to participate in the “Night of Funk” held on Friday night before the actual festival on Saturday. This one-session festival unto itself is THE place where the brewers haul out their very best for the crowd lucky enough to gain tickets to this exclusive session. We attended the afternoon session on Saturday and the brewers and distributor representatives in attendance were still talking about what a “Funky” time they had the night before. Next year I will try to get in line sooner for tickets, so that I too can experience the very best that this festival has to offer.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that we were in any way short changed by “only” attending one of the regular Saturday sessions; we were definitely not. For those of you not familiar with the Cyclorama, its is a roughly circular room in an older building in the “Arts”district of Boston. The room was (and probably still is) used for artistic performances and still has a lot of steel framework and lighting equipment suspended from the ceiling. The room was more than big enough for the 1,000 attendees of the sessions; fitting everyone in nicely and without overcrowding. I was extremely impressed with the sheer number of beers available at this event. Many of the brewers in attendance were offering 4 – 8 beers for our enjoyment and some of the distributors had upwards of a dozen beers to sample. Needless to say, this was not an event where you would, could or should push to sample everything… though there were so many great beers available, it was hard not to try as many of them as you could. The festival, fortunately, was one of the unlimited/2oz sample varieties, so it was possible to try a good number of them. My son and I did a lot of sharing of samples. It was a great way to be able to experience a larger number of beers without the risk of not being able to walk out of the session.

This festival was also an opportunity to renew acquaintances and also to meet some new friends. The crowd was an interesting mix of both young and old, but all obviously Belgian beer “freaks”. I found the crowd to be very well-behaved and, though there were a thousand of us, I did not feel the press of the crowd nor did I stand in line waiting for a beer more than a couple of minutes the entire afternoon. One of the most interesting people I met that day was an older gentleman that caught my eye when we were standing in line waiting to go into the festival. His name is Dr. Eli Shuter (pictured with me above), a retired neurosurgeon from St. Louis, and he told me that he is 75 years young. The good doctor and his son-in-law were attending their first Belgian Beer Fest and Dr. Shuter had flown here from St. Louis specifically for this event. He was very enthusiastic about the festival and told me that he had sampled many great beers so far; though he declined to identify a favorite… he told me the event was not over yet.

I have talked before about the limited selection of beer available in Vermont, so this event was an excellent opportunity for us to experience some brewers and their beers that we may never see in Vermont. The mix of brewers ran the gammit from old to new; from Affligem (whose abbey was built in 1074) to some of the newer kids on the block like Pretty Things and Zero Gravity from American Flatbread. It’s hard for me to pick even a few favorites from the “hundreds” available and I won’t even try too hard. Though perhaps more available to many of you, my son and I both found the Rodenbach Grand Cru to be one of the best that we sampled that afternoon. The other one that stood out for me was actually being poured at the Samuel Adams booth… they had a “no name” lambic, which had been discovered at an old orchard, that had been aging since 2003. It had the cheesiest, funkiest character of any that I sampled… think tart gorganzola cheese beer and you would be pretty close… darn interesting and quite good.

I’ll pay more careful attention to when the tickets for this event go on sale next fall. I have every intention of being able to experience the “Night of Funk” offered at this event next year. The afternoon session, followed up by dinner at the Sunset Grill (112 beers on tap), made for a very enjoyable weekend and one that I am anxious to repeat again next year.

I found this to be a brewers festival with a slightly different approach than most that I have been attending lately. First of all it is a two-day festival with 4-hour afternoon sessions on both Saturday and Sunday during the weekend and secondly they serve 8-ounce “samples” at this event. The event is not particularly expensive, $25 for one day or $35 for both days/sessions, and that gets you two tokens for beer samples at each session. Additional tokens can be purchased for a very modest $2 each… far less than a beer at any bar nearby.

The thing that struck me the most about this event was the quite relaxed atmosphere. The crowd was fairly small… a couple of thousand, at the most, on Saturday… and the lines were not long, which I attributed to the larger samples being served. The usual “pressure” to get to every booth and sample “all” the beers available that seems to be so prevalent at beer festivals these days seemed to be completely absent from this one… and I found that particular aspect of this event very refreshing.

While there were about 20 brewers at this event, I had already had a chance to visit most of these at previous beer events this summer. This allowed me to spend the time at the festival having longer conversations with some of the brewers and their representatives. They, in turn, were not feeling the pressure of the crowd pushing them to serve beer as fast as they could. Several of the brewers commented to me that they enjoyed this event much more than many of the others that they attend each year, just because of this aspect of the festival. I heard conversations between several of the brewers about meeting up on Saturday night between the festival days to share a beer or two. Maybe next year I will take the time to spend the night and sample some of the nightlife obviously associated with this event. I am sure that would give me a whole different perspective of this festival.

