Over my years living in Middlebury, I spent many evenings enjoying a burger and a beer in the basement bar and restaurant known as Bar Antidote just up the road in Vergennes. It’s, by far, one of the best restaurants in Addison County. Bar Antidote’s has frequent live music and a bartender who is a spitting image of Clark Kent (oh hey, Christian!). Over the years, I’ve followed owner and chef Ian Huizenga, who was named Vermont’s Chef of the Year award in 2017, closely. I’m always eager to see what his next endeavor will be. I was excited to hear about Huizenga starting his own microbrewery tasting room upstairs from Bar Antidote in 2016 called Hired Hand Brewing Company (not to be mistaken with Tired Hands out of Ardmore, Pennsylvania).

Although I had tried (and enjoyed) some of Hired Hand’s beers in cans, it wasn’t until recently that I road tripped to Vermont’s smallest city of Vergennes. While there, I enjoyed a flight with Chef and Brewer Ian to learn more about the future of the “farm-to-glass” microbrewery. We also dove into some of his unique food offerings. After experiencing the unique space and speaking with Huizenga, I am even more excited for the future of Hired Hand and proud of the role they play in their local community.

Hired Hand Brewing Co, Vergennes, Vermont

In a state with the most breweries per capita, Vermont breweries need to find their niche to be successful. We’re spoiled that so many breweries in Vermont put out quality beer. (Really, I can only think of maybe one or two breweries where I wouldn’t immediately be happy drinking a pint of their beer.) Although more and more breweries are utilizing local ingredients, Hired Hand Brewing is one of few that makes the large majority of their beer from hyper-local ingredients.

In fact, a handful of their beers are 100 percent made from local ingredients. Hops come from Homestead Hops in Starksboro, Vermont, and Addison Hop Farm, just down the road from Hired Hand. Grain comes from Peterson Quality Malt, which recently purchased the Nordic Farm in Charlotte. Vermont spring water is trucked in from Lincoln to complete the brew.

Somehow, Hired Hand manages to use local ingredients and keep the costs of their beers down. The use of all local ingredients is cost-prohibitive for many breweries in Vermont. But Huizenga has made a commitment to farm-to-table beer, celebrating the quality ingredients Vermont has to offer. Whether your palette can taste the difference, you can feel good about supporting a Vermont brewery that supports its neighbors and other small businesses.

Inside Hired Hand Brewing

Enter Hired Hand at street level in Vergennes and walk into the rustic, industrial space. The brewery is a mixture of metal and wood. Pressed metal on the walls and ceiling is offset by rugged natural wood throughout the space. Chef and brewer Huizenga is a jack of all trades, having built most of the interior himself. Funky, rustic lighting above the bar ads visual intrigue.

With no reservations, it’s a no-frills, casual space with ample natural light pouring in. There are maybe eight high-top tables in the whole space, along with bar seating, making it an intimate gathering place. In the warmer months, visitors can sit outside on their porch, overlooking the streets of Vergennes.

Inside, behind the bar, you’ll find rustic metal tap handles, offerings of local Vermont spirits from Appalachian Gap Distillery, Stonecutter Spirits, Whistlepig, Smuggler’s Notch Distillery, Caledonia Spirits, and local cider from Shacksbury Cider, also located in Vergennes and usually on draft.

Brewing at Hired Hand

Currently, all of the beer at Hired Hand is brewed by Huizenga. He shared that brewing isn’t that much different than his work as a chef. He started experimenting with home brewing and one thing led to another.

The pub space at Hired Hand right now is only that – a tasting room and restaurant. Huizenga brews offset in the basement brewery at the Bobcat Cafe and Brewery in Bristol. Huizenga said, “Vermont is a unique place. Where others might see competition, we in Vermont see kinship.” The Bobcat also features Hired Hand brewing on tap.

Soon, though, Hired Hand will be opening their own production facility behind the current Hired Hand tap room space. When we visited, Huizenga gave us a tour of the under-construction brewery. It will be its own storefront for to-go purchases and a lounge space for enjoying brews on site as well.

Craft Beer Offerings at Hired Hand

With more Vermont hops farms growing a variety of hops, including Cascade, Perle, Zeus, Magnum, Centennial, Chinook, Alpha Aroma, Pride of Ringwood and Gold Hops, among others, Hired Hand has the ability to experiment given their small-batch system. With the future brewery out back, Huizenga is looking forward to doing more experimental brews, including sours.

For now, the brewery styles are more familiar. They include pale ales, IPAs, DIPAs, porters, ales, milk stouts, and pilsners. As the only craft brewery in Vergennes, a goal of Hired Hands is to make their beer accessible. They want to have something on the menu for experienced and new beer drinkers alike.

