
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
Opened 1995, grungy stoner-biker dive,
THREE NEEDS BREWERY, was located just off Burlington’s Church Street promenade -within walking distance of American Flatbread and Vermont Pub. The above picture is from its new (since 2012) Pearl Street location.
Old wood floors match oaken bar covered with
Simpsons paraphernalia, sundry books, and liquor bottles. Rear billiards table leads to low ceiling basement where rustic Grundy serving tanks offered respectable ever-changing selection of brewer Glenn Walter’s fare.
Before noon, I popped in with wife and kids to sample a few, November ’06.
Quaffed dry corn-husked, Saaz-hopped, earthen-grained, lemon-bitter
Czech Pilsner, peat-malted, tingly-hopped, date-dried, tea-sugared
ESB, spicy brown-sugared, alcohol-burnt, prune-fig-date-secured
Bock Beer,and frothy espresso-wafted, coffee-burnt, hazelnut-fringed, cellar-musty
Chocolate Thunder Porter.
Walter then brought out two somewhat similarly styled sour ales. Dry green grape-soured, horseblanket-leathered, hay-grassed, soft-watered, gueuze-puckered
Lambic and oaken white grape-dried, limestone-chalked, cherry-cranberry-tart
Flanders Sour Red.
Best bet: warmly perfume-spiced, cherry-banana-bruised, piney-hopped, 10% alcohol-fumed
Belgian Triple.
Along with Magic Hat party starter, Ross Thompson, checked out new brewer Jon Mc Cracken’s latest offerings, January ‘09. Honey-creamed citric-backed
Blonde and molasses-sweetened, black cherry-soured, cola-nutty
Scottish Ale sufficed. Unconventional deviance,
California Lager, had brimstone-spiced stone-fruited herbal-tinged aridity.
www.brewersvt.com