Artwork for the beer lover in your life.
Beer is certainly all the rage these days. Ever since the craft brew laws and home brewing laws opened up a few decades ago it seems the craft brewery market has exploded.
No longer are we faced with only national brands offering the same tasting mass produced lagers with the only differentiation being price per case.
Flavor, variety, locality, freshness and most of all excitement of the hunt for something new and different to share with friends rather than the same old standbys.
Rather then a quick grab of a case determined by brand loyalty and familiarity, today you see people making thoughtful purchasing decisions by the supermarket refrigerators.
I recently joked with a fellow older beer buyer about how in the past we’d just pick something and now it seems like a decision process that takes fifteen minutes.
Which beers are new? What’s local? What haven’t we tried? What would our guests like? Hoppy or smooth? Porter, stout, IPA, fruit infused, hints of coffee and dark chocolate, unfiltered — the choices seem endless unlike the old days of light or regular.
Lately I’ve had a couple of craft beer experiences. One was tracking down the Hill Farmstead brewery way up in the Northern Kingdom region of Vermont. Known for farming, cheese making, maple sugar, cross country skiing and now for beer brewing, the Hill Farmstead brewery consistently is called the best brewery in America.
You’d think no one would visit such a remote brewery located on the family farm, down an unmarked dirt road but there at the end was a parking lot full of cars and a line out the door to get a beer or growler filled.
Next up was a beer tasting dinner at the Eastman Center “Bistro” sponsored by The Bistro and the Van Trapp Brewery. Famous (The Sound of Music) Maria’s youngest son was there. He started the cross country ski center at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe back in 1965 and the brewery about a decade ago. His son, Maria’s grandson lead the beer tasting from a welcoming Kolsh, through various courses of meal with various lagers from light to dark.
The Van Trapps made the decision to create great lagers and make them “sessionable” which means having 5% alcohol or less. Beers you can enjoy multiple pints of without getting knocked out. Some craft beers these days have such high alcohol content, just one makes you ready for bed.