There are many characteristics of this festival that appealed to me and I am left wanting more of the festivals that I attend each year to be more like it. It was fun and relaxing… more like spending time in a big local bar drinking beer with a couple thousand of your closest friends. The luxury of having the time to talk at length to brewers and other beer people that you barely get a chance to even see at other events made this trip very worth while.

For the last several years this day-long event has been held at the Branch Brook Campground. The event has grown in each of its 14 years and this year was attended by approximately 400 homebrewers and/or enthusiasts, all of whom showed up on a beautiful early fall day to taste some of the best fermentables that no money could buy. These are not commercial entities, but individuals that simply produce this stuff for their own as well as their friends enjoyment. While the competition of the day was important to some, most that I spoke with were simply there to sample the craft brews of their friends and to share the camaraderie of others that are also excited about brewing their own.

The event only cost $10 at the “door”, which entitled you to unlimited samples, free entertainment and an opportunity share in the excitement of the day. This is a “bring your own glass” event, although many of the clubs had modestly priced glasses of various sizes for sale at their tents; all proudly emblazoned with their club logos, of course.

As it turns out, while the beer, wine, mead and cider were the main attraction for most of the attendees, this event is actually a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Hampshire. Each year the “profits” from this event, money collected from the sale of event tickets, food, t-shirts, raffle tickets and other paraphernalia is donated to this worthy cause. Last year this event raised nearly $4,000 and this year, Steve Ainsworth, the event’s organizer for all of their 14 years, estimated that they would be closer to $5,000 for the day.

I had a chance to visit with the volunteers manning the Make-A-Wish tent as well as with 12-year old “Emily”, a Make-A-Wish ambassador and former benefactor of the foundation (5 years ago she went to Disney World for her “Wish”). It was obvious to me, from the way that these volunteers interacted with the homebrew clubs and event organizers, that this was a long term, co-dependent relationship between these groups that has built up over the many years that the event has existed.

Event Organizer Steve Ainsworth and Make-A-Wish's Emily

As you could probably expect, I did not spend my entire time talking at this event and did take some time to sample some of the excellent handcrafted beverages that folks brought to share. I did not get to the event soon enough to participate as one of the 17 volunteer judges for the “Peoples Choice” competition of the day, but that might be something to look forward to next year. With well over 100 of these beverages being shared at the event, I was (unfortunately) only able to sample a tiny fraction of those being offered. Below are just a few of my favorites for the day:

Rob North, 2010 Winner Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Contest

• Rob North’s Rauchbier – Rob was this year’s winner of the Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Contest and this rauchbier was his winning brew. For those of you not familiar with this annual contest, as winner, Rob’s chosen brew will be served alongside the traditional Samuel Adams beers at the Samuel Adams Brewhouse® in Gillette Stadium during the entire New England Patriots 2010-2011 football season. This beer was slightly sweet, mildly smoky and extremely well balanced. It was easy for me to see why Rob’s beer was selected by Sam Adams at this year’s contest. While Rob has only been brewing three years, he was also selected “Homebrewer of the Year” at last year’s Jamboree. Rob is a member of the homebrew club “Brew Free or Die”, based in New Hampshire.
• Francois Espourteille’s Sweet Mead – Described as a “mead master” by his colleagues, Francois poured me a sample of a special stock of his sweet mead. While I do not have an extensive background in drinking meads, the extremely high quality of this mead was apparent immediately. I sampled other meads at this event during the day, but this one stood out as really the only one I sampled that had retained the subtle flavors of the unprocessed wildflower honey he used to make it. Francois told me that very slow fermentation was his “secret” to ensuring that the honey flavor was retained during the lengthy fermentation process. Francois is a member of the “South Shore Brew Club”, which is based out of southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
• The event’s organizer, Steve Ainsworth, brought me over to the tent of his homebrew club, “Winnipesaukee Area Brew Crew”, to sample an English-style barleywine made by Eric Sprague, one of the club members. Malty, smooth and slightly sweet Eric explained that the Maris Otter malt he had used was responsible for the smoothness and drinkability of this relatively young barleywine.