On site, beer flights of four tasters are served in miniature pint glasses in a wooden crate, complementing the rusticness of the space. During my visit, I opted for a flight, which included:

Tractor Pils: A Peterson Quality Malt pilsner lightly hopped with Norris Homestead Alpha Aroma hops. 3.7% ABV | 24 IBUs

Spruce Tip Maple Amber: Malt, oat and Norris Homestead hops, finished with Baird Farm Spruce Tip maple syrup. 6.2% ABV | 38 IBU

First Cut Double IPA: Mosaic and Simcoe hopped Double IPA with US Maris Otter and malted oats. 7.0% ABV | 101 IBUs

Barn Cat Porter: A chocolately blend of six malts with Norris Homestead Hop Farm Chinook Hops. 6.6% ABV | 38 IBU

I later drank a pint of the the Tractor Pils after my initial flight. I can’t get enough of a well-crafted pilsner. Tractor Pils delivered.

Beer Cocktails at Hired Hand

The first time I had a beer cocktail was at Jester King Brewery, outside of Austin in Texas. It was one of the best drinks I had ever had. I still think about it years later… It was that good. Since then, whenever I have the chance to try another beer cocktail, I order one. Lucky for me, Hired Hand offers a variety of beer cocktails, a rarity among Vermont craft breweries. Their website explains the history of the beer cocktail best:

Beer and cocktails sounds like strange bedfellows. But interestingly centuries ago one of the ancestors of the cocktail was the PURL, a concoction of beer and bitters. In the 1700s, sailors were mixing beer, sugar, rum and nutmeg.

Beer cocktails at Hired Hand are all $8 and feature local spirits. Smokin’ Berries, made with Stonecutters Spirits’ Hertigage Cask Whiskey, blended with lemonade, simple syrup, and pomegranate molasses, topped with Hired Hand Pilsner, was my personal favorite. They also have a New Fashioned, with App Gap Distillery’s Papilio Agave Spirts, Aperol, muddled cherry, orange, bitters and agave nectar, topped with Hired Hand’s Double IPA. For a brunch cocktail, they offer Morning Joe with Irish whiskey, cold dark roast coffee, simple syrup, chocolate bitters, half & half, and cocoa powder, topped with their Milk Stout.

The Food at Hired Hand

The beer at Hired Hand isn’t the only farm-to-table element of the experience. Many of Chef Huizenga’s ingredients come from local producers, including:

• Duclos and Thompson Farm
• Norris Berry Farm
• Nitty Gritty Grain Company
• Misty Knoll Farms
• Maplebrook Farms

The food at Hired Hand differs from the Bar Antidote with more casual fare, including build-your-own, wood-fired pizzas. The menu features a variety of small plates, like picked vegetables, a roasted mushroom salad, peel n’ eat shrimp, smoked chicken swings, and garlic knots. The Pork Belly Steamed Buns, with house-made Kimchi and Korean BBQ, was a standout to me.

In addition to build your own pies with unique ingredients like bread-and-butter pickles, roasted fennel, house-made meatballs, pork shoulder or belly, tasso ham and maple ham, they also offer specialty pizzas. We’re suckers for BBQ Ranch, so we opted for their version with pulled, house-smoked chicken, pork belly, K.C. BBQ sauce, cheddar and house-made ranch. The Truffled Goat, with basil pesto, truffle goat cheese, shaved asparagus, mushrooms, red onion, basil and a Thai chili drizzle, and the Health Nut, blistered tomato sauce, house sausage and meatballs, tasso ham, pepperoni, pulled chicken, pepperoncini and a three-cheese blend, were also tempting.

On Sundays from 11:30am to 2:30pm, Hired Hand serves brunch, complete with sweet and savory offerings to complete their beer on tap. Brunch entrees include an Asparagus Benni, House Hash, Maple Fried Dough a la Mode, a Ham and Egger, and French Toast.

If you’re opting for desserts, the Beeramisu is comprised of house-made lady fingers soaked in Hired Hands Milk Stout, layered with coffee mousse and chocolate chips. While we were enjoying our buns and pizza, a couple ordered the Brownie Skillet Sundae, topped with Lu Lu’s vanilla ice cream – it smelled amazing.

Tips for Visiting Hired Hand Like a Local:

• If you’re just passing through after completing the Middlebury Tasting Trail, you can purchase onsite growlers and cans to go.
• If you’re staying for food and beverage, try a sampler to see which beers are your favorite.
• The space has limited seating and takes no reservations. Grab a beer at the bar and wait for a first-come, first-serve table, soaking up the friendliness of the space.
• On Thursdays after 3pm, visit Hired Hand for oysters on the half shell.
• Hired Hand is closed on Monday and Tuesday, open on Wednesday from 3-9pm and Thursday through Sunday from 11:30am-9:00pm.
• Don’t miss Sunday brunch from 11:30am-2:30pm.

Hired Hand Brewing Co
35 Green Street, Vergennes
802-870-7191