Yeah, go ahead and look up Hardwick VT on Google. You may be asking a question such as... "why the f*ck would you go to Hardwick?". Well, my friend I could not fault you for such a query. As it turned out we were looking at our 3705704705 day of rain this spring and I was getting a little tired of working on my ark so I rooted around for another activity. Well, up in Greensboro Bend there is a little brewery called Hill Farmstead. The brewmaster is a young guy who has travelled, learned, and is currently hitting the cover off the beer ball. I am a huge hops fan and Shaun Hill is a craftsman w/ the hops. He is also down w/ porters, saisons, and some other variations that are really eye opening. So my special lady and I hopped in the car and headed north to check out the brewery. http://hillfarmstead.com/wpblog/
As we headed north we happened to notice a sign for another smaller but semi-famous brewer Rock Art. You may recall Rock Art as the brewer who was sued by the assholes at Monster beverage for calling a beer Vermonster. Well, Rock Art won. Anywho, they make some pretty heady beers and are known for dialing up the alcohol content w/ the Ridge Runner barley wine being a signature and coma inducing number north of 8% booze. http://www.rockartbrewery.com/home . So we stopped into the small tasting room and got ready for a couple beers. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. And were still waiting when we noticed 4 other patrons also waiting glasses empty. There was a guy and a girl talking by the door but it was difficult to tell if either actually worked there. I was just about to pour myself a round when the girl came back to the taps and started actually pouring rather than making small talk w/ some hippy. She was quite engaged and friendly. The beers were fine. I like the Ridge Runner ok and their IPA is decent. Overall it was fun to check out the brewery which was quite small, one medium size warehouse but nothing earth shattering.
Next stop the Hill Farmstead. This one was funny, it is in the middle of nowhere and really looks like somebody's house w/ a barn out back and equipment all over the yard. We found the door and cruised in to the cement floor no nonsense warehouse w/ a ramshackle bar pouring 6 or so beers. It was busy for a small space w/ several folks crowded around the bar. As was anticipated the beer was great. I am a huge fan of the American Pale Ale Edward. The James was also very good. I will not go into the details of the history as their website can explain that. The guy is committed to his roots though. One special treat was their Limoncello beer which was inspired by the drink bearing its name and conceived in Italy. Shit was solid. I would not drink a lot of it but for a sipping beer in small doses it was good. I had heard Master Hill had a bit of a prickly personality but did not find that to be the case. He was there pouring beers and talking about them and how they came about. It was a fun time. They have a cool vibe and great beer.
Last stop was back in Hardwick for dinner at Claire's. The space is very nice and relaxing. They pride themselves on local ingredients. We started w/ beer battered vegetables which were very good and not too heavy. The aoli was also solid. My lady had fettuccine w/ Italian sausage. It was baked which was a surprise and made it a little heavy. There was also too much sausage which our server assured us was not the case. Tasted ok though. I had a brisket which was quite good. The warm cabbage slaw and mashed potatoes were nice additions. Price was reasonable, service was mediocre. Overall I would give it 1 1/4 thumbs up and give it a try if you are in the area. I think a burger would be pretty good there, or the trout.
Anyway, that is enough for now... check back later this week for Jay About the Movies... Whoopie T-Pain looks forward to seeing you there!
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