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Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Beer 2015: The Year in Beer
Posted
By Hannah Palmer Egan
on Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Holy beer, Batman!
If last year was a banner year for Vermont beer, 2015 easily outdid it. In terms of numbers, we didn't see quite as many new breweries open as last year (I'm counting eight 2015 openings — or imminent openings — to 2014's 11), but dozens of existing producers expanded their output in major ways. Which means there was more Vermont beer on the market than ever before — by a long shot.
So we saw more bottles and cans on retail shelves — breweries continued to shift from 22-ounce, "bomber" bottles to smaller bottles and cans — which made going to the gas station a whole lot more fun. And heretofore hard-to-find-in-stores beers, such as ones from Williston's Burlington Beer Company, Brattleboro's Hermit Thrush Brewery (both 2014 debuts), Burlington's Zero Gravity Craft Brewing and Stowe's von Trapp Brewing, became widely available.
Since Vermonters are champion beer drinkers, nothing stayed on shelves long. Emboldened by drinkers' seemingly insatiable thirst for the latest, greatest, most exciting samples, brewers continued to be creative. I'd argue that 2015 brought Vermont's most fascinating array of new beers yet. (More on that below, including my list of "bests.")
Bars and restaurants responded by hosting more beer-focused dinners and events than ever. It seems the public finally began to grasp the idea that beer could be as friendly to food as is wine.
Those meals were particularly rampant during the inaugural Vermont Beer Week in September. And it's noteworthy that Beer Week was organized not by any group of breweries or by the Vermont Brewers Association, but guerrilla-style by a couple of Chittenden County beer freaks. Appalled that the state didn't have a beer week, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
On to the nitty-gritty...
If last year was a banner year for Vermont beer, 2015 easily outdid it. In terms of numbers, we didn't see quite as many new breweries open as last year (I'm counting eight 2015 openings — or imminent openings — to 2014's 11), but dozens of existing producers expanded their output in major ways. Which means there was more Vermont beer on the market than ever before — by a long shot.
So we saw more bottles and cans on retail shelves — breweries continued to shift from 22-ounce, "bomber" bottles to smaller bottles and cans — which made going to the gas station a whole lot more fun. And heretofore hard-to-find-in-stores beers, such as ones from Williston's Burlington Beer Company, Brattleboro's Hermit Thrush Brewery (both 2014 debuts), Burlington's Zero Gravity Craft Brewing and Stowe's von Trapp Brewing, became widely available.
Since Vermonters are champion beer drinkers, nothing stayed on shelves long. Emboldened by drinkers' seemingly insatiable thirst for the latest, greatest, most exciting samples, brewers continued to be creative. I'd argue that 2015 brought Vermont's most fascinating array of new beers yet. (More on that below, including my list of "bests.")
Bars and restaurants responded by hosting more beer-focused dinners and events than ever. It seems the public finally began to grasp the idea that beer could be as friendly to food as is wine.
Those meals were particularly rampant during the inaugural Vermont Beer Week in September. And it's noteworthy that Beer Week was organized not by any group of breweries or by the Vermont Brewers Association, but guerrilla-style by a couple of Chittenden County beer freaks. Appalled that the state didn't have a beer week, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
On to the nitty-gritty...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Farmers Market Kitchen Farmers Market Kitchen: Winter Squash and Bread Stew
Posted
By Hannah Palmer Egan
on Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 1:57 PM
Despite the mild weather, I've had soup on the brain lately — but not the thick, slow-cooked things I usually make at this time of year. Instead, I've been whipping up super-quick, small batches of liquid warmth based around the several quarts of turkey stock I made after Thanksgiving.
I mentioned this in a post a few weeks ago, so I won't go into much detail here, but (particularly in winter) I'm a huge advocate of keeping fresh stock on hand or in the freezer. It's so easy to make and such a boon in the kitchen! If making it isn't your thing, you can find some decent ones in the soup aisle at most grocers.
Last week, I threw together a sweet little stew with market kabocha squash (I can't remember the farm), some forgotten pac choy from the crisper and half a rock-hard baguette I had kicking around (reason No. 672 to keep stale bread). And it was the heartiest little 20-minute meal I've made in quite some time. It can also be vegan when made with veggie stock.
Squash bonus points (for another use): Toast the seeds on your stovetop!
I mentioned this in a post a few weeks ago, so I won't go into much detail here, but (particularly in winter) I'm a huge advocate of keeping fresh stock on hand or in the freezer. It's so easy to make and such a boon in the kitchen! If making it isn't your thing, you can find some decent ones in the soup aisle at most grocers.
Last week, I threw together a sweet little stew with market kabocha squash (I can't remember the farm), some forgotten pac choy from the crisper and half a rock-hard baguette I had kicking around (reason No. 672 to keep stale bread). And it was the heartiest little 20-minute meal I've made in quite some time. It can also be vegan when made with veggie stock.
Squash bonus points (for another use): Toast the seeds on your stovetop!
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Farmers Market Kitchen Farmers Market Kitchen: Litigious Whiskey Grey
Posted
By Hannah Palmer Egan
on Tue, Dec 15, 2015 at 3:59 PM
Smugglers' Notch Distillery spent much of the last two years in litigation with Campari Group, which produces Campari, Wild Turkey and Skyy Vodka, among other international liquor brands. At issue was a name: The Italian booze behemoth deemed the "Smugglers' Notch" in the Cambridge micro-distillery's moniker to be too close to its Old Smuggler blended whiskey, and took the tiny spirit producer to court over it.
