Bread & Cheese

This post comes to you from our own Matt Gallagher:


My brother/sister in-law, Andrew and Blair, own and operate Elmore Mountain Bread, baking bread in a wood fired oven attached to their house in northern Vermont. They're located a few miles up a dirt road from the town of Elmore, which consists of a general store and a one room school house...the only one room school house left in Vermont. Their bread is historic....a country french, seven grain, baguettes, a brewers bread made with spent grain and beer from their local brewery, maple cinnamon raisin, and a few focaccia, which are intense. My wife and I were just out for a visit and I got fat eating and drinking.

Here is what we had for dinner one night: spoonable Winnimere from Jasper Hill, Hartwell from Ploughgate Creamery, Cabot clothbound cheddar from the Jasper Hill Cellars, Edward from Hill Farmstead Brewery, and Elmore Mountain country french. All procured while touring the mud roads around the area stopping in for visits at these innovative producers. Shaun E. Hill took some time to show us around his awesome farm brewery, Hill Farmstead, located in rural Greensboro. Inside Shaun's tasting room we ran into Vince, who works down the road at the Jasper Hill Cellars. He offered to show us around and we were blown away by their cheese cellaring facility built into/under their farm. We were also lucky enough to visit with The Alchemist and The Three Penny Tap Room. Both amazing.

You may have read about these places in the NYT, or any number of national food publications. Northern Vermont food producers are trending. And deservedly so. They all work extremely hard dedicating their lives to producing something authentic. And this dedication shines through in their products. We hear these words thrown around a lot in the craft beer world, so much so that they sometimes lose their meaning....hand crafted....artesian....small batch...local. Spending time in Vermont brought meaning back to these words. Here are some photos.

~Matt

Half Acre Beer Co
Chicago, IL