WEST LEBANON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Across the Connecticut River one mile from Vermont’s White River Junction lies West Lebanon marvel, SEVEN BARREL BREWERY, a free standing wood-bedecked restaurant-styled brewpub in Colonial Plaza that gave first-rate Vermont competitor Mc Neill’s a run for the money, February ’04.
Soft watered lemon-spiced Quechee Cream Ale, doughy wheat-backed apple-grapefruit-soured Ice Rock Canadian Golden Ale, orange rind-embittererd floral-spiced Red 7 Ale, frisky orange-lemon peel-embittered Champion Reserve IPA, and raw-honeyed citric-hopped mocha-malted Original Barrel Vienna Lager went well with appetizers.
Nutty coffee-roasted New Dublin Brown Ale, coffee bean-seduced Mick Jack Porter, and spice-hopped black cherry-fronted licorice-accented R.I.P. Imperial Stout retained mocha certainty.
For perky fruited pick-me-up, brewer Paul White pours syrupy peach juice into kitsch-y Quechee Ale, creating ginger-y citric-berry-ripened sugar-lacquered lemon-dropped Peach Quechee Ale.
Seated next to windowed left side brew tanks with family December ‘05, quaffed medicinal, black cherry soda-like, birch beer-hinted, nutty-countered Cherry Brown Ale, soft-fizzed candi-sugared blueberry-ripened Blueberry Quechee Cream Ale, delicately pine-hopped cherry-soured grapefruit-embittered acerbity Cask Conditioned Champion Reserve IPA and creamy chocolate-roasted coffee-emblazoned cherry-bruised raspberry-pureed tobacco-chewed Raspberry Stout.
Revisited November ’06, sampling tea-honeyed, dried prune-soured, date-fig-recessed, wort-scented Scotch Ale.
January ’08, stopped in for likable cereal-grained fruit-spiced crystal-malted Paul’s Pale Ale.
New Year’s Day, 2010, sojourned back for soapy soft-hopped pumpkin-pied cinnamon-coriander-spiced Jenna-Lantern Ale and tea-like cocoa-soured earthen-backed grassy-hopped ESB.
Within walking distance of Seven Barrel, The Beverage King sold several local brews.
phone: 603 298 5566