Zero Gravity Craft Brewery: Little Wolf

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery: Little Wolf

Hops: Horizon, Citra, Mosaic

Malts: Barley, Oats

ABV: 4.7%

IBU: 40

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.68/5

Something’s howling on the Windowsill today!

You can’t talk about Zero Gravity Craft Brewery’s Little Wolf Pale Ale without talking about Humulus Lupulus. No, that’s not one of those funny latin names they put under the Road Runner at the beginning of the cartoons. Humulus Lupulus is a plant. More specifically, a hop plant. While Humulus is the word used to describe the genus where all hop plants live, lupulus is the latin meaning “little wolf.” The plant was named this way because of its diminutive size, and the way it tends to grow, choking out all other plants like a wolf does sheep… or at least how they did back when the plant was named.
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The Little Wolf is a pale ale that I enjoyed during my trip to Vermont. Like with yesterday’s Wilson’s Plover, I have to thank @americanflatbread for the Windowsill. The beer is brewed with barley, oats and a solid combo of hops: Horizon, Citra and Mosaic. It’s definitely sessionable, absolutely crushable, and overall pretty damn tasty. The Little Wolf is a perfect complement to the delicious flatbread pizza we enjoyed for lunch that day.

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Zero Gravity Craft Brewery: Wilson’s Plover

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery: Wilson's Plover

Hops: Azacca

Malts: Pilsner

ABV: 6.2%

IBU: 20

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 3.7/5

‘Tis the Saison on the Windowsill today!

Some beers are for the birds. While today’s brew, from Vermont’s Zero Gravity Craft Brewery is not for the birds, it is named after a local bird—the Wilson’s Plover. The bird was named after famed ornithologist Alexander Wilson (I wish my friends named a bird after me) in 1814. It’s a coastal wader, meaning it basically sticks to the coast, and sand bars and what not, wading around, living that beach life. Perfect summer bird, for a perfect summer beer.

I really enjoyed this Saison. I had it during my trip to Vermont a couple of weeks ago—I’m still going through all the beer I photographed and bought there, so bear with me—at American Flatbread Burlington Hearth in Burlington. American Flatbread is where Zero Gravity got its start, so it was a cool place to eat lunch at with the fellows. The Wilson’s Plover is a saison brewed with Pilsner malts and Azacca hops. The hops really bring out that dry saison finish, which made it really refreshing and gave the beer style a uniquely American twist. Good stuff!

Check this post out on Instagram for a few photos from American Flatbread, too!

The Alchemist: Crusher

The Alchemist: Crusher

ABV: 8.0%

IBU: 110

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.38/5

Crushing beers, and cans, on the Windowsill today!

Ever wonder why the symbol for The Alchemist is an R? No, it doesn’t stand for “Really awesome beer.” It’s actually not an R at all. It’s a stylistical re-imagining of the ancient alchemist symbol for fermentation. The name of the brewery was inspired by a friend of owner John Kimmich, who owned the Vermont Pub and Brewery. Kimmich has said: “In the Vermont Pub and Brewery’s old logo, there was a tiny symbol. [John’s friend] told me that it was the alchemical symbol for fermentation.” John and his wife loved that so much, they named their entire brewery after it, always trying to “turn matter into gold.”

As for the Crusher, wow. It’s a double IPA that Alchemist has been brewing since its old days as a brewpub. According to the can, hopheads were always asking for more and more hops. John gave them the Crusher. It’s super hop forward, with a really dry finish. Hazy, herbal, hoppy and delicious. I was unable to find out what hops are used, but some seem to think it’s Simcoe because of the oniony, herbal flavor and aroma. Really delicious DIPA.

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The Alchemist: Skadoosh 23

The Alchemist: Skadoosh 23

Hops: Citra and Simcoe cryo hops

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating (with different recipes)

@untappd says: 4.26/5

Is someone performing the Wuxi Finger Hold on the Windowsill today?