The litigants settled the case in May 2014. Smugglers' Notch can keep its company name, and spirits licensed before the lawsuit will retain their original branding, according to distillery owner Ron Elliott. But, going forward, any new "dark" spirits (anything that's not clear, basically) must be given a "fanciful or arbitrary name," and that name must be larger than the company name on any labeling.
At the time, Elliott, along with his son and co-owner Jeremy Elliott, had wheat whiskey (some of it distilled on site) aging in barrels. They would have loved to release it "just following the lawsuit," the elder Elliott says, but the spirit needed more age. So they waited ... and waited.
And this fall, the distillery bottled and labeled its Litigation Wheat Whiskey, an amber-hued sipper with notes of brandy, caramel and vanilla, rested three years in charred oak.
Today, I made a caffeinated cocktail with it and dubbed it the Litigious Whiskey Grey, so named for the lawsuit and tea that is its main mixer.
The litigants settled the case in May 2014. Smugglers' Notch can keep its company name, and spirits licensed before the lawsuit will retain their original branding, according to distillery owner Ron Elliott. But, going forward, any new "dark" spirits (anything that's not clear, basically) must be given a "fanciful or arbitrary name," and that name must be larger than the company name on any labeling.
At the time, Elliott, along with his son and co-owner Jeremy Elliott, had wheat whiskey (some of it distilled on site) aging in barrels. They would have loved to release it "just following the lawsuit," the elder Elliott says, but the spirit needed more age. So they waited ... and waited.
And this fall, the distillery bottled and labeled its Litigation Wheat Whiskey, an amber-hued sipper with notes of brandy, caramel and vanilla, rested three years in charred oak.
Today, I made a caffeinated cocktail with it and dubbed it the Litigious Whiskey Grey, so named for the lawsuit and tea that is its main mixer.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Farmers Market Kitchen Farmers Market Kitchen: Weekday Soup for One
Posted
By Hannah Palmer Egan
on Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 1:50 PM
One of the perks of this very warm fall is the extended harvest of late greens — my home garden is still giving arugula, and the greenhouse produce coming from area farms is just so robust and lush and gorgeous. Visit a winter farmers market and you'll be amazed by the wealth of greenery bursting from the market stalls — or the produce section at your local grocer.
Right now Pete's Greens is harvesting gorgeous baby bok choy. Along with some local shiitakes, a farm egg and a slice of stale bread, this made a delightful, super-quick brunchy soup, but I'm psyched to throw it in a stir-fry later, too.
But about the soup. A soup can only be as good as the stock you make it with. So if you're not in the habit of making stock yourself, I urge you to give it a go.
Do you ever roast a chicken for dinner? Prefer chicken thighs or drumsticks instead? Take the bones, dust them in salt and pepper and throw them in a pot with quartered onions, herbs and a few stalks of celery. Cover with water and let simmer for several (mostly unattended) hours, adding more water occasionally if you feel like you should. You don't even have to peel the onions or de-stem the herbs or chop the celery, since you'll strain everything but the liquid away anyhow.
Right now Pete's Greens is harvesting gorgeous baby bok choy. Along with some local shiitakes, a farm egg and a slice of stale bread, this made a delightful, super-quick brunchy soup, but I'm psyched to throw it in a stir-fry later, too.
But about the soup. A soup can only be as good as the stock you make it with. So if you're not in the habit of making stock yourself, I urge you to give it a go.
Do you ever roast a chicken for dinner? Prefer chicken thighs or drumsticks instead? Take the bones, dust them in salt and pepper and throw them in a pot with quartered onions, herbs and a few stalks of celery. Cover with water and let simmer for several (mostly unattended) hours, adding more water occasionally if you feel like you should. You don't even have to peel the onions or de-stem the herbs or chop the celery, since you'll strain everything but the liquid away anyhow.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Farmers Market Kitchen Farmers Market Kitchen: Woodstove Pumpkin Seeds
Posted
By Hannah Palmer Egan
on Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 1:50 PM
I'd planned to feature something leftovers-y this week — turkey potpie has been on my mind. But after a long Thanksgiving weekend of hosting, feasting, family and travel, I'm pooped. So rather than go all in with pie crusts, bone-stocks and ovens, I'm making simple, snackable treats, like pumpkin seeds.
Given that pumpkin is just a squash, you can use winter squash seeds of any kind. And since now is the time for roasting and mashing and souping fall's sweet, long-storing gourds (maybe you have one in your CSA basket this week?), seeds are a bonus snack that will recall childhood or chips, depending on the person. Either way, they're delightful. And I'll take any excuse to stand over the woodstove on a wet December day.
I make mine boiled in saltwater, then toasted on the stovetop with plenty of butter, clean and salty and crunchy. And all you need is seeds, salt and the fat of your choice.
Here's how.
Given that pumpkin is just a squash, you can use winter squash seeds of any kind. And since now is the time for roasting and mashing and souping fall's sweet, long-storing gourds (maybe you have one in your CSA basket this week?), seeds are a bonus snack that will recall childhood or chips, depending on the person. Either way, they're delightful. And I'll take any excuse to stand over the woodstove on a wet December day.
I make mine boiled in saltwater, then toasted on the stovetop with plenty of butter, clean and salty and crunchy. And all you need is seeds, salt and the fat of your choice.
Here's how.
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