Yankee Brew News Archive

Vermont Pub & Brewery Tastings Warm Winter Evenings

Originally Published: Sum/93

Through the long Vermont winter of 1993, Greg and Nancy Noonan of Burlington's Vermont Pub & Brewery kept fine beverage lovers happy with biweekly tastings and seminars.

Beginning on February 1 with 12 single malt scotches, and culminating March 29 with a festive sampling from all six of Vermont's commercial brewers, patrons happily dug themselves out of the snow and trudged to the Noonans' establishment in downtown Burlington on Monday nights. Tastings were complemented by food matched to the evening's theme, prepared by Amy Freeman, Vermont Pub & Brewery's very talented kitchen manager.

Nancy Noonan hosted an evening entitled "Beverages of Colonial New England." A history buff, Nancy recreated original recipes and explained practices of the colonial period, including colorful anecdotes about our hard-drinking forefathers. Other theme evenings in the series included Beer and Chocolate, The Beers of Belgium, Scottish Ales, Wee Heavies and Barleywines.

Greg Noonan acquired many unusual and interesting beers for the tastings, and often complemented the flights with examples brewed by Glenn Walter of the Vermont Pub & Brewery. On March 15, at the Scottish Ales event, guests enjoyed such fine examples as 1993 Auld Tartan at its first tapping (Greg feels this is the finest edition yet), as well as the 1991 Glennwalter Wee Heavy and the 1991 Auld Barley Bree. Guests also relished three scotch ales from Scottish breweries, and compared these to a barleywine and a Bavarian dopplebock. Crowd favorites were Traquair House Ale and the 1991 Glennwalter Wee Heavy. Foods paired with the fine scotch ales included smoked salmon, toad-in-the-hole and shortbread with strawberry coulis.

It is no wonder that Vermont enjoys the distinction of being home to more breweries per capita than any other state. When all the Vermont breweries come together to showcase their brews, beer lovers are always in for a treat. At the last tasting of the season, 50 guests sipped such outstanding Vermont products as Catamount Bock, Long Trail IPA, Otter Creek Copper, Windham's Whetstone Lager, and McNeill's Bohemian Pils.

Vermont's brewers will assemble again on September 11 and 12 from 12-6 p.m. on both days, in Burlington's new Waterfront Park for the Vermont Brewers Festival. Call J. Canning at (802) 864-5927 for more information.