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Thursday, December 6, 2012
Beer Grazing: Last Chance to Sip a Williston Beer at a Williston Pub
Posted By Corin Hirsch on Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 4:23 PM
Alert: It's the waning hours for McAllister Irish Red Ale. If you're near Williston and are curious about very local beer, you might want to track down a pint.
Williston resident Marty Bonneau, a member of the Green Mountain Mashers home-brewing club, first brewed McAllister in his basement for one of the group's periodic contests, this one to turn out a red ale style.
Bonneau's malty, balanced brew won. As part of the reward, Fiddlehead Brewing's Matt Cohen offered to brew a batch to be tapped both at his own establishment and a local pub — fittingly, McGillicuddy's Irish Ale House in Williston.
On November 6, Bonneau, Cohen and the contest's second-place winner, Brian Eckert, brewed 10 barrels of McAllister at Fiddlehead, using "pale and caramel malts as well as a pinch of roasted barley to create a very malt-forward beer with little residual sweetness," according to Fiddlehead's website. The beer was tapped at the brewery on November 21, and was the guest star of a launch party at McGillicuddy's on Sunday night, when at least two kegs of the stuff went swiftly.
I dipped into McGillicuddy's last night to try it, and learned that only part of one keg remains. It's not surprising: The brew is full-bodied, chocolatey, and eminenty drinkable.
Fiddlehead is out of it already. So McGillicuddy's is the only place to grab a last taste — if there's any left — and have some fried pickle slices while you're at it.
About The Author
Corin Hirsch
Bio:
Food writer Corin Hirsch joined the Seven Days staff in 2011. She is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, published by History Press in 2014.
Food writer Corin Hirsch joined the Seven Days staff in 2011. She is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, published by History Press in 2014.
