Rock Art Brewery - Located in Morrisville, Vermont, the Rock Art Brewery has been producing great beer since 1997, when Matt and Renee Nadeau began brewing in the basement of their home. They moved to their current home in 2002 and have grown rapidly since. Rock Art recently broke ground on a new brewery just a few miles down the road. Their newly expanded operations, when completed, will allow even greater beer production and wider distribution. Some of you may remember Rock Art as the brewer that fought (and won) against Monster Energy Drinks over the trademark relating to their awesome Vermonster beer. In addition to brewing great beer, Matt is now actively working to change the laws that allow large corporations to bully smaller ones over trademark and copyright issues. The Rock Art Web site has several great articles and videos on this topic. Personally, I think that Matt’s work in this area will have an impact and I appreciate his hard work; as we all should.

Hill Farmstead Brewery – Located in tiny Greensboro Bend, Vermont, Hill Farmstead is the current culmination of Shaun E. Hill’s short, but illustrious brewing career, In spite of his relatively young age, Shaun has been banging around breweries in Vermont (The Shed, Trout River, VT Pub & Brewery) for quite few years and even spent a couple of years working in Denmark for Nørrebro Bryghus. Three of the beers that Shaun created in Denmark won medals at the 2010 World Beer Cup.

The Shed Restaurant & Brewery – Located on the Mountain Road in Stowe, Vermont, The Shed has long been one of Vermont’s anchor brewpubs. For those of you not familiar with the Stowe region, Stowe hosts some of the state’s finest ski areas. Shed beer is enjoyed throughout the year, but is exposed to many more people during the winter months, when skiers from all over the world flock to Stowe for a taste of winter in Vermont.

Trapp Family Lodge Brewery - This brewery just opened within the last year at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. This Vermont tourist mecca is owned and operated by members of the von Trapp family, made famous by the Sound of Music movie. In a distinct break from the more traditional ales brewed in this country, Trapp Family brews only high quality European-style lagers, like those reminiscent of the Bavarian region of Germany and Austria that the von Trapp family hails from. Currently a small 2-3,000 barrel operation, the Trapp beers are selling as fast as they can make them.

The Alchemist Pub and Brewery – In late 2003, John and Jennifer Kimmich opened this fine establishment in the old Post Office building in the heart of Waterbury, Vermont. John is well known for his insistence that his high quality beers be only sold at the pub. That steadfast “rule” was broken recently (today, as a matter of fact), when John put up for sale 600 bottles of his Heady Topper at the brewery. The Alchemist is known not only for their great beer, but for the wonderful mix of “casual” foods offered by their restaurant. A significant step up from the more traditional bar fare, the Alchemist offers many great dishes prepared with only the freshest of ingredients (they are a member of Vermont’s Fresh Network). The Alchemist is a “regular” for me and it is probably a good thing that I don’t live closer.

Lawson’s Finest Liquids – I jokingly call Sean Lawson “the mouse that roared” as Lawson’s was also a medal winner at the 2010 World Beer Cup. While that does not sound too amazing in itself, you need to understand that Sean runs a ONE BARREL operation; brewing his beer only 30 gallons at a time! I am absolutely certain that most of you will never get a chance to try the beer that he won this medal for in the WBC “Specialty Beer” category. I can say that with such confidence due to the fact that the ingredients that Sean uses are unusually rare and because he produces so little of it each year. The Maple Tripple he produces is made using partially boiled maple sap instead of brewing water and pure maple syrup is added to the bottle to encourage carbonation… save for the yeast and the small amount of hops used to make this beer, everything else comes from a maple tree. Amazingly unique and incredibly delicious! The other beers that Sean produces are also of a very high quality and are highly sought after by the Vermont beer community. All of us would like to see Sean expand his operation, but only If he can do that and maintain the superior quality of his beers, of course.

That completes the second article in my series on 6 of the 21 Vermont breweries that can be found in Vermont. The next article in this series will focus on the breweries that can be found in the northeast corner of the state. Vermont is blessed with an abundance of high quality beer producers and we are more than willing to share all of that with the rest of you, but in most cases that means that you will need to actually come and visit our beautiful state in order to enjoy them. In spite of our small stature and population, there is plenty to do here in all seasons. Let me know when you are going to be in town and we’ll arrange to have a cold Vermont beer together… I promise you’ll not regret it.

Courtesy of the 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!

