Article Title: Try a Shed "'Growler" On Saint Patrick's Day

Edition: March 2001
Category: Dining Out
Author: Jake Brown
Article:

The barley and malt that goes into concocting the Shed's beer may come from England, but the end product -- beers, ales and stouts -- are as delicious and festive as any St Patrick's Day reveler could want.

West Branch Golden, Shed Amber Ale, National I.P.A., Smugglers Stout and Mountain Ale (plus some seasonal specialties) are among the frosty beverages being produced at a young, small brewing operation at the Shed brewery in nearby Stowe. The beers, ales, and stouts can be found in restaurants and stores all across northern and central Vermont, including in the Chittenden County area.

The Shed has a long history of serving beer (and famous Shed burgers, too) but it was only recently that the establishment on the Mountain Road got into brewing its own suds. Today, "growlers" -- the half-gallon size glass bottle complete with a moulded carrying handle on the neck big enough for a couple of fingers or a thumb -- are one of the signatures of the Shed's brew, mixed and fermented and chilled all on-site. Ranging in price from $8 to $9, the growler, says Shed co-owner Kathy Strong, " is fun to take to people's houses as a gift, or for parties."

The Shed also packages their beer in traditional kegs, but at the pub the brew comes in much smaller packages: shot glasses. The well-known sampler, called the "Shed Ski," is a lineup of all the Shed's different brews, laid out on the front half (including the upturned tip) of an old wooden ski, complete with cracked varnish and scratches from downhill runs-gone-by.

Down in the brewery, there is a fresh organic, "beery" smell. Tanks and vats, hoses and valves take up a good deal of the space. There is the store room where sacks of grain stamped "England" wait to be cut open. Large buckets of spent grain await delivery to a pig farm, where they are consumed by the the animals. Growlers, which get refilled, are sterilized nearby.

The Shed's Beginnings
The year was 1961 and Ken Strong, a Brattleboro-born lad without a job, was hanging around with some friends at a house in Stowe wondering about their futures. An older friend showed up at the house, told Strong and a friend of Strong's:

"You guys ought to open a bar -- you could hang out with your friends, drink for free, and make a little money at it."

Sitting in the Shed's Vermont Room recently, Strong smiled at the recollection.

"Of course that guy owned a property in town, and he was trying to set himself up, too!"

The property was a 21-by 22-foot shed, literally, that had no plumbing and no heat.

Strong remembers heading right down to the Mountain Road where this shed was, and cleaning out a bunch of junk. With $4,000 between them, he and friend Ted Ross opened the Shed. A Shed Burger (containing special spices and beer and served on English muffins) was 75 cents; a salad was 25 cents. A glass of beer? Fifteen cents.

"There was no heat in that place, and on windy days the snow would blow right through cracks in the walls," Strong remembers. He also said that because it was especially cold near the floor, patrons often put their feet up on chairs under the tables to keep their toes from getting too cold.

Then, the original Shed burned down in January 1994. But within a year a new building, using old beams, windows, and doors from other old buildings in Vermont had risen from the ashes on the same site. Kathy Strong credits Isobella Kriezel and M.J. Shaw, both Stowe area designers, with bringing to reality some intriguing and bold design concepts. Around that time, Ken says, the beer idea popped into their heads:

Why not build a brewery in the new Shed?

"It was a perfect marriage for our business as an added dimension to what we do," said Kathy Strong.

"Skiers," Ken Strong said, "are beer drinkers."

The result was a seven-barrel brewery built in the cellar of the new Shed, with a so called "mash tun and brew kettle" upstairs in plain view in the pub. It seems the mix has worked: Shed brews have received accolades from both Ski Magazine and Skiing Magazine.

Barley and malts are shipped in sacks directly from England; the hops come from the Pacific Northwest, and the water used in the beer is filtered so that it mimicks the water used in the original recipes.

Shed not Just a Pub and Brewery
Besides beer, and a pub with classic ambience, the Shed also offers diners three rooms for enjoying a range of fare. There is the red Vermont Room with a huge fieldstone fireplace, and the Garden Room and Greenhouse. Dinner at the Shed might include a Shed's Awesome Blossom, a lightly fried onion flower, followed by grilled yellowfin tuna or a vegetarian quesadilla, or of course, the renowned Shed Burger.

Kathy and Ken Strong appear to take their mission to be the place where people come to enjoy themselves very seriously, and are proud of their service.

"When customers walk on this property, it's like opening a curtain on a stage. It's show time," says Kathy Strong. "We are here to serve the public and there is never any question about that."

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