This past weekend, I fulfilled one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I got into the craft beer game: I visited The Alchemist. I got to Stowe, Vermont around 5:30 or so, and the lads and I immediately popped over to The Alchemist’s beautiful, state-of-the-art taproom—it opened officially in June of 2016—for a visit before closing. I was bowled over by the beauty of the building, the decorated tanks and artwork inside, and just how pristinely clean everything was. We quickly hustled over to the tasting bar, where they were pouring two-ounce samples of Heady Topper, Focal Banger and Holy Cow… for free! After we drank our samples, we all bought as much beer as we could carry and headed off to dinner. It was a brief visit, but at least I can say I’ve been. Bucket List Brewery visit…achieved!

Among the many cans of beer I purchased at Alchemist, was the Skadoosh. I did not know this before I drank it, but it turns out the Skadoosh is a rotating series of IPAs that Alchemist makes with different recipes every time. There have been 23 varieties up to this point, and I got variety 23—fresh from the canning line! This variety is interesting, in that it’s the first variety of Skadoosh to be 100% chyo-hopped. That means that only the concentrated lupulin of whole-leaf hops is used. You get all the intense hop flavor and aroma, without all the other stuff. The Skadoosh 23 uses Simcoe and Citra cryo hops. I really loved it. It’s super up front with the hops, but still very citrusy and tasty. Get down to Stowe and give it a try!

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Foam Brewers: Dance Yrself Clean

Foam Brewers: Dance Yrself Clean

ABV: 7.0%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 4.24/5

It’s time to dance on the Windowsill today!

This past weekend, I took a trip to Vermont for the bachelor party of my good pal @drinkcraftscookwithcast. When my beer pal, @zacporter, found out I was going to Burlington, he told me I had to hit up Foam Brewers because it was one of the best breweries in the state. He wasn’t lying. Check out a few photos from my trip!

The Vermont craft scene is one of the oldest in the country. While Foam Brewers has only been around since 2016, the people behind it—Todd Haire, Robert Grim, Sam Keane, Jon Farmer, and Dani Casey—are some of the best brewery professionals in the state’s recent history. They have experience at places like Magic Hat, Switchback, and several others around the North East. We’re talking decades of experience. The group focuses its brew strategy on small batches, which means they’re always experimenting with great recipes.

We didn’t have much time to spend at the brewery, so I went bold with my order. Foam is known for its incredible New England IPAs, but I went with a little brew named Dance Yrself Clean. It’s a fruited sour brewed with lactose, but there’s much more to it. It’s then conditioned on pineapple, coconut and lime zest. Foam describes it as a mix between a mojito and a piña colada, and I gotta say that’s pretty accurate. The sour base was tasty, but the fruit, coconut and lactose added some really good sweetness to balance it out. Really delicious, and super interesting. Next time I go, I’ll make sure to grab some food, and try out some of their really good IPAs… and maybe have another Dance Yrself Clean!

Check this one out on Instagram, now!

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Weyerbacher Brewing Company: Sunday Molé Stout

Weyerbacher Brewing Company: Sunday Molé Stout

ABV: 11.3%

IBU: N/A

Availability: Rotating

@untappd says: 3.98/5

It might not be Sunday where you are, but it is on my Windowsill!

I love a good Mexican stout, don’t you? Chocolate, cinnamon and chilli peppers? Yes, please! I’ve always been curious though. Why do stouts amalgamate so well with the intense flavors from the peppers? It’s all about the thick body. As Bon Appetít Magazine said, the malty backbone of the stout is simply strong enough to support it all. The sweetness of the higher ABV highlights the flavor of the peppers, while the creamy body acts like a fire extinguisher, suppressing enough of the heat to make the beer comfortable to drink. It’s the best of all worlds!

The Sunday Molé stout from Pennsylvania’s Weyerbacher Brewing Company takes the Mexican stout one step further, really capturing the flavors of traditional Mexican molé poblano. Coffee, chocolate, heat and smokiness were what I needed from this brew, and those flavors were definitely playing a Ranchera on my tastebuds. This stout has it all: cocoa powder, cacao nibs; ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle peppers; and the cinnamon kick that brings it all together. Really liked this one!

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