Shaun E. Hill, Brewer

A quick look at Shaun Hill would tell you that he is not very old (30 something), is confident but not arrrogant, has a good sense of humor and has that mischievous sparkle in his eye that tells you that “trouble” may not be too far away. Talk to him for just a little while though and you uncover a sharp mind, a good memory and a strong conviction for things that he believes in; brewing great beer in particular. Shaun’s young age effectively masks a wealth of both brewing and life experiences accumulated in a very short amount of time. Previously a brewer at The Shed Restaurant & Brewery and Trout River Brewing here in Vermont, Shaun has spent much of the last 2 years (20 months) as a guest brewer for Anders Kissmeyers at the Nørrebro Bryghus brewery in Copenhagen, Denmark. During his time at Nørrebro Bryghus, Shaun not only assisted in brewing their normal slate of brews, but also used his own experience as an American brewer to help create new and unique brews for this excellent Danish brewer. For his next adventure, Shaun is about midway through the process of starting his own brewery, the Hill Farmstead Brewery, on his family’s land in Greensboro, Vermont. Shaun’s family dates back to about 1788 in this rural area and his three-times great grandfather ran a tavern (Aaron Hill’s Tavern) in Greensboro in the early 1800′s.

The Beers

The six beers that were included in the tasting session, were all developed by Shaun along with his friends and fellow brewers at Nørrebro Bryghus. These beers are representative of just some of Shaun’s considerable brewing talents. All of these beers are barrel-aged and bottle-conditioned.

• Saison Lambic Pinot Noir
  While I have had a number of other blended beers before, never before have I had a blend of a Saison and a Lambic. I have to say that this marriage of the two sour-style beers works extremely well. The flavors of the Saison portion work to provide some distraction from the more potent sourness that the Lambic portion brings to the mix. Although aged in a French oak Pinot Noir barrel for 4 months, I did not find that the oaky flavor that one would expect was strong and, indeed, it ended up just being one of many flavors present in this surprisingly complex beer. Shaun talked about the Lambic that he selected for blending in with this beer, one of the legendary Drie Fonteinen Lambics, and how he would miss this particular brewer’s beers now that they have stopped producing. For me, this beer was one of the real highlights of the evening and someday (tomorrow?) I will wish that I could sample some more of this truly excellent beer.
• SEVEN Imperial Stout (Niepoort Barrel)
  The second beer in the tasting series was an Imperial stout that had been aged in a port wine barrel. Niepoort is, in fact, a Portuguese Port wine producer that provided the aging barrel. The recipe for this beer was the collaborative effort of 7 Danish brewers (including Shaun). Shaun told us that combining the 7 recipes proved challenging and produced a collective grain bill of 17 different malts and a host of hops as well as portions of more “exotic” ingredients like coffee, fig puree and cocoa nibs. After fermentation, the beer was aged for 7 months in the Port barrel. Although the quality of this beer was not in question and I enjoyed it immensely, it had several characteristics (harshness for one) of an Imperial stout that had not yet reached its pinnacle and could use some additional time to age and mellow. Very complexly flavored, no doubt a result of the large number of ingredients and the Port barrel aging. I also found the alcohol (12% ABV) made it a bit too boozy.
• SEVEN Imperial Stout (Bordeaux Barrel)
  Like the beer above, this was an Imperial stout which was a collaborative effort of the 7 brewers, but this one was aged in an American oak Bordeaux wine barrel for 7 months. Again, no question of the quality, but this was my least favorite of the beers in the tasting flight. The intense flavor character of the American oak coupled with the heavy Bordeaux wine flavors was just simply too overpowering and masked nearly all of the flavors of the fine Imperial stout that lied underneath in this flavor behemoth.
• Viking Oud Bruin
  Shaun explained that the basis of this beer was a Belgian brown brewed by a Master Brewer class at the Scandinavian School of Brewing. After brewing, the beer was then aged in an oak Spanish Tempranillo wine barrel for 10 months with the addition of some Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. I have to agree with Shaun’s assessment that, if not for the fact that this beer was produced in Denmark, it could easily be labeled as an “American wild” style of beer; a style that I happen to like. The beer was a complex mix of flavors which included mild oak, red wine and berries as well as a background hint of the roasted malts in the Belgian brown. The sourness was a bit unique (to me) in that it seemed hit you right on the back of the tongue. Crisp, very clean finishing and quite enjoyable.
• Little Korkny Ale (Niepoort Barrel)
  For me and many others at this tasting event, this beer was the “best of show”. At its inception, this beer was a hefty barley wine and probably a decent brew in its own right. But you take this good barley wine and you age it for 9 months in a stainless tank and then another 12 months in a Niepoort Port wine barrel and what you end up with is pure heaven in a glass. A clear reddish brown in color with a thick/oily palate and malty sweet aromas to begin, the beer then exhibits a great variety of flavors and aromas as it warms. Roasted malts, dark fruits, caramel/toffee, nuts, oak, vanilla and chocolate are but a few of the flavors that you might uncover in this very complex brew. Near the end of the sample, when the beer had nearly warmed to ambient temperature, the beer (to me) took on an almost tawny port character that was extremely satisfying and left me wishing that I had my own private stock of this beer that I could tap into and savor for the next 10 years or so.
  I am not sure if Shaun could reproduce this beer here in the States, but in my humble opinion, it would worth it to give it a go, as it is one of the best beers that I have ever tasted.
• Little Korkny Ale (Cognac Barrel)
  Like the beer above, this rendition of Little Korkny began its life as a barley wine that was aged for 9 months in a stainless tank. From there it was placed into an oak Cognac barrel to age for 12 months. While producing an excellent beer, this Cognac-barrel process did not (in my opinion) produce a beer of nearly the quality and stature that the Niepoort-barrel process did. Although quite a few of the same flavors of the Niepoort-barrel brew are present (roasted malts, dark fruits, caramel/toffee and nuts), in a fashion similar to the SEVEN/Bordeaux-barrel beer described earlier, the Cognac effectively masked many of the flavor characteristics of the barley wine underneath; which is unfortunate given the obvious quality of this barley wine base.

