“Lauren sings. Youth1 raps. Django hits things, and DJVU makes beats. Apart, we get by. Yet combined, we quadruple our own music-making abilities and push beyond the confines of any other genre or style, evolving into genuine creation. Every second of every sound we make is filled with personality, experimentation, and passion. Featuring Lauren’s intriguing melodies, witty lyrics by Youth1, Django’s rhythms, and energetic bass lines by DJVU, we bring freedom to your eardrums. “

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“I moved on to Progressive rock.. and Rouse was born. But alas, no vocals.. we were doomed to obscurity. After college in Vermont,  I enrolled in the New School Jazz Program in NYC. Then as a temporary move to Vermont became permanent, I joined the Jazz Mandolin Project, and toured the US and Europe for several years. Some standout gigs were; several sold out nights at NYC’s Knitting Factory, The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Stubbs in Austin, TX, The North Sea Jazz Fest in Holland, and the Pori Jazz Fest in Finland. In the last 6 years I’ve toured in Europe, Canada, and the US, and have also begun teaching.”

Birdshot La Fonque is a jazz/funk group comprised of local music writer/advocate John Wilson and others. Each band member has their own band combining their unique sounds for this mashup.

Allagash White Allagash Black Allagash Blonde (limited release) Leifmans Cuvee Brut Rodenbach Steenbrugge Tripel Steenbrugge Tripel with traditional Gruut Stillwater Cellar Door White Sage Saison

and

La Chouffe

We’ll also have special Belgian cheese and a mussels and frites special today!

 ”Abby Jenne is pigeon-toed. Abby was born in Exeter, NH. She started playing piano when she was 5, cello at 9, and guitar at 14 and has been performing in front of others since she can remember. Since then, she has starred in musicals, played in coffee houses, dropped out of school, waited tables, played on street corners and parking lots and at bars all over the country.”

These, my friends, are loaded with Vermont Flavor — four of the seven are Vermont-made. We finish off with some fine Oregon and Cali Dankness!

We’ve got:

Fiddlehead Rogue Brutal IPA Hill Society and Solitude #3 Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

And (drum roll please……….) we have pulled out all the stops for these very special guest appearances:

Stone Double Dry Hopped Ruination

Lawson’s Finest Liquids Triple Play IPA

And finally   ……………The Alchemist Heady Topper

In other words: this is an incredibly Dank Hoppy mess!

What new things did you learn? I learned so many things on this trip that I don’t know where to begin. The professional things that I learned about that will help me most was about fermentation, yeast handling and the process of natural carbonation. These aspects will definitely be defining characteristics of our Crop beers.

What surprised you most? I was most surprised that most German brewers brew in a box. By that I mean that they are constrained to traditional styles and rarely look outside that box. I am positive that the Germans are the most talented brewers in the world because the beer they make is difficult to produce consistently. They just don’t get the chance to look outside the box and make something totally different, and this is very unlike American brewers. I was also surprised to learn that ... Read More »]]>

German beer in its natural habitat

What new things did you learn?
I learned so many things on this trip that I don’t know where to begin. The professional things that I learned about that will help me most was about fermentation, yeast handling and the process of natural carbonation. These aspects will definitely be defining characteristics of our Crop beers.

What surprised you most?
I was most surprised that most German brewers brew in a box. By that I mean that they are constrained to traditional styles and rarely look outside that box. I am positive that the Germans are the most talented brewers in the world because the beer they make is difficult to produce consistently. They just don’t get the chance to look outside the box and make something totally different, and this is very unlike American brewers. I was also surprised to learn that most of the German public has very little knowledge of the process in making beer and what different styles are. Most drink beer, but there is little in the way of understanding how to make it or what makes it different. Germans only drink German beer and care little about any other beers from around the world or what makes beer taste differently.

What impressed you most?
This is a very difficult question to answer. I was certainly impressed with the shear number of breweries there are in Germany, and most are making exceptionally good beer. I was also impressed that each brewery has its own flavor and take on each traditional style of beer. It took me a good 4 or 5 days to clean my pallet of all the aggressive hopped and flavored American beer. After these first days, I really started to be able to discern very subtle flavor differences. For example, I tasted so many Helles types of beers, and at first I could only taste the major differences, but after a while the subtle differences were coming through and I could really taste the differences.

Who was the most interesting person you met?
The most interesting person I met was Rudolph Caspary, the owner of the company that we are getting our system from. He is, without a doubt, the most knowledgeable beer person I have ever met. He has had a brewer in his family since the 1400′s! Even his daughter Barbara, who also works for the business, was making beer at home at the age of 12! He showed me a book that was written about his family in the 1930′s so that they would be protected from the Nazis. It was a real pleasure speaking with him about all things beer. We had great discussions about German history including the war, fermenter design, yeast behavior, the American and German beer markets, how to design and market our brand. Best of all was just tasting beer with him. We discussed beers in detail. Things like where each flavor component was derived and any faults that there may be, even though, we didn’t find many faults in the beer we were drinking.

Another interesting person that I met was the Brewmaster at TurmBrau, Yves. He was born near Karl Marx Stadt and was drafted to go into the East German Army. He refused to go and he actually climbed the wall out of East Germany and into Hungary. He then went to Austria and then flew into West Berlin. He then became a brewmaster and when the wall came down he returned to his home just outside of now Chemnitz. Chemnitz was Chemnitz prior to the wall, then was renamed Karl Marx Stadt, and has now been returned to the name Chemnitz.

If you had to pick a “best moment” of the trip, what was it?
The Best Moment of the trip was the day went to he factory to meet my new brewing partner and friend. The feeling was electric and I can’t wait to get to know her better. I haven’t named her yet but I am sure I will.

View the full gallery of Mark’s trip photos here.

“The Eames Brothers Band are known for their late night sets that drift seamlessly through lowdown psychedelic blues funk to uplifting soul songs and back again…. Always digging deeper for that elusive feeling through sound.”