A Hike & A Brew
PAIRING LOCAL BEAUTY WITH LOCAL BEER
By Liam Gorman
From the pages of our August 23 Issue.
New brewery owners and new Berkshirites, Mike Dell’Aquilla and Sarah Real at their Hot Plate Brewing in Pittsfield. They enjoy a hike at Mahanna Cobble when they’re not behind the bar or dreaming up their latest brew. More great hikes and local breweries can be found on the map on page 51.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Hiking while drinking is a bad idea, buuuut enjoying a cold beer after a hot hike might be the best combination since chocolate and peanut butter. If a good hike and good beer sound like the combo for you, then you’ll appreciate the literal legwork writer Carey Kish has put in on a book called Beer Hiking New England.
The guide is all about pairing the best hikes with the best nearby breweries throughout Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. It’s publisher Helvetiq’s new edition to its global bestselling Beer Hiking series. The full-color guidebook offers a wide variety of fun beer hikes and includes easy walks to moderate rambles and strenuous climbs.
“There’s 10,000 miles of trails in New England; there’s 700 breweries and brewpubs and tasting rooms,” says Kish, an outdoors and travel writer for over 20 years who has combined his love of nature with his passion for pints.
Although Kish didn’t manage all those miles or belly-ups at the breweries, he hiked 400 miles of trails and hit nearly 80 ale houses on his journey, featuring 50 of his favorite hikes and breweries in the book—including three combos in the Berkshires.
“The Berkshires are just beautiful. They’ve always been a draw for me and my family,” says Kish, who now lives in Maine and grew up in various places in the Northeast, including a stint in Pittsfield. “We had vacationed in the Berkshires for quite a few years and then moving there was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is great.’ We were a bunch of ‘free-range kids.’ You could do that back in those days. We would go everywhere, exploring the woods, finding the lakes and the streams, and just checking things out—as long as we were home at six o’clock.”
Middle, writer, hiker, beer lover Carey Kish included three Berkshire breweries and hikes in his new guide, Beer Hiking New England. He is seen here on Mount Greylock. Bottom, in his guide, Kish paired a childhood favorite hike at Mount Greylock with an adulthood favorite brewery, Bright Ideas in North Adams, top. “All of my long history with that area kind of came together. I thought, Wow, this is really cool.”
His love for open-air adventures has endured. Kish’s outdoor accomplishments have included a trek from Mexico to Canada on the 2,654-mile Pacific Crest Trail and hiking the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail—not once, but twice.
“The impetus for hiking the Appalachian Trail at age 18 came during those vacation trips to the Berkshires,” says Kish. “We would go up to the top of Mount Greylock and always cross the Appalachian Trail, and I had never heard of the Appalachian Trail. I would make my dad stop the car and we would follow the trail. I was just so enthralled by this idea that this trail went 1,600 miles to Georgia, one way, and 500 miles to Maine the other way.”
For Kish, finding his love for the libation part of the “hike + beer equation” required a lot less travel. Kish recalls the moment he had his first sip and thought, “Oh my god, I love beer. I’m hooked.” Luckily for readers, his two passions seem to be custom-fit for the Berkshires. A recent brewery boom has given ample opportunity to add a beer to the already popular hiking scene in the area. With the addition of Hot Plate Brewing Company in Pittsfield, Antimony Brewing in Lenox, and Big Elm Taproom in Great Barrington, local beer love ers now have even more opportunities to match a beer with countless beautiful Berkshire hikes.
One of the three Berkshire hikes Kish had to include was the one that got it all started with him as a kid. “Mount Greylock is a very special place to me, near and dear to my heart,” he says. “And I knew that there was a brewery in North Adams.”
Of course, Kish is referring to Bright Ideas Brewing, which opened on the MASS MoCA campus in 2016. Since his family vacations all those years ago, North Adams has changed quite a bit. “The Sprague Electric building was still Sprague Electric. And here now it’s MASS MoCA,” says Kish. “It’s just a sweet, sweet place. So it’s a nice combination. All of my long history with that area kind of came together. I thought, Wow, this is really cool.”