As a brewer and in spite of his already impressive CV of brewing experiences, Shaun is really just beginning what will undoubtedly be a brewing career filled with many more high points; and some lows too, I suspect. I truly look forward to following Shaun as he picks his way through the brewing world of the future. Shaun plans to have his Hill Farmstead Brewery producing beer for sale by Memorial Day this year and I can hardly wait to make the short trek to Greensboro to see his operation and sample some of what I fully expect to be some excellent brews. Good Luck Shaun!!

So, why would I travel even this short distance to visit this small brewpub? As it turns out, that is not a very hard question to answer at all. According to my record on RateBeer for this “Place”, over the last 6 years I have sampled 52 of the 63 beers that they say he has produced during that time period. Of those Alchemist samplings, as compared to the other 850 or so other beers that I rated during the same time period, John’s beers all rated “above average” and a significant number of them pushed up into the range of my highest ratings. In short, John is an unbelievable brewer… in my opinion probably the very best in Vermont and perhaps even beyond that. Of course I am not the only one that has that opinion about this award winning brewer. To date John has won three major awards for his brewing prowess:

• Gold Medal – GABF 2004 – Sterk Wit (Beligian Witbier)
• Gold Medal – GABF 2009 – Celia Framboise (Gluten-free)
• Bronze Medal – GABF 2009 – Celia IPA (Gluten-free)

The most recent of these awards are as a result of John’s desire to produce a high quality beer that his wife was able to drink… what a great gift!

The Alchemist’s brews are only available at the brewpub. John does not bottle his beer or sell growlers. If you look at the raters for their beers on RateBeer, you will find the expected ratings from the northeastern portion of the US and eastern Canada. Quite surprisingly, however, you will also find raters from the west coasts of the US and Canada as well as ratings from several other continents. John’s beers are known and loved worldwide!

In addition to the great beer, you can find an excellent selection food here as well. Far from the simple pub fare available at any normal brewpub, Executive Chef Jeff Lang has created a menu that is inspired, according to their Web site, by “comfort, innovation and heartiness”. Many of the the chef’s regular and special menu offerings are designed to specifically compliment the beers being served. The Alchemist also participates in the Vermont Fresh Network, a partnership between Vermont farms and restaurants within the state, which allows the freshest of locally produced foods to be served at these establishments. The community-friendly sustainability of that approach really appeals to me.

Sometimes the truest mark of how successful a business has been is to look at their employees. John and Jennifer still employ their very first employee (Kenny) and, from my observations over the years, their employee turnover is extremely low. I interpret this to mean that they have hired talented/capable people to begin with and that they see the intrinsic value of retaining one of their most valuable assets by simply treating them well. They sure are a happy bunch and I love seeing the same smiling faces each time I go there.

The legend of the ancient alchemists was their ability to take common earth metals (copper and iron) and change them to gold. I have to admit that I like the Alchemist’s formula much better… take common earthy products (water, barley, hops and yeast) and turn them them into a magical golden elixir called BEER!