Jump to content
[[Template core/front/custom/_customHeader is throwing an error. This theme may be out of date. Run the support tool in the AdminCP to restore the default theme.]]

Beer Road Trip recap


detlef
 Share

Recommended Posts

High and low lights from our beer-centric road trip:

 

First stop: Dogfish Head. I have always dug the 60 minute and enjoy some of their others as well, to a degree, but, honestly, I guess I just sort of tire of some of it. So few of their beers have enough historical precedent. And when they do, they don't leave well enough alone and just make the beer. I think there's enough room to riff a bit while still staying inside the boundaries of making historically correct beers. That and, isn't it obscure enough to make a Sahti so you don't have to make a Sahti blended with chai spice? Have you ever thought to yourself, "God, I'm just so tired of sahti, someone needs to add a bunch of indian spices and shake up the jar a bit." Regardless, it is obviously working for them and I certainly don't need to give Sam Calagione any tips on running a business. I'm just saying that I find many of their beers more impressive than tasty.

 

At any rate, when only made a point of contacting three breweries ahead of time to set up a tour. These guys, Ommegang, and Victory. These guys were the only one of the three that just sort of threw us in along with the massive, 15 minute, "this is grain, this is hops, these are our cool wooden brewing vessels and btw, we're the fastest growing craft brewery in the world". I actually had a lot of questions I wanted to ask, like more detail on the continuously hopping procedure they use in their 60, 90, and 120. Plus a lot of others, but never really got the chance. To contrast, the tours at Ommegang and Victory were super, super informative and downright inspiring. I digress. The only beer that I tried that I had never had before was the My Antonia, which is a bottle conditioned super-charged pilsner. Pretty tasty. I did really like the gin they make that we tried at the pub but was rather underwhelmed by the pub itself. My burger was kind of lame, actually. They were nice enough to send us on our way with a bottle of the Satea (which I enjoyed more than my wife did) and a one-off called Wrath of Pecant which is a dark ale made with plantain and carob. I brought that back to try with the local geeks because you can't get it outside the brewery.

 

The next day, we drove to Ommegang which, besides being in a really beautiful place, is a stunning brewery and a very interesting story. We had a private tour and tasting. Turns out I got an e-mail from our local rep asking if we could do a dinner with these guys on the 13th because the regional Ommegang dude is going to be in town. So, it was fun actually tasting the beers to write a menu at the brewery itself. At any rate, because all their beers are belgian style, it was really interesting learning about the process, it being somewhat different than most. They also opened and sent us home with some back vintages of their brett beers, Ommegeddon and Biere du Mars. We tried one of the Biere du Mars the next night while camping and it was really, really delicious. I'd forgotten what a great beer the 3 Philosophers is. That certainly needs to make it's way back on the list and I still really, really love the Rare Vos. Which is a so much better version of the same sort of beer Fat Tire is.

 

After the night of camping in Southern VT, we spent the next few exploring up near Burlington, house sitting for someone up there. Zero Gravity Brewery, located at American Flat Bread, is off the freaking chain good. They make a bunch of really cool beers (and the pizza is silly good) as well as offer a great list of other local beers both on tap and in bottle. We went back twice so I could make it through the whole list of beers and they were, without exception, delicious. All over the board too. Pretty much every style. Only available at the pub. We met a local who invited us over afterward to try an aged bottle from her favorite brewery, Southampton (I've only tried their larger production stuff, which I like well enough, but she insisted their 750 series was at another level). It was. She opened a 2008 Saison that was so freaking pretty. Just spices and nuance coming at you from everywhere and a clean, caramel that was just right.

 

Dug what we tasted of Rock Art around town but was a bit annoyed when we called ahead to ask if they were open, made the longish drive out there, and then found that, yes they were open, and had four of their flavors on tap, but that, since it was Monday, they would only fill growlers, not sell tastes. They said they only sold tastes Wed-Sat. I explained we were from NC and would be gone by then but he didn't seem to care. He said he'd be happy to sell me full growlers of each but they don't sell samples on Mondays. :wacko:

 

Magic Hat was pretty lame, actually. The tour, not unlike Dogfish, was packed and very short. Essentially, we stood up at an observation platform and the kid who looked like Bieber just pointed out the bottling line, fermenters, and the rest of the production. Turns out, it didn't much matter because the beer itself was pretty bland. Fine enough, I suppose, just nothing was all that good. The beers that were supposed to be crisp were sort of crisp. Those that were supposed to be powerful were sort of powerful. Not a huge surprise, really but we had time to kill so we figured, what the hell.

 

The other VT highlight was the Alchemist in Waterbury. Another small brewpub that doesn't sell outside the pub. Like Zero Gravity, they made a bunch of styles and all of them were great. Their IPAs, in particular were beautiful.

