The Mad River Food Hub’s annual Mad River Taste Week, a nine-day celebration of the food and beverage makers and growers of the Mad River Valley, will include Waitsfield's newest brewery for a tour and tasting event.
Two new events are planned to showcase Collaborative Brewing. Brett Seymour, one of the founders, will host a tour of the new microbrewery on Monday, August 5, from 11 a.m. to noon and will be sharing why he chooses to brew German-style schwarzbier, a smooth drinking dark lager, instead of the more common hoppy IPAs. As the brewery does not have a tasting room, Collaborative Brewing has teamed up with The Warren Store to offer a tasting on Thursday, August 8, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Collaborative Brewing was started in 2019 by four friends and Valley residents: Steve Parker, Jen Fleckenstein, Craig Isvak and brewer Brett Seymour. At Collaborative Brewing, they like the idea of a wider selection of styles on tap and aim to bring new choices to beer drinkers and keep variety on the taps of Vermont bars.
"This is the second year running Mad River Taste Week and we are pleased to have Collaborative Brewing join us for a tour and tasting event,” said Robin Morris, president and founder of the Mad River Food Hub and the Mad River Taste Place. "Also new this year is a tour of Lawson's Finest Liquid’s new brewery that opened in the fall of 2018 and Ariel's Honey Infusions who will be tasting their range of honey-based products at the Mad River Taste Place."
It is recommended to make an early reservation as events are already booking up. The schedule and tickets for Mad River Taste Week events are available at www.madrivertaste.com/tasteweek.
“The Mad River Valley has long been known for its exemplary food scene, one of the first and favored farmers’ markets in Vermont, an active localvore movement and many award-winning artisans including Ploughgate Creamery, Von Trapp Farmstead, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Mad River Distillers, Tonewood Maple, Green Rabbit Bakery, Tin Hat Cider and Vermont Bean Crafters,” Morris said.
Highlights of the week include daily farm and facility tours, tasting events and educational workshops, led by food makers and farmers in The Valley. In addition to the tours, tastings and teachings throughout The Valley, a community pig roast kicks off Mad River Taste Week, following the Waitsfield Farmers’ Market on Saturday, August 3. The week will finish with the annual Vermont Cheese Council dinner on August 10. Those wishing to continue their pursuit of Vermont-made delights are encouraged to attend the Vermont Cheese Festival on August 11.
Learn more at madrivertaste.com/tasteweek, where the full schedule and details will be posted and updated throughout the coming weeks.
The Mad River Food Hub was founded in 2011 to increase the success of new and emerging food and beverage businesses in the Mad River Valley community. It started as a food business incubator offering these local businesses access to USDA-inspected processing rooms, cold storage and distribution for processing their meat and vegetable products. In 2017 Mad River Food Hub created the Mad River Taste program as a quality seal and to celebrate and promote the local makers and growers.
The Mad River Taste Place is a retail store opened in the summer of 2017 to showcase these Mad River Taste products through tastings and learning. The Taste Place is also chockfull of local Vermont products and frequent maker demonstrations and is the home to Vermont Cheese Council. More information is available at www.madrivertaste.com.
