Yankee Brew News Archive

A Pint of Ale and a Bit of History: The Woodstock Brewing Company & Brewpub

Originally Published: 03/95

By: Sterling Perrin

If you visit the Woodstock Inn in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, and look at the back of the menu, you can read an interesting piece entitled A Bit of History. It tells the story of two innkeepers named Scott and Eileen Rice who opened a modest Bed & Breakfast in 1982 and turned it into what is now the Woodstock Inn and Station. The story needs to be revised because in March Scott and Eileen added the Woodstock Brewing Company & Brewpub, adding yet another chapter to the Rice's family history.

Planning for the brewpub began in August of 1994, after both Scott and Eileen noticed that the Inn's regular customers were consistently choosing microbrewed beers over domestic beers. They saw a microbrewery as an opportunity. We opened a brewpub to stay competitive in the market. We realized that there was a change going on in people's drinking habits, said Eileen.

And, added Scott, it's something that's interested us for a number of years.

Butch Chase and Susan Marcum, both long-time employees at the Inn, and Scott learned the craft of brewing in Kennebunkport, Maine under the tutorship of Mike Hall, and Alan Pugsley of Peter Austin & Associates. The Rice's are brewing their beer in a seven-barrel Peter Austin & Associates system. Initially, the Rices will produce 21 barrels of ale per week, roughly 217 gallons.

Customers can view the brewing process through a glass partition while sipping their ales, and they have four full-flavored brews to choose from. Laughing Loon Light, which is dark golden in color and has a dry, crisp hoppy flavor, without bitterness; Red Rack amber, which is a full-bodied, robust ale that is malty up front with good malt/hop balance; Laughing Loon Ale, which is light in color with a crisp, dry flavor with a hint of sweetness up front; and Old Man Oatmeal Stout. By the summer, both Scott and Eileen plan to have two more ales on tap; Pemi Maple Porter which is a full-bodied dark ale, utilizing 10% Maple syrup, giving a silky smooth flavor with a subtle black patent malt character, and Pigs Ear Brown Ale.

The recipes were developed in cooperation with brewmasters Alan Pugsley and Mike Hall, and the names were contributed by local residents through a contest held in the fall. Fittingly, Scott and Eileen settled on names that reflect local history. Pigs Ear, Eileen explains, is a section of Lincoln (the next town over). During Prohibition, that's where people went to drink.

Homemade root beer and one guest microbrew beer will also be offered on draft.

The Woodstock Inn and Station is full of local history. Take away the food, drink, and lodging and what remains is a museum. The main house of the Inn is over 100 years old and was originally occupied by the Clement family. The building was left empty for nearly twenty years before Scott and Eileen purchased it, restored it as close as possible to its original decor, and opened their Bed and Breakfast in 1982.

The Clement Room, reserved for fine dining, was named in honor of the Inn's original occupants. They offer a breakfast menu, and a Sunday Brunch. For evening meals they offer a fine cuisine such as Duck Bombay, Veal Gerhart, Filet Mignon, Mountain Berry Chicken, and Filet Barcelona Style.

Behind the Inn sits the Lincoln Railroad Station, although this is not the Station's original home. In the summer of 1984, when a shopping mall threatened to destroy the station (which dates back to 1800s), Scott and Eileen bought the historic building. They had the building literally sawed in half, and moved to it's present location behind the Inn.

What was the freight room of the station is now the bar area. Unique to the bar area is a portion of a Vermont barber shop, complete with seats and mirrors dating back to the 1800s, that make up the rear wall. The passenger waiting area serves as the lower dining room, and The Stationmaster's Office has been preserved and serves as a small dining room. While dining in the Station, customers sit in 150 year old theater seats that came from the Lakeport Opera house, in Laconia.

Customers may have breakfast, lunch, or dinner in the brewpub, or in any of the several dining rooms within the Woodstock Station and Stock Room. The menu offers All Aboard for Appetizers" featuring Onion Blossoms, Escargot, Frog Legs Provencale (these are the Frogs That Got Caught on the Track) and Grilled Cajun Shrimp to mention a few appetizers; spicy meals from the Mexican Connection, sandwiches from Sandwiched Between the Track," and chicken, pork, pasta and beef selections from the Main Line. The Station now serves as the lounge for the Inn and serves a pub-style menu for lunch and dinner.

The outcome of the microbrewery chapter in the Rice family history has yet to be written, but the successes of their past ventures --from starting a Bed and Breakfast from the abandoned Clement House to re-routing the fate of the Lincoln Railroad Station--gives a good indication of what to expect. As brewer Butch Chase observed, Anytime you do something with Scott and Eileen Rice, you know it's going to be an adventure.

The Woodstock Inn and Station is located on Main Street, Route 3, in North Woodstock, New Hampshire. It is down the road from Loon Mountain, six miles from Cannon Mountain, and about 20 miles northwest of Waterville Valley Recreation Area. For more information, call Scott or Eileen Rice at (603) 745-3951.