The “People’s Choice” competition results were announced at the end of the day:

1. First Place, Best of Show – Ed Ramshaw – Apple Pie Cider. I sampled some of Ed’s cider and it was truly “apple pie in a glass”… a good choice from my perspective. This was the only one of the winners in this list that I got to sample… just too many choices!
2. Second Place – Kevin Abelli – Black Pearl
3. Third Place – Laramie Bobar – Ginger Brown Ale
4. Honorable Mention – Harriet Santtie – Green Apple Wine

Ed Ramshaw's Apple Pie Cider

This event was decidedly different than most other beer events that I have attended recently; not only because of the fact that these were amateur brewers, but because of the tremendous variety of very high quality beverages that were being offered. I can honestly say that there was not one of those that I sampled that could not stand up, very well, to their commercial cousins. Next year’s event will be held on September 10^th (always the first Saturday after Labor Day) at the Branch Brook Campground and it is already on my event calendar. You can find out more about the 2011 New England Homebrewer’s Jamboree at their Web site. I’ll see you there…

I have never participated in this fun event (no, I don’t know why), but I am participating in this month’s “Session” in support of my friend and fellow HopPress writer Carla Companion, a.k.a., “The Beer Babe”. The charge to the group from Carla for this Session was to write about “The New Kids”; new brewers and the potential difficulties that they might have in getting started as well as breaking into the established brewing community (many of the same trials and tribulations of a child starting in a new school). You can watch this month’s event unfold on Carla’s “The Beer Babe” site by viewing the comments left on her Session #43 announcement page.

There are two new Vermont breweries that have opened within the last year. The von Trapp family, originally from Austria and made famous by the movie “The Sound of Music”, have opened a brewery that will focus on the production of the excellent “Old World” style lagers of their native country. I wrote about this new brewery back in May (The Hills Are Alive With – Lager). The new brewery, located in the basement of the former Austrian Tea Room at their Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, is a 14-barrel operation… not your typical startup brewery to be sure. They have also hired a very experienced brewer, Allen van Anda, who previously brewed for the Kross Brewery and Rock Art Brewery. The financial backing of the von Trapp family business along with Allen’s proven talent have produced a situational advantage that most other new brewers would potentially not see for years.

The other new Vermont brewery, Hill Farmstead Brewery, which I also wrote about in May (Hill Farmstead – Brewer’s Talent, Family History). Shaun Hill, the brewery’s owner and head brewer has opened a 7-barrel brewing operation on his family’s farmland in tiny Greensboro, VT. Shaun’s family has owned and worked this land since the 1760′s, more than eight generations ago. Shaun has a distinguished brewing CV, having brewed since he was in his teens and has worked at other Vermont breweries, like The Shed and Trout River. Most recently he spent nearly two years working for Nørrebro Bryghus in Denmark. At this year’s World Beer Cup three of the beers that Shaun created when working in Denmark won medals; two Golds and a Silver. That level of talent and Shaun’s serious interest in and commitment to his family have come together in his new brewery; one that is positioned for a great future within Vermont and, perhaps, far beyond.

I do not believe that either of these new breweries will truly face all the trials and tribulations of an actual startup operation; although there are sure to be some challenges, of course. Both have brewers that come with considerable and tested talent gathered from their work at other breweries. The financial support of the von Trapp’s has allowed Trapp Lagers to start with all the equipment that they need; much of it “the best that money can buy”. Shaun and Hill Farmstead have not started with quite the financial security of the Trapp’s, but his incredible accolades as a brewer have opened many doors for him that would probably be closed to “newbies”.

The acceptance of these new breweries and brewers into the Vermont brewing community should not be a problem. I have written before about the small community feeling that exists here in Vermont. Our small population makes it possible for people, brewers or not, to maintain close friends and business contacts all across the entire state. The Vermont brewing community is a tightly knitted group; all the brewers are keenly aware of each other as well as each other’s talents and capabilities. While this camaraderie has created long lasting friendships among them, there are business implications to these relationships as well.

Tonight (Friday) I got an “insiders” look at just how tight these relationships really are. My wife and I had stopped by the Bobcat Cafe and Brewery, a brewpub and restaurant in Bristol, Vermont, for a couple of their excellent beers and a casual dinner (the food here is awesome). We have stopped by here a number of times previously over the last couple of years. The dining room was not quite open yet, so we sat down at the bar. Much to my shock and surprise the line-up of tap handles at the bar included Hill Farmstead’s Florence, Shaun’s excellent Belgian Witbier. Never before when we had come here had there been any beer available but the ones produced by Bobcat. When I asked “why” the Shaun Hill beer, I was told (by Dana, the very knowledgeable bartender) that Bobcat had been caught a bit short on their beer supply due to a high volume of sales and the “drain” on the brewery by all of the brew festivals during the summer. Bobcat brewmaster Mark Magiera and Shaun Hill had previously collaborated on some beers and Shaun agreed to help fill the gap at Bobcat. I think that this all provides an excellent example of how easily new brewers entering the Vermont market might be “assimilated” into the fold.

