Feast your Irish eyes on these Vermont-made, Celtic-inspired brews
If your Irish eyes are eying some Irish beer as St. Patrick’s Day approaches, you have the luck of the Irish – Vermont has plenty of options for Celtic-inspired brews made by local breweries.
Marking the holiday dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland by drinking copious amounts of alcohol is, of course, a bad idea on a number of levels. Enjoying a Green Mountain State take on the beers of the Emerald Isle, however – a pint or two, and definitely nothing that has been dyed green for the occasion – is a good way to tap into the nation’s rich brewing heritage.
So relax in a cozy bar or restaurant, or in your favorite chair at home, with some of these rich and flavorful Irish-style beers made right where you live.
The Alchemist
Brewery co-founder John Kimmich posted a video on social media in February announcing the seasonal return of the Stowe beer maker’s Donovan’s Red. The Irish red ale has “just the most killer malt character underneath the hops,” Kimmich says in the video as he cracks open a can and pours the amber-brown brew into a glass.
Burlington Beer
The brewery/restaurant announced March 7 on social media that it joined with Vermont-based Barr Hill Distillery on a brew called Hawthorne Gate, "featuring the complex flavors of roasted, dark malts with the foundation of a traditional Irish style Stout. " According to the post, the stout includes local raw honey and juniper berries "landcrafted" from Barr Hill's parent company, Caledonia Spirits.
Goodwater Brewery
A regular offering at this Williston brewery’s taproom/restaurant, Inspired is an Irish red ale that literally puts the red in Inspired. “It does everything for the style and packs in all of your malty needs,” a reviewer on the BeerAdvocate website noted in a critique of Inspired.
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Not only does the Waitsfield brewery feature an Irish-inspired beer – McPeake’s Nitro Irish Stout – it brews that beer with malt from the Cork-based Malting Company of Ireland. The brew is “light in body with notes of lightly roasted coffee,” according to the Lawson’s Finest Liquids website.
Mill River Brewing BBQ & Smokehouse
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at this brewery and eatery in St. Albans with Moe’s Irish Red Ale. Mill River announced on social media in early March that the Irish-styled brew is back in cans at the brewery’s taproom and at stores.
The Norwich Inn/Jasper Murdock Ales
This long-time brewer in the Connecticut River valley offers its Whistling Pig Red Ale – “inspired by an Irish classic,” according to the inn’s website - at the taphouse in Norwich. The brewery describes Whistling Pig as “garnet red in color and full bodied with a rounded malty flavor and lingering hop aftertaste.”
Vermont Pub & Brewery
Vermont’s original brewpub – the Vermont Pub & Brewery opened in Burlington in 1988 – has a signature brew that celebrates Irish beer culture year-round. The brewer at College and St. Paul streets says on its website that Burly Irish Ale is a “lightly roasty smooth Irish Red Ale. Malty, rich, creamy and mellow, and not too bitter.”
Zero Gravity Craft Brewery
The nitrogen-infused Irish Cream Porter by another Burlington brewer, Zero Gravity, comes in cans emblazoned with a four-leaf clover. The brew “is inspired by the flavor profile of Irish cream,” according to Zero Gravity’s website. “The dark and roasty malt is perfectly balanced by sweet additions of cacao nibs and Tahitian vanilla.”
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Irish-inspired beer made in Vermont to celebrate St. Patrick's Day
