Living Green Section pages 8-9
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NOVEMBER 29, 2018
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WILLISTONOBSERVER.
Hop-portunity knocks
Taking it national CVU cross country lands national championship bid
Williston veteran hopes to supply Vermont brewers with local hops
By Lauren Read
By Jason Starr
Observer correspondent
Observer staff
A growing group of Vermont’s military veterans are transitioning to civilian careers with ventures in the alcoholic beverage industry. From breweries like 14th Star in St. Albans and 1st Republic in Essex to the new whiskey-maker, Danger Close Distilling of St. Albans, Vermont soldiers — many of whom deployed together over the past decade to Afghanistan and Iraq — are fi nding their place in Vermont’s craft beverage boom. Their success has led other local veterans to explore opportunities to supply them equipment and ingredients. Green Mountain Grain and Barrel makes distilling barrels out of a shop in Richmond. And in Williston, Vermont Guardsman Joe Phelan has dedicated an acre of his six-acre South Brownell Road property to producing hops. Under the business name Wilderness Hops — in honor of a Civil War battle that Vermont troops participated in — he hopes to provide a local source for Vermont’s craft beer industry. “We talk with each other, we hear about their challenges and we think ‘maybe I can help solve them,’” Phelan said. “I see a need for all Vermont brewers that want the freshest product, and I’m hoping I’m the guy that can help provide that. “The military gives us a great set of tools — how to solve problems and how to plan operations,”
he continued. “And it’s pretty seamless to transition those tools to a business.” THE QUEST FOR CONSISTENCY In 2010, when Phelan was at war in Afghanistan, Heather Darby of the UVM Extension program was installing the first hop plants on a research see HOp page 2
OBSERVER COURTESY PHOTO
Joe Phelan, left, and Dan Hoene install a support beam on Phelan’s hops farm off South Brownell Road in Williston.
Nothing the Champlain Valley Union High School girls cross country team had accomplished this season could prepare it for the end of the Nike Cross Northeast Regionals on Saturday in Wappinger Falls, N.Y. State championships and record point totals meant nothing as CVU tried to book a spot in the Nike Cross National Championships with a top-two finish.
‘I knew we ran the second half of the race really well.’ –Scott Bliss, CVU coach
OBSERVER COURTESY PHOTO
Joe Phelan takes an autumn walk with his son Joseph and wife Colleen. The Phelans began experimenting with growing hops on their South Brownell Road land three years ago and last year launched Wilderness Hops to help supply Vermont’s craft brewing industry.
“I wasn’t nervous before the race. I wasn’t nervous during the race,” said CVU coach Scott Bliss. “I was nervous after because you just don’t know.” Sitting in third place at the 2-mile mark of the qualifier, the Redhawks poured it on in the second half of the race, but could only sit and wait for the final scores to see if they had done enough to earn a top-two spot. “There were a few people between us and their (North Allegheny’s) kids,” Bliss said. “All season long, we have run the second half of our races well.” Then the announcement: The Redhawks had pulled it off. Their strong second half had pushed them past North Allegheny, Pa., for secsee CROss COUNTRY page 16
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