At the other end of the county, Kish chose to revisit a favorite hike (Mount Race) and a favorite brewery (Big Elm). “I had been over Mount Race during my thru hike on the Appalachian Trail in 2015 and 1977,” says Kish, “so I came up from the east and hiked up the valley along this series of tumbling waterfalls coming down the mountainside.” While the peak of many a hike is usually the goal, Mount Race has a hidden gem just below the summit. “I didn’t stop the hike at the top of Mount Race; just slightly down about a quarter mile from the top, you get to these monstrous ledges,” he says. “You can get these 180 degree views. It’s just tremendous.”
As for the brewery paired with this hike, Big Elm and its owners, Bill Heaton and Christine Bump, have been at it in Sheffield since 2012. “I love Big Elm—cornhole, family-friendly, dog-friendly. They’re just the most laid-back people,” says Kish.
Rounding out the trifecta from Kish’s book are Berkshire classics Barrington Brewery and Monument Mountain. “What a cool hike. That narrow knife edge ridge. You’ve got all those rocky outcrops,” recalls Kish. “And then right in town, Barrington Brewery, what a neat place. It’s in these converted barns; you’ve got that English pub feel. Great food and great beer. So it was a really good combination to put together.”
It’s been said that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. For Kish, a beer at trail’s end certainly seems to tie it all together. “You get hot, sweaty, tired, you need a little hydration when you’re done and what’s better than a tall cold glass of beer,” he says.
Doctors might suggest you get a water to go with that beer, but Kish’s point is this: “Go to a brew pub, mingle with friends over a beer, and talk about the next adventure.”
For Kish, his next adventure might just involve the thousands of miles and hundreds of breweries he couldn’t fit into the book.
“I thought I knew New England,” he says, “and as it turns out it was a real journey of discovery for me to seek out all of these different places and along the way find the sites that I’d never heard of, never knew existed, or just they had never done.”
More Breweries to Check Out After a Hike
Because Kish couldn’t include every brewery in the Berkshires and the surrounding region, we took the time to hear about the favorite hikes of a handful of our local brew crews:
Hot Plate Brewing Co.
1 School St., Pittsfield
Owners: Mike Dell’Aquila and Sarah Real
What is your favorite hike near your brewery? “We’re gonna go with Mahanna Cobble at Bousquet—it’s got a really good view when you get toward the top,” says Dell’Aquila. Real adds, “It was our first hike after moving, which is kind of fun. We took a proper day off to decompress from the world. Because we were still in planning for the brewery and, you know, overwhelmed by that. So we took a day to get away and enjoy the Berkshires.”
JAKE BORDEN
Which of your beers would you pair with that hike? “ ‘Rockin’ the Gold Tooth,’ ” says Dell’Aquila. “That’s nicknamed a ‘lawn mower beer’ because it’s nice and light—a pretty easy sipper after some strenuous activity.”
Mahanna Cobble trailhead:
101 Dan Fox Dr., Pittsfield
Shire Beer Co.
63 Flansburg Ave., Dalton
Head Brewer: Mark Geibel
Favorite nearby hike? “One of my favorite local hikes is to visit Wahconah Falls in Dalton,” says Geibel. “It’s a relatively easy hike with a really cool waterfall when you get to it and then there’s plenty of trails beyond the falls with a beautiful reservoir above—easy for dogs and kids.”
Which of your beers would you pair with that hike? “Any one of our beers!” exclaims Geibel. “But our flagship red ale, ‘Fireman’s Red,’ is brewed with Cascade hops. So the idea of visiting a cascade and enjoying a beer brewed with Cascade is fitting.”
Wahconah Falls State Park trailhead: North Street, Dalton
Antimony Brewing
55 Pittsfield Rd., Building 2, Lenox
Owner: Rob Trask
Favorite nearby hike? “Kennedy Park hike up to the Lookout Gazebo and then over to the picnic area past the ruins of Hotel Aspinwall,” says Trask.
