Craft Beers at The Tavern in Essex Jct.

I recently sat down with Chris Benjamin, Food & Beverage Director for The Tavern and Butler’s Restaurant at The Essex Resort, to discuss what role craft beer is playing in the N.E.C.I. restaurants. Since the beer laws changed last summer, The Tavern has added a slew of new world-class brews to their menu and has made some interesting and bold changes.

Of their eight taps, only one of them is a macro, four are dedicated to Vermont-made beers, one is a nitro-tap, and one is open for the “Beer of the Month.” This month’s beer is North Coast’s “Pranqster,” a Belgian-style golden ale. The draft tower is stacked with lots of great options right now: Stone IPA, Switchback, Trout River Rainbow Red, Harpoon UFO, Long Trail Ale, and one of my personal favorites, North Coast “Old Rasputin” Russian Imperial Stout…on the nitro-tap!

Chris said they made a decision about 3 months ago to replace Guinness with Old Rasputin on their nitrogen-pushed line, and have run with it since then. The change has not been welcomed by all, though. “We’ve gotten a lot of angry comment cards,” he said. Jess, one of their bartenders chimed in, “We’ve had people threaten to not come back until we put Guinness back on.”

It’s a hard call for a bar to make: Do we keep a beer on one of our limited taps because it’s high quality and a fantastic beer even though we could easily sell more of another, mass-marketed beer? No decision has been made at this point, but I would really recommend going out there and having some Rasputin soon - It’s almost a religious experience on nitro-draft.

Despite the controversy over that nitro-line, Chris says they’ve been doing really well with their new “Specialty Beer” bottled offerings. The American Craft beers in large format bottles have been outstripping the imports about 5 to 1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 24oz, Allagash White Ale 750mL and Stone Brewing Smoked Porter 22oz are big sellers.

To help educate and guide their customers with choosing which beer will pair best with their Asian Shrimp Tacos or Beef Bourguignon, The Tavern has developed a Specialty Beer Menu. The menu offers pictures of the beers, reviews, ratings from BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com, as well as suggested pairings. Chris and his team are seriously dedicated to matching beverages and food. The Tavern and Butler’s Restaurant both offer a huge wine list, over 800 bottles, and the servers are trained to offer pairing suggestions, a skill that easily translated to their new craft beer portfolio.

Our conversation inevitably shifted to how the beers are handled, and Chris assured me that all their beer glasses are hand-washed by the bartenders to avoid soap residue. Currently, if you order a beer, “Drifter Pale Ale please!” you’ll be served a full pint. You can request a 12oz pour if you’re of the mind, but those are your options. On one hand, it’s great because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full pint of Old Rasputin before, especially not for under $6! On the other hand, the pint is not a great vessel for fully enjoying the bouquet of Pranqster. We talked about adding specialty glassware to the bar, and Chris said he’s considering going in that direction.

And despite the huge success with beers like Switchback and Stone IPA, which has been on tap since the beer launched in Vermont over a year ago, Chris says there are lots of obstacles in this area. “The Burlington crowd is mostly a martini and mixed drink crowd. And with 800 wines,” it’s tough sometimes to get people to pay attention to the beer. He thinks some of this has to do with the competitive pricing in the Burlington area. In Montpelier, it would be no problem to charge upwards $6 for a pint of microbrew, but up here, people just won’t have it. Good for customers, hard on the business. And this is really what makes questions like “do we keep Old Rasputin even though Guinness would outsell it?” even harder.

So what can you do? Head out to The Tavern at The Essex Resort (formerly The Inn at Essex), and check out some of these great new brews! I highly recommend the Asian Shrimp Tacos paired with a pint of Stone IPA, or the Long Trail Ale Battered Fish & Chips with what else but a pint of Long Trail, and have a 12oz pour of Old Rasputin for dessert. Tell ‘em Jeff from The Bevy sent ya.

Cheers,
Jeff

The Tavern is operated by The New England Culinary Institute and is located inside The Essex Resort & Spa, 70 Essex Way, Essex Jct., VT 05452. Call (802)764-1489 for more information.