Well, that ends my contribution to The Session #43. Thank you Carla for enticing me to accept the challenge of participating in this interesting writing project. As with many things in my life, I am caught wondering why I waited so long. I can hardly wait for #44 next month.

While I have been a financial supporter in years past, this was my first opportunity to actually work at this fun charitable event. My participation and support of this event was multifaceted and interwoven into a fairly large portion of my adult life. I have written before of my long term love of Harpoon’s beers; those being some of the very first craft beers I learned to enjoy on a regular basis many years ago. For those of you that have not read my CV/”About” on this site, I also spent about 2 years working for the Vermont Foodbank as its Director of Operations, overseeing many of the day-to-day workings of this complex organization. That time of my life was one of the most rewarding that I have spent to date and someday I intend to return to the Foodbank (or an organization like it) to continue my work in support of this worthy effort. The Foodbank, at the time, was experiencing its largest growth spurt to date; growing from an annual statewide distribution of about 2.7 million pounds of food to nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to hungry Vermonters. Since then, the Foodbank has continued to both grow and change in pursuit of its mission to eradicate hunger in Vermont. They now have 3 facilities and a farm within the state to support their efforts. The Vermont Foodbank has grown to be one of the most successful of its kind, nationally, since my employment there 8 years ago. The final facet of my involvement in this day comes from the event sponsorship by my current employer, VSECU. VSECU is, by far, Vermont’s largest state-chartered credit union (47,000 members and $535M in assets) and is where I am currently its Vice President of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer.

Event participants choose one of three routes to ride during this day-long event; 25, 50 or 115 miles. The selection of their route dictates both their entry fee and fund raising commitment. Those that choose the 25-mile route, a circular route beginning at and returning to the brewery, have an entry fee of $40 and no further commitment to raise additional funds. Those that ride the 50-mile route, from Bethel (VT) to the brewery, have a $60 entry fee and an additional commitment of $150 in funds to raise. Those that ride the 115-mile route, from Williston (VT) to the brewery, have an $80 entry fee and also a $150 fund raising commitment.

This year there were about 480 riders that participated in one of the three rides. Those of you that either live here in Vermont or have visited our beautiful state at some time know that none of these rides would be “easy” because of Vermont’s mountainous terrain. The VSECU “team” manned one of several “watering” stations along the routes. We happened to be placed at the last station before the finish at the brewery and at the only station that would see riders from all three routes. I can no longer ride a bike due to serious knee problems, so I was already impressed with all of the riders, but I have to tell you that I was very surprised by the very first riders that came to our station that day. The riders were two brothers, who were clearly “racing” each other instead of just “riding” the route. These two very fit gentlemen, who were participating in the 115 mile ride, rolled into our station a mere 5 ½ hours after starting in Williston, about 103 miles away (we were stationed 12 miles from the finish line). Some quick math should tell you that they were averaging nearly 20 miles/hour (!) on their trek, in spite of the arduous “hill and dale” nature of their route. It was nearly 40 minutes before we saw the next riders from the same route enter our station.

He rode the 50-mile route

The culmination of the event, which is held at the Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT, is a chance for all the riders, event volunteers and their supporters to gather to celebrate the day and all of their hard work. This final celebration included a BBQ, put on by the local fire department, some live music and some great Harpoon beer. There were also hot showers available for the riders, should they wish to partake. We got to this celebration a little late, due to our commitments at the relief station, but we arrived to a crowd of a couple of thousand people all enjoying the end of both a very satisfying and very beautiful day.

Events like this one tend to collect money for several weeks after the actual day of the event, so there is not (yet) a final fund raising tally. According to the Vermont Foodbank Web site though, they have collected more than $95,000 to date… over $46,000 more than they had at this time last year… so it appears that they are well on their way to their $150,000 event goal. To give you some perspective of how important that $95,000 is for the Foodbank, just the money raised so far will support the efforts to provide more than 200,000 meals to hungry Vermonters. In a state with a population of only 625,000 people, the impact of this effort can only be described as HUGE!

I am reasonably certain that Harpoon, The Point and the Foodbank will put this event on again next year. The money that this event generates for the “cause” is just too large to be ignored. I am hopeful that my employer will again give me an opportunity to participate in this worthy effort. It’s just one of those fun, feel good events that comes along that you just can’t help wishing to do again. My hat is off to Harpoon for their primary sponsorship of this event and their commitment to provide their considerable assistance to the Vermont community. I already like their beer, but for me there will be a little bit of extra enjoyment the next time that I drink one, as I remember the wonderful day that I spent recently, helping them to support the vital cause of ending hunger in Vermont.

