We hereby pause Stout Season to bring you a Sour from the archives!
Have you ever been to Brattleboro Vermont’s Hermit Thrush Brewery? I have… sort of! Back in June, I took a trip to Vermont for my good friend @galleycookinbeersnob’s bachelor party. On my way there, and on my way back, I made it a point to stop by as many breweries as possible. Every time I had to pee, I would search for a brewery near me and make a pit stop.
Lighting got really weird with this can, but the beer was solid! (Credit: Martin Stezano/Beers on Window Sills)
It was on Sunday afternoon, as I was heading back, that I realized I had to go, and found out I was near Hermit Thrush Brewery. I pulled off the highway, followed my Waze App and reached the destination, but there was no parking anywhere that I could find. I went around the block once, and still didn’t see a good place to park, so I hopped back onto the highway and continued my trip. But Hermit Thrush, which is named after the official bird of Vermont and opened back in 2014, looked really cool from the street!
Now, let’s talk about this Gin Barrel Saison, which I actually picked up a one of my local CT liquor stores. Like everything else Hermit Thrush makes, it’s a responsibly-brewed American sour. For this one, they took a saison and fermented and matured it in gin barrels from a rotating list of local distilleries. Sadly, I’m not sure which distillery’s barrels were used to house this batch of the Gin Barrel Saison. Either way, the resulting beer is nice and crisp, with a lot of that gin goodness on the nose and tongue, and a nice, refreshing sweet-tart finish. It’s interesting, for sure!
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