A Visit to Vermont Pub & Brewery

“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” ~Thomas A. Edison

August 6: The first thing I did today was go back to Magic Hat so I could meet Brewmaster Todd Haire in person and thank him for the $100-worth of Shell gasoline cards. We had a nice time chatting and then he gifted me a 6-year old champagne bottle of his Chaotic Chemistry wood-aged barleywine and a pound of vanilla beans. My husband Jon already has ideas for using those vanilla beans.

Then I visited Greg Noonan’s Vermont Pub & Brewery. Head Brewer Russ Fitzpatrick (photo above) was hard at work in the basement brewery. He gave me a full tour and then I enjoyed lunch with Greg’s partner Steve Polewacyk. The menu was extensive and the beers covered a broad range of hoppy and not-so-hoppy ale styles and a sour-mashed lager.

I was disappointed to miss Greg’s Spuyten Duyvil, a wood infused sour red Flemish ale. Greg painted the awesome artwork for the beer, of a Devil making a sour face and spitting out his beer. He calls it his pièce de résistance. If you visit, be sure to look up to see Greg’s painting/sign hanging over the bar. (Photo of Greg's painting at left.)

In the afternoon I headed for the local laundromat to pick up my bundle of fresh laundry. Greg cooked up a lobster feast for us including corn on the cob and grilled green peppers (photo below).

We enjoyed it with some of the beers I’ve been collecting and Greg regaled me with stories of brewpub ownership and some of the lessons he’s learned over the years. Afterwards I packed for my early morning flight, and stayed up too late, of course. It is easy (and fun) to stay up too late when Greg Noonan is your host.