We have attended this event the last several years and have always seemed to luck out with the weather on the day that we chose to attend. This year was no different and the weather was perfect… sunny and VERY hot… with the temperature hovering near 90F and the dewpoint well over 70F by mid-afternoon. Based on my observations from years past, I would have to say that the event was far better attended than in previous years. By late afternoon, in spite of the oppressive heat, the area in front of the beer tent as well as all of the aisles/roads around the venue had turned into a hot seething mass of humanity.

This year’s event saw 42 teams compete for the title of “The Harpoon New England Grand Champion”. Because this is a KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) sanctioned event judged by KCBS-certified judges, this event’s Grand Champion qualifies for the nation’s ultimate barbecue competition, the American Royal Barbecue held at the end of September in Kansas City. The American Royal Barbecue is the season finale for the grueling competitive BBQ circuit. Spreading over 20 acres in Kansas City’s historic Stockyards District, with nearly 500 teams competing in four culinary contests, The Royal is the largest barbecue contest in the world and can truly be called the “World Series of Barbecue.”

The Harpoon BBQ event is actually two competitions in one weekend… one for BBQ (Saturday) and the other for Grilling (Sunday). The combined scores from both of these contests is used to determine the event Grand Champion. We attended only on Saturday and were able to sample BBQ’d products from several of the event’s competitors. To be very honest, I am both extremely envious and incredibly in awe of the people that try to (and apparently can) distinguish the subtle differences between each competitor’s offerings. We sampled BBQ from several competitors and all of the BBQ that I tasted was outstanding. I would find it very difficult to name a “winner” from those few competitors and can’t imagine trying to select the best from all 42. As we have learned in previous years, it is always a bit of a crap shoot in trying to select your samples carefully in hopes of correctly choosing to taste BBQ from the eventual winner. We were not that fortunate this year, but the all competitors that we did eat from finished in the top 10 overall. The team named the event Grand Champion must have had one of those incredibly rare weekends where everything seemed to come together for them. The team “Feeding Friendz” was named the top team on both days (BBQ and Grilling) and will be headed to Kansas City in September to compete against the BBQ world’s best.

There are other things going on at this event besides just BBQ eating and beer drinking; though I am sure those would be enough for many people. The New England Barbecue Society in cooperation with the Harpoon folks have a tent set up for something called the “Beer and Barbecue University”. Here they conduct informational seminars throughout the day on many topics surrounding, not surprisingly, beer and barbecue. I did not attend any of these session this year, which I have found very interesting in past years, but the tent was packed full of people all afternoon.

The event is also host to the Vermont “Strongman” competition every year. Men and women compete to see who can lift, carry or drag the heaviest objects in several different categories. Though not quite on par with similar, world-class competitions seen on television, it is fairly impressive to watch these folks compete against each other and themselves; feats particularly challenging on such a warm day.

As a final note, I would like to digress a bit from the Barbecue and Beer theme of this article to talk about another of my passions… hot peppers! I have been a chili-head for many years and truly love the “endorphin rush” that comes from obsessively scorching your insides with peppery foods. As you might expect at events like these, there are always a few vendors offering hot pepper products (rubs, powders, sauces, relishes, etc.) for sale. These vendors usually always provide small samples of their products. While I have a very high tolerance for capsiacin (the “active” ingredient in chili peppers) compared to most people, I had a bit of a life altering experience at the hands of one of these vendors. I was “treated” to a very small sample of a hot sauce with the catchy name of “East Armageddon Post Apocalyptic”. This sauce contains elements of the Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia), which according to Guinness is the world’s hottest pepper, and just a touch of pure capsiacin oleoresin. As a result, the sauce is rated at over 1,000,000 Scoville Units. Honestly… this pepper sauce significantly and forever changed my definition of *HOT*. There is not any real flavor to a product such as this, despite what others might say; it is all about the heat, the burn and the “rush” that they produce. Without experiencing that level of heat for yourself, you cannot really imagine how hot that sauce really is. There are many products on the market that are rated even hotter than this one and I can’t imagine what they would be used for, but I am sure that “ego” might play a part in their selection and consumption. While my experience was not worthy of a video on YouTube (fortunately), I did feel the effects of that tiny sample for quite a while afterwards.

I am fairly certain that Harpoon will host this excellent event again next year and I would hope to attend it again. It is a great opportunity for Harpoon to not only showcase their beer, which included their WBC medal winning UFO Hefe, but it also shows their support of the greater New England community. This is a family and pet friendly event that will continue to draw large crowds because of the great food as well as the fun and novelty of watching teams of people compete to claim title as the “best” at producing some of America’s favorite summertime foods.