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 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.