Why? “The view of Mount Greylock from the Gazebo and imagining the romantic times at Hotel Aspinwall.”
Which of your beers would you pair with that hike? “Our crisp, thirst-quenching Italian Pilsner.”
Kennedy Park trailhead location: Routes 7 and 20, Pittsfield Road, Lenox
Big Elm Brewing
65 Silver St., Sheffield
Tasting Room: 389 Stockbridge Rd., Great Barrington
Co-Owner+Master Brewer: Christine Bump
Favorite nearby hike? “There are so many great trails!” says Bump. “I live in Sheffield, so I usually take my dog out to places close to the brewery. One that I really like is Drury Preserve on Barnum Street. It’s a quick 2.5-mile out-and-back that takes you by farmland, marshland, and forest to a beautiful lake at the end. Lots of animal activity. When my dog was a puppy, he unsuccessfully tried to herd the sheep!”
Which of your beers would you pair with that hike? “I think our Czech Pilsner ‘Beer with No Name’ would be great after Drury Preserve” says Bump.
Drury Preserve trailhead location: Barnum Street, Sheffield
Bright Ideas Brewing
111 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams
Director of Brewing Operations: Danny Sump
Favorite nearby hike? “My favorite hike is The Cascade in North Adams,” says Sump. “It’s a nice, flat, easy hike, I usually bring my dogs and let them off leash. It’s got a nice little waterfall, and the dogs like to play in the water.”
Which of your beers would you pair with that hike? “ ‘Czech’s Out,’ our Czech Style Pilsner; it’s a light refreshing beer after a workout.”
Trailhead location: 22 Brickyard Ct., North Adams
Some Breweries Just Beyond the Berkshires
Wandering Star Craft Brewery
11 Gifford St., Pittsfield
On Facebook
Nearby hike: Pittsfield State Forest
30 miles of trails into the quiet of the State Forest, which follows the crest of the Taconic Mountain Range. 1041 Cascade St., Pittsfield.
Norbrook Farm Brewery
204 Stillman Hill Rd., Colebrook, Conn.
norbrookfarm.com
Nearby hike: Norbrook Farm Brewery
Hiking trails, mountain biking trails, and disc golf course on site.
Roaring 20’s Brewery & Taphouse
565 US-20, New Lebanon, N.Y.
roaring20sbrewery.com
Nearby hike: Hancock Shaker Village Farm and Forest Trail.
Trailhead is found across Route 20 from Hancock Shaker Village, 1843 West Housatonic St., Pittsfield.
Sena Farm Brewery
151 Buffington Hill Rd., Worthington
senafarmbrewery.com
Nearby hike: Conwell Trails
Trailhead is found on Huntington Road in Worthington.
Chatham Brewing
59 Main St., Chatham, N.Y.
chathambrewing.com
Nearby Hike: Ooms
Trailhead is found at 480 Rock City Rd., Chatham, N.Y.
Roe Jan Brewing Co.
32 Anthony St., Hillsdale, N.Y.
roejanbrewing.com
Nearby hike: Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Sanctuary and Center
Trailhead is located at 225 Cambridge Rd., Hillsdale, N.Y
S&S Farm Brewery
174 Middle Rd., Nassau, N.Y.
sandsbrewery.com
Nearby hike: Kinderhook Creek Preserve
Trailhead is found on Martha Hicks Road.
Great Falls Brewing Company
75 W. Main St., Canaan, Conn.
greatfallsbrews.com
Nearby hike: Bartholomew’s Cobble
Trailhead is located at 105 Weatogue Rd., Sheffield.
Madison Brewing Company
428 Main St., Bennington, Vermont
madisonbrewingco.com
Nearby hike: Bald Mountain Trail Trailhead is found North Branch Street, Bennington, Vermont.
Bad Dog Brewing Company
117 Water St., Torrington, Conn.
bdbrewco.com
Nearby hike: John Muir Trail
Trailhead is found Newfield Road in Torrington, Conn.