Jun 19, 2012

We were up a little early for the Ben & Jerry's tour so we did some of our own touring of the area. We stopped at Cabot and tried way too many cheeses for any time of the day, but even worse because it was morning. So many good ones. We went to the chocolatier next door and had some small samples. They aren't stupid; they don't give away so many. Then we went to the little general store market where they have mustards and jams. We got a sample of freshly pressed apple cider as we watched the press at work.

Not a bad morning already, but then we went over to the Ben & Jerry's factory tour. It's always interesting even if I know what they do. We got our tasty sample at the end of the tour and then went out to the Scoop Shop to get some more samples before heading out.

Since The Alchemist doesn't exist as a brew pub anymore we went to their brewery/cannery where they brew one beer: Heady Topper. This is constantly trading places with Pliny the Elder as the number one IPA in the world. It's pretty good. I'm not sure why I didn't get a six pack.

Our next stop was Magic Hat's silly, circus brewery. We did the self-tour and then went down to the bar for a few samples of things we hadn't had. For lunch, it was to the Vermont Pub for a beer and a sandwich before heading to Zero Gravity brewing. There are so many on the passport that it gets hard to follow them all.

One of my favorite little places we stopped was Fiddlehead Brewery. It was off the beaten path-ish, and they were really friendly. While we sampled, the bartender offered to let me try a pickled fiddlehead. I accepted, of course, and it was really good. Most pickled things are, but it was nice little quirky thing.

We took a break from beer and hit a couple of wineries since there were a few in the area. We got plenty of small samples, being sure to keep our BAL up while we were off the beer trail, I guess.

Our last Vermont brew stop was Otter Creek. This place has a huge selection of amazing beers. It's probably good we finished here. We got a bunch of samples and some more food to soak it up. We hung out here for a while before heading out.

On our way home we stopped at Willow Park DGC before we left the state. It was mostly open with a few wooded holes. Only 9 holes and none of them too extraordinary, but it was nice getting out of the car and enjoying the weather for a while before sitting in the car for several more hours.

We drove through Albany on the way back, and we couldn't pass up the Albany Pump Station Brewery for dinner and another flight. We were almost burnt out on beer, but they had a good flight and some good food as well.

The rest of the drive home was long and a little sleepy, but we made it back.

Aug 10, 2011

I woke up a little stiff from sleeping in the driver's seat, but we only had a short drive to the Ben and Jerry's factory. We arrived and hopped on the tour that was leaving just then.

Our tour guide was quite funny and walked us through all the steps of ice cream making. They go through a long process of assuring that all of the ingredients are fresh and come from farms that pay decent wages. It's pretty amazing.

We got to see the factory in action and see what each machine does. We could see the little ice cream pints getting filled up and shooting down the conveyor belt. We also learned that all employees get three pints of ice cream per day. That's crazy talk.

The final portion of the tour was where were got to taste the ice cream. The sample of the day was Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream. It was really good, but I have had it before. I was hoping for something special.

When the tour was over we went to the Flavor Graveyard, where there is a headstone for each flavor that has been put on the shelves but later pulled off for one reason or another. I think they said the Sugarplum something-or-other was only on the shelf for six weeks before it was discontinued because no one bought it.

We went to the Scoop Shop to try some other flavors. We tried a good deal that I had never had before and then I got a tart smoothie (Queen of Tarts) made with lemonade sorbet. It was deliciously sour. Too much ice cream in the morning.

Our next stop was the Magic Hat Brewing Company. There was a self-guided tour we did, starting with a strange, but fitting, hallway with strange posters and trippy animals hanging on the walls. We went out to look down on the factory, watching the beer being bottled and boxed up. Alex managed to drop her phone from our twenty-foot perch on the balcony to the factory floor, unnoticed by anyone down there. We had to ask the girl at the front desk to go retrieve it.

Once her phone was safely back in her hand, we went for some samples. I tried several beers that I hadn't had before, including one that isn't in stores yet. I also tried a fresh sample of #9. Apricot-y.

We hunted down the next brewery on our list, The Vermont Pub & Brewery. It was a larger establishment than I expected. We sat at the bar and chose four of their beers to sample. They were all very good. A couple of them were made with sour mash, giving them a uniquely tart flavor that I really like.

After some searching and more than one phone call we found Zero Gravity Brewing, which is located inside a restaurant with a different name. There, we picked eight beers to sample at fifty cents each. Not a bad deal and quite a few really good beers. Some were not great, but it was a nice place and the food looked good as well.

On our way south, we picked up a brochure on the "cheese trail" and figured we should check out a cheese farm while we were in the area. Neighborly Farms was our first stop, where a young tour guide gave us a lot of information on how the cheese is made and answered the several questions I had. He also let us sample some cheeses, including the lemon pepper feta which was amazing. I kept eating little samples. Now we know why it won second place in the Vermont Cheese Awards (or something like that.)

Just down the road was Fat Toad Farms, where they produce goat cheese, caramel and fresh eggs. We sampled five different cheeses in the little hut as well as some caramel sauces. Everything was delicious. We took a quick walking tour of the area and saw the goats as they were being fed and the pigs running around in the mud. It was a nice little break from society.

We left the country roads and got back on the highway to the much-farther-away-than-it-seemed Long Trail Brewery. The brewery and restaurant was located next to a river, next to which we were seated outside with the sun beating down pretty hot. The menu was quite disappointing, so I got a cheddar soup made with their ale and we got the six-beer sampler. The soup was surprisingly tasty and the beers were all quite good. We got to try an IPA that you can only get there as well. I liked it.

In search of good food, we went down to Brattleboro, where the Flat Street Brewpub was the answer to my hungry desires. I ordered a nut burger that was fantastic. I forget where I got one before, but I had forgotten how amazing they are. I also had a red ale that was great. I often write off red ales because I've not liked certain ones in the past.

After dinner we walked down to McNeill's, a small bar with a very small crowd, where we got our last two beers of the night. I ended the day with an oatmeal stout that was a little heavier than I had hoped.

With that, we had completed seven of the fifteen bars on the Vermont Brewery Challenge and got our passport stamped from them. Next time we'll get them all. Overall we tasted thirty different beers in one day. Not bad. I think that's a record for me.

When we got back to the car I was surprised to see that the GPS said we were a mere three hours from home. Well, north Jersey, that is. With that, we got on the road and headed back to Alex's, stopping to grab the studio key from Lindsey along the way. When we got back, I inflated my bed in the basement and happily laid down to sleep.