WILLIAMSVILLE — In August, I noted that Vermont had 24 breweries, the most of any state per capita. Change that to 27 operating breweries and five in the planning or soon-to-open stages.
Brattleboro's Whetstone Station is in the latter category, the restaurant up and running but brewing still a few months away. And presumably coming on line later this year will be the Burlington Beer Company and the Queen City Brewery in Burlington, Freight House Brewing in South Royalton, and Lost Nation Brewing in Morrisville.
It's become tough to keep up with the news, much less the brews. Software engineer James Welch of Burlington helps, with the lively VTBeer.org website that he established and maintains, with links to seemingly all known social media.
But knowing about the breweries doesn't put beer into one's glass; many of the new offerings are tough or downright impossible to find outside the brewhouse - though the same is true of such Vermont veterans as the Bobcat Café & Brewery in Bristol (which began brewing in 2003), Lawson's Finest Liquids of Warren (2008), or Hill Farmstead Brewery of Greensboro (2010).
I need to hit the road to really do it up right, but for now, here are the new pins in the map.
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• Fiddlehead Brewing Company, the veteran of this list, held its grand opening on New Year's Eve 2011. Matt Cohen, whose brewing chops include 14 years as head brewer at Magic Hat, presides over a 15-barrel system in Shelburne.
Michael Shoudt, who works in the tasting room, said, “We're distributing kegs as far south as Rutland at the moment, hoping to be throughout Vermont by next year.”
The flagship beer is the sturdy Fiddlehead IPA, at 6.2% ABV, with other draft offerings at the brewery for growler fills.
• Kingdom Brewing, just outside of Newport, also opened in January 2012. Brian Cook does most of the recipe formulation, but his wife, Jennifer Cook, helps with the brewing on the 4.5-barrel system.
The pair make a hearty IPA, Out-of-Bounds, clocking in at 6% ABV and, on the other end of the spectrum, a light session ale named after their bloodhound, Skinny Bitch, that is a mere 3.1% ABV and 98 calories.
The beers recently went into statewide circulation, so keep an eye open. Otherwise, the tasting room is open on Thursday through Saturday afternoons.
• Foley Brothers Brewing of Brandon, the first brewery in Rutland County opened on Nov. 24. Daniel Foley is doing the brewing, but brother Patrick is on hand, as is sister Christine. The whole family is a spirited bunch, since parents Rhonda and Robert Foley are the founders of the Neshobe River Winery in Brandon.
At the Brattleboro Food Co-op, I found the two current Foley Brothers beers, a Ginger Wheat and a Brown Ale, which both suggest that the brothers know what they're doing.
“We'll have a couple more beers in the spring in the tasting room, a Pale Ale and an Imperial Red Ale,” Daniel said.
• Steve Gagner, a member of the Vermont National Guard, wrote out a business plan for his 14th Star Brewing Company while deployed in Afghanistan. “It was more of a mental exercise than anything,” he said. “But when I returned home, I eventually thought, What am I waiting for?”
Gagner produced one barrel of beer when the doors opened last June in St. Albans. In March, he expects to make 30 barrels of various recipes on his 3.5-barrel system fashioned from maple-sap-collection tanks, including Harvest Brown, 1493 Pale Ale, Valor Ale, Golden Wheat, and Roasted Porter.
• Covered Bridge Craft Brewery opened in Lyndonville in July, producing one beer - Lucky Me - on a one-barrel system, a name that owner Curt Cuccia says could apply to him. “So far so good, anyway; I have no complaints yet,” he said.
Cuccia said, “Lucky Me is a bit of hybrid between a blonde and a pale ale, dry-hopped and finishing at 6% ABV.”
Plans are to construct a growler bar and tasting room this summer, and then start brewing a pale ale and an IPA.
• Drop-In Brewing Company is an outgrowth of the American Brewers Guild brewing school in Middlebury, presided over by a microbrewery veteran, Steve Parkes, whose work history includes a stint as brewmaster at Otter Creek Brewing. (I think that sets the record for the use of the word ”brew” and derivatives in one sentence.)
Housed in a former plumbing warehouse, the facility serves as the hands-on finishing school for students who have completed the school's 22-week correspondence course in brewing science.
But in August, it also became a commercial brewery, distributing six beers throughout the state, including Sunshine and Hoppiness, Heart of Lothian, Red Dwarf, and Black Hole Stout.
• The fourth new Vermont brewery to launch in four months, Grateful Hands Brewing debuted in September. “We specialize in small batch dark ales,” said owner Ricky McLain. “Our flagship beer is a black IPA called Common Sense, and we also have a robust porter (Spare Change), a stout (Courage), a regular IPA (Peak of the Galaxy), and a few others.”
By “small batch,” McLain means about 20 gallons, which is less than one barrel (31.5 gallons). Bottles are being distributed only to a few stores near Cabot, and tours are by appointment only until early summer, when McLain expects to begin regular tastings.
• The Crop Bistro and Brewery is the new kid on the block, though it's taken up residence in the old brewing haunts of the Shed Restaurant in Stowe.
The bistro has been open a year, but the brewing pieces fell into place only last month. Brewmaster Will Gilson is using an eight-barrel system to produce the initial Munich-style Helles Lager, Bavarian Weizen, and a Brown Ale.
Right now, all the production is for on premise. But in about six months, look for growler fills, and then possibly kegging for other locations.