Shed Restaurant and Brewery

May 14, 2008
A very pleasant restaurant that also has some decent beer on tap. Patio on a warm day was great. Most beers are rather ordinary, and nowhere near the best beer around (L’alchemist 15 minutes away, or the brewer Magic Hat) but the freshest seasonals were as expected their best, with the Black IPA quite good. WOrth a stop if in the area at all, but only worth the drve out from Burlington (about 45 minutes or so) if you have the time.Prices are a bit more than the Vermont average, but less than most cities elsewhere.

August 5, 2007
I ignored the bad ratings and came here anyway because I’ve had some great beer from these guys at festivals - I should not have ignored them - hunting lodge-looking pub attached to a snooty-looking restaurant (interesting dichotomy) - 5 beers on tap, all unimpressive session ales - seems to cater to the upper class tourists (no surprise considering the golf course and skiing nearby) wanting to "slum it" at a faux mountain pub - I know they can make good beer, but I’d stick to trying it at fests or buying it in growlers at VT stores.

July 1, 2007
Have been there a number of times. The latest was early on a Saturday night and the place was pretty deserted. We got decent service, but the staff was not "engaged" at all. The place is decorated with lots of memorabilia, bumper stickers and pictures of the rich and famous that have been there. Other than that it was a little dirty. Beer selection was average with 5 of the house brews and a small selection of other brews. Food was pretty good; my wife had desert and it was pretty standard, but did include Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. If the beer wasn’t so good, it probably would not be some place that I would seek out.

April 11, 2007 [ Updated October 16, 2007 ]
Update: Had lunch and a couple of beers here with Dickinsonbeer 08.25.07 and the beers have seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. All three beers we tried seemed to have some nasty rubbery phenols present in them. Service wasn’t any better, with a bartender who was very slow, and seemed to be away from the bar more than he was there. I would only stop here if you happen to be in the area, don’t go out of your way.

October 9, 2006
The Pub area had a nice cofortable, relaxed atmosphere. Not crowded at all (on a Monday and Tuesday). Service was friendly and attentive, though dinner took a little while. We enjoyed some good nachos in the meantime... Good mix of beers, including pale ales, a seasonal Maple Porter, a rare but excellent Kriekfest, and a nice Belgian. During our brief visit to Stowe, Vermont, this was our favorite place...

July 24, 2006
Decor was a mix of ski lodge, British pub and Ponderosa-like steak house. Personalized mugs were hanging behind the bar, big black pipes crossing the room had stickers all over them, folksy music playing softly in the background, golf was on the tube and a popcorn machine for those who spent all day eating at Ben & Jerry’s and Cabot annex, and therefore couldn’t fathom eating an entire meal. Nothing very original here, but it seems to work well, we felt right at home sitting in the corner booth while a few families were sitting at the tables. This place must be packed during the ski season. Service was a little slow, perhaps they sent most of their staff to the brewer’s fest in Burlington and only left a skeleton crew to hold the fort. Our waiter was very nice however, and helped us decide which samplers to try. They were served on little skis, a cute touch. Out of the six samplers we got, the Imperial and regular IPA were standouts, Mountain ale and Darkside were good, his amber was passable, and I didn’t like his Biere de Miel one bit. Like a lot of Beers brewed with honey, it was watery had a dry sweetness that struck out for me. The others in my party agreed. But 4 out of 6 with thumbs up or better is a respectable score in my book, and worthy of a re-visit.

February 13, 2006
This was the day before the Extreme Beer Fest (Feb.11 2006), so most of the new wonderful beers were in Boston. We were left with the rather plain, if not honest beers. The place didnt change, a grungy dirty pub, with greasy food, and a hord of bearded snowboarders chatting, dude. Will have to go back for the unique beers.

January 28, 2006
We had a pretty disappointing experience there where all the beers had an unpleasant mineral "house" character that may well be punctual as the ratings mostly don’t reflect it. It hurts the score a fair bit. Otherwise, this is a very large building with multiple sections (bars, restaurant etc.) ambiance changes a lot from one room to the other. Interesting theoritical style experiments though.

January 16, 2006
An okay place with your typical yuppies and snowbunnies littered all over the place killing the experience. The beers were pretty decent, but it’s definitely not a place to go during skiing season if you’re looking to sample beer and be left alone.

December 5, 2005
Came here to try the new brewer’s creations, namely the attempted Belgian styles. All beers were okay, but most were plagued by a mineral quality seeming to come from either the brewing water or the water used to clean the glasses. Hope it’s not a common occurance. Many rooms to dine in, a small bar which gets loud when it’s full, an interesting building overall. I’ll come back to try the beers again, but I’d like to know that this mineral character has been cleaned off first.