 

Back through NY and tried unremarkable beer from Brothers in Glens Falls and some actually, pretty bad stuff from Coopers Cave Ales. Most actually seemed flawed. I thought it was from TCA, the bacteria that ruins wines and is often found in cork. Actually tossed the idea of what it could be to the Facebook beer geeks and then asked the guys at Victory the next day. That guy thought it sounded like systemic oxidation. Regardless, most smelled and tasted like wet cardboard.

 

Last stop, Victory. What a freaking operation. Those guys spare no expense when it comes to equipment (that they've been gradually buying over time which makes it seem a bit more legit to me, I guess). They also use only whole flower hops (nearly everyone uses dried pellets) that they keep in a walk-in freezer. Man that freezer smelled great! After our tour, we sat at the bar and worked out way through all the beers I'd never tried, including a series of Single German hop, Belgian Pale Ales that were effing delicious. I brought some growlers to take home some goodies for the kids back home. Unfortunately, in order to use their super-fancy growler filler that takes all the air out of the bottle and allows the growlers to last basically as long as a normal bottle, you have to use their growlers. So we just grabbed it off the tap and will have to drink the stuff by this weekend (which, being the 4th is not a bad thing). Other highlights were Mad Kings Weisse, pursuit pale ale, the Storm King pulled from cask (hop wallop from cask was tasty but I don't think I like my IPAs warm). Oh, and the Baltic Thunder Porter was outstanding. I think Victory is my new favorite brewery.

 

Other random things I picked up and brought back home but have yet to try:

A sampler from Southern Tier in NY, which I've never seen down here

The only two Mikkeller Single Hop IPAs that we can't get in the state (having a beer geek tasting of, now all 10 rather than the 8 we could otherwise get on Fri the 16th)

2008 and 2009 Stone Vertical Epic. Amazing, because you couldn't get your hands on that stuff down here and the VT State store was sitting on 2 years. Bought 4 each for the reserve list at the restaurant.

Plus Unibroue Terrible, Rock Art Belgian IPA, and McNeils Imperial IPA.

 

Will report on those once tasted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool. Would like to do something like this at some point. Sounds like a great time!

 

Chavez a good semi local for you should be Two Bothers Brewery In Warrenville Il (about 20 miles due west of Downtown Chicago.

 

Food is excellent, but the beer is out-freakin-standing. They have actually had to pull out of 6 states they expanded to because their demand has skyrocketed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

High and low lights from our beer-centric road trip:

 

First stop: Dogfish Head. I have always dug the 60 minute and enjoy some of their others as well, to a degree, but, honestly, I guess I just sort of tire of some of it. So few of their beers have enough historical precedent. And when they do, they don't leave well enough alone and just make the beer. I think there's enough room to riff a bit while still staying inside the boundaries of making historically correct beers. That and, isn't it obscure enough to make a Sahti so you don't have to make a Sahti blended with chai spice? Have you ever thought to yourself, "God, I'm just so tired of sahti, someone needs to add a bunch of indian spices and shake up the jar a bit." Regardless, it is obviously working for them and I certainly don't need to give Sam Calagione any tips on running a business. I'm just saying that I find many of their beers more impressive than tasty.

 

At any rate, when only made a point of contacting three breweries ahead of time to set up a tour. These guys, Ommegang, and Victory. These guys were the only one of the three that just sort of threw us in along with the massive, 15 minute, "this is grain, this is hops, these are our cool wooden brewing vessels and btw, we're the fastest growing craft brewery in the world". I actually had a lot of questions I wanted to ask, like more detail on the continuously hopping procedure they use in their 60, 90, and 120. Plus a lot of others, but never really got the chance. To contrast, the tours at Ommegang and Victory were super, super informative and downright inspiring. I digress. The only beer that I tried that I had never had before was the My Antonia, which is a bottle conditioned super-charged pilsner. Pretty tasty. I did really like the gin they make that we tried at the pub but was rather underwhelmed by the pub itself. My burger was kind of lame, actually. They were nice enough to send us on our way with a bottle of the Satea (which I enjoyed more than my wife did) and a one-off called Wrath of Pecant which is a dark ale made with plantain and carob. I brought that back to try with the local geeks because you can't get it outside the brewery.

 

The next day, we drove to Ommegang which, besides being in a really beautiful place, is a stunning brewery and a very interesting story. We had a private tour and tasting. Turns out I got an e-mail from our local rep asking if we could do a dinner with these guys on the 13th because the regional Ommegang dude is going to be in town. So, it was fun actually tasting the beers to write a menu at the brewery itself. At any rate, because all their beers are belgian style, it was really interesting learning about the process, it being somewhat different than most. They also opened and sent us home with some back vintages of their brett beers, Ommegeddon and Biere du Mars. We tried one of the Biere du Mars the next night while camping and it was really, really delicious. I'd forgotten what a great beer the 3 Philosophers is. That certainly needs to make it's way back on the list and I still really, really love the Rare Vos. Which is a so much better version of the same sort of beer Fat Tire is.

