Black River Brewing Co.

Being as this is about a mile from my house, let me write what I think is my 1st BF review. First off, this is NOT A BREWPUB/BREWERY. It was at one time but is no longer. It is however, a decent place to hang out if you're skiing Okemo Mountain. The Black River Ale that is on tap is actually Long Trail Hit The Trail, a brown. A decent beer, nice and nutty. They have .25 wings on Weds nights and an outside patio to smoke or hang out since the smoking ban went into effect 9/1/05. The food is actually ok and since they are rarely busy, service is spotty depending on who is working. They have about 20 taps, with 7 or so offline during the slow months (summer). There are two pool tables inside along with foosball and a volleyball net outside. It's right off the snowmobile path, if that's your mode of travel.

Visited in June 2001 and again in June 2002. This place apparently closed for a few months in 1999 while they moved from Ludlow to Cavendish, a few miles down the road. The pub is rustic and cozy with a wooden bar. The regular selection of microbrews is a Pale, an IPA, a Brown, and a Porter. The Porter was a bit light and somewhat inconsistent on the two visits. The Brown was pretty good. The IPA was very strongly hopped, and good. The Pale was fairly decently hopped and was very good. They also have some other regional micros in bottles and sometimes on tap. As for the food, we only tried the wings and the chicken fingers, which were both good. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the Ludlow, VT, area (the home of Okemo ski resort).