Vermont Hopped, Vermont Coffee.

Vermont Hopped, Vermont Coffee.

I came upon a couple of creative ads one day. One had an army officer of high rank analyzing a map aboard a ship. He had a bullet in his head and chest. He was drinking coffee with complete focus. The next ad showed someone aboard a submarine at control panels with a cup of coffee on his desk. This guy had a back full of bullet holes. The coffee brought the dead back to life. The ads were brilliant. Since that day, my mind opened up to coffee and I began to travel in search of some great and local grounds. I don’t know why--but that’s how I came into the coffee world. That was many years ago.

Lately I’ve been corresponding with  Philip Goodlaxson, roast master of Corvus Coffee Roasters over in Colorado. I’ve been in search of hopped coffee for the last month. This guy was very professional and really cool to talk with. Unfortunately The distance and distribution was too big a hurdle so I decided to try local. For all you folks over in Colorado though, check out some of their coffees.

The coffee craft is getting a lot of sun and the culture is maturing. I met Benjamin Lee from a mutual friend very recently--just a few weeks before the grand opening of my store. We talked cold brew. There were a few things that I was curious about with the Vermont coffee culture. I had questions:

“Where are the cold brews? where are the hopped coffees?”

It’s happening all around us. I know Stumptown Coffee Roasters stepped into the scene but why hasn’t it come up from within? I knew that a Vermonters mind was in cold brew planning. It always happens this way. You come up with a brilliant idea and someone is one step ahead of you going into business. That’s where Ben was--one step ahead. He had just received his LLC and I invited him to sample his cold brew.

First of all, congratulations to Vermont’s first cold brew company - Northern Bayou Cold Brew! Secondly, I told Ben my desire to bring the first hopped coffee to Vermont. We had a few weeks to go before grand opening. Growler Garage owner Brian Stone got Ben in contact with Vermont Artisan Coffee, and Benjamin met with Kris Anderson, owner and operator of Addison Hop Farm. If you weren’t aware, Addison Hop Farm suffered through a hailstorm this past May. I had met with Kris a few months ago right after the storm and he showed us the damage. He pointed out the holes in the ground and shared his experience with us:

“The hail was the size of quarters, as you can see from the holes in the ground. My suspicion is that they’ll come back. My volume will be down, [but they’ll come back].” (Anderson, 2014)

The hops did rebound and beyond Bobcat, Citizen Cider, and Peak Organics, they found their way into Northern Bayou’s cold brew as well. Next thing I knew, I was making room in our coolers and filling that space with Northern Bayou’s Original Coffee and Hopped Coffee cold brews. The hops come out in exotic flower aromas, with a creamy coffee-jasmine flavor. It has been selling faster than most of my bottled beers. I'm running out.

Anderson, Kris. Field Interview Voice 035 Recorded 05/31/2014

Response in thought: Chris Mclellan's article on beer ratings.

Final Thought: Craft culture is about a lot of things all at once.

Chris McClellan's original article.

"Craft brewing is not about numbers," writes McClellan in his August 28th article linked above. There is some truth to this but there is more truth in saying that craft brewing is about the numbers. And yet more truth in saying that Craft beer is about everything.

Craft opinion is full of fractures. The collective opinion is resilient but there are numerous consumers and producers defining the craft industry through the use of elimination. Take a look at Hugh Sisson's 2012 comment on the Phantome Brewing culture as an example. In one of Hugh Sisson's comments, he explains his parameters for being in business as a brewery:

  "I can make 35 barrels of beer a month.” OK, well, I’m sorry, that’s not a business yet. And the gypsy brewers, as far as I’m concerned, are exactly the same thing... ...But to me, you’re not legit until you’ve got skin in the game, which means capital at risk." (Nason 2012).

His perspective is economically driven and his method is subtractive. Yet folks around the states are doing business in much smaller quantities. Check out Good Beer Hunting's Episode 11 Podcast where the topic of a New York Home-Brew Tour creates a platform for great discussion. Pay particular attention to the fill-capacity of the brewery producing the carrot beer. For another example travel over to Oregon and catch the mobile beer bar serving beer from a couple of kegs on a bicycle.

It's knowing what to do with things that count. If you can go into business brewing a liter of beer a year--you've gone into business, period. You're adding to the craft culture. It's not about the beer. It's about the beer (Kiser, Quinn 2014, Ep.2).

Craft culture is about a lot of things all at once. This is the main point. The Brewers Association has even associated "some concepts related..." to the craft beer definition (BA 2014). That is an additional perspective and craft opinion. One of the many elements of craft beer culture is in the ability to be creative. If a brewery is not operated at equilibrium, why not have another brewer come in and share the space? If a culture and economy (and many other factors) support a beer bar on a bicycle, why not do it?

Craft beer is about a lot of things all at once. Chris McClellan takes a swig at the ratings of craft beer. He focuses on Heady Topper (I assume) and gives the reader his subtractive opinion: "It's not that good." His official opinion on ratings is "Just don't try to pin a number on it." There is a repetition in some opinions which utilize a subtractive method: "not a business, not legit, not that good, don't pin a number, etc." This is a prohibitive direction to take craft culture. Rather--What is a business? What is legit? What are the merits of the beer? Lastly, get on every forum you can and rate your beer. Go start a magazine about it, develop another app about it. Do everything, do somethings, do nothing, or do all in between and around. Just be. These questions and concepts are additive. They enhance our quality of life and liberty.

What are the merits of ratings? A rating is a beacon. So everyone please rate your beers. Put a number on it (or don't rate your beers, whatever--do the you thing). Help other people find these beers. High ratings are celebrations of accomplishments. In this case my home state is sharing a thriving culture with the rest of the world because of ratings. John Kimmich has taken a unique yeast and packed a green roller coaster in a can. Shaun Hill is taking craft culture out of the mud and raising the bar on quality. Sean Lawson (my heart goes out to you and yours) brought the sunshine and every one of these communities are doing their best to share their art with the world.

What are more merits of ratings? Again, a high rating is a beacon. I've been able to discover Alpine Beer Company's hoppy rightness, Dieu Du Ciel's black-hole-esque Peche Mortel, Russian River's piny Pliny, and many more. What's more-- I've got a list of beers that I'm waiting to travel for (did someone say Tired Hands?).

With that in mind, McClellan introduces an interesting notion on polarity. He suggests that you "take yourself away" from ratings. Did anyone catch another subtractive method of analysis here? The basis of his concept seems to be rooted in the assumption that an individual will be distracted from their own gut feeling of the beer if they go through ratings first. There is some truth to this. However, we all know we don't have to agree with ratings. I've spoken with plenty of gurus and newbies in the beer community who have no tough time giving their honest opinion and surprise, opinions vary. If folks are traveling across the states to get a beer and devour it like piranhas all because of a rating, just because of a rating, simply because of a rating--well... what an adventure! Behind a rating is a culture. Why ignore our own culture?

Craft beer culture is about a lot of things all at once. It's more than a yes-rate or no-rate opinion. It's more than McClellan's opinion and it's more than mine--and it's definitely more than Hugh Sisson's opinion.*. That's what I'm getting at.


*I am aware that Sisson backtracked.

BA (2014). "Craft Brewer Defined." Brewers Association (accessed 08/26/2014) http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/craft-brewer-defined/.

Nason, Adam (2012). "Gypsy brewers react to Clipper City founder's 'skin in the game' comment." (accessed 08/26/2014). http://beerpulse.com/2012/08/gypsy-brewers-react-to-clipper-city-founders-skin-in-the-game-comment/