 

After the night of camping in Southern VT, we spent the next few exploring up near Burlington, house sitting for someone up there. Zero Gravity Brewery, located at American Flat Bread, is off the freaking chain good. They make a bunch of really cool beers (and the pizza is silly good) as well as offer a great list of other local beers both on tap and in bottle. We went back twice so I could make it through the whole list of beers and they were, without exception, delicious. All over the board too. Pretty much every style. Only available at the pub. We met a local who invited us over afterward to try an aged bottle from her favorite brewery, Southampton (I've only tried their larger production stuff, which I like well enough, but she insisted their 750 series was at another level). It was. She opened a 2008 Saison that was so freaking pretty. Just spices and nuance coming at you from everywhere and a clean, caramel that was just right.

 

Dug what we tasted of Rock Art around town but was a bit annoyed when we called ahead to ask if they were open, made the longish drive out there, and then found that, yes they were open, and had four of their flavors on tap, but that, since it was Monday, they would only fill growlers, not sell tastes. They said they only sold tastes Wed-Sat. I explained we were from NC and would be gone by then but he didn't seem to care. He said he'd be happy to sell me full growlers of each but they don't sell samples on Mondays. :wacko:

 

Magic Hat was pretty lame, actually. The tour, not unlike Dogfish, was packed and very short. Essentially, we stood up at an observation platform and the kid who looked like Bieber just pointed out the bottling line, fermenters, and the rest of the production. Turns out, it didn't much matter because the beer itself was pretty bland. Fine enough, I suppose, just nothing was all that good. The beers that were supposed to be crisp were sort of crisp. Those that were supposed to be powerful were sort of powerful. Not a huge surprise, really but we had time to kill so we figured, what the hell.

 

The other VT highlight was the Alchemist in Waterbury. Another small brewpub that doesn't sell outside the pub. Like Zero Gravity, they made a bunch of styles and all of them were great. Their IPAs, in particular were beautiful.

 

Back through NY and tried unremarkable beer from Brothers in Glens Falls and some actually, pretty bad stuff from Coopers Cave Ales. Most actually seemed flawed. I thought it was from TCA, the bacteria that ruins wines and is often found in cork. Actually tossed the idea of what it could be to the Facebook beer geeks and then asked the guys at Victory the next day. That guy thought it sounded like systemic oxidation. Regardless, most smelled and tasted like wet cardboard.

 

Last stop, Victory. What a freaking operation. Those guys spare no expense when it comes to equipment (that they've been gradually buying over time which makes it seem a bit more legit to me, I guess). They also use only whole flower hops (nearly everyone uses dried pellets) that they keep in a walk-in freezer. Man that freezer smelled great! After our tour, we sat at the bar and worked out way through all the beers I'd never tried, including a series of Single German hop, Belgian Pale Ales that were effing delicious. I brought some growlers to take home some goodies for the kids back home. Unfortunately, in order to use their super-fancy growler filler that takes all the air out of the bottle and allows the growlers to last basically as long as a normal bottle, you have to use their growlers. So we just grabbed it off the tap and will have to drink the stuff by this weekend (which, being the 4th is not a bad thing). Other highlights were Mad Kings Weisse, pursuit pale ale, the Storm King pulled from cask (hop wallop from cask was tasty but I don't think I like my IPAs warm). Oh, and the Baltic Thunder Porter was outstanding. I think Victory is my new favorite brewery.

 

Other random things I picked up and brought back home but have yet to try:

A sampler from Southern Tier in NY, which I've never seen down here

The only two Mikkeller Single Hop IPAs that we can't get in the state (having a beer geek tasting of, now all 10 rather than the 8 we could otherwise get on Fri the 16th)

2008 and 2009 Stone Vertical Epic. Amazing, because you couldn't get your hands on that stuff down here and the VT State store was sitting on 2 years. Bought 4 each for the reserve list at the restaurant.

Plus Unibroue Terrible, Rock Art Belgian IPA, and McNeils Imperial IPA.

 

Will report on those once tasted.

 

This post gave me a :divingboard:

 

I loves me The Three Philosophers. I also enjoy Victory's Golden Monkey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds incredible. I wanna go.

But

You should have a made a trip to Southern Tier's brewery. My buddy went a couple weeks ago and came back gushing about how awesome it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds incredible. I wanna go.

But

You should have a made a trip to Southern Tier's brewery. My buddy went a couple weeks ago and came back gushing about how awesome it was.

You know, I never even knew about them before the trip. I just happened to be at a VT liquor store geeking out on all the rad chight and the guy there went all Jack Black in High Fidelity on me and wouldn't let me leave without taking some Southern Tier. By that time, my wife was finally tiring of the single-minded beer-geekdome of the trip and I think it might have been a bit much to ask to make a point of seeking them out. The only reason we hit the two breweries in Glens Falls was because we stumbled upon them.

 

I do look forward to trying what I brought back. An Imperial Black Ale, Imperial IPA, and Oak IIPA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information