Thoughts on Black Back Pub WB, VT

Pro pig is good but it can be loud and overwhelming. If I was on vacation and didn't go there a lot it would be great. Blackback offered a more laid-back experience with a great HF selection. . This is pretty damn disappointing to say the least.

 

Black back was def my favorite as it opened earlier for the times I needed to just grab lunch and head home. The new owner was very friendly and I did see a familiar face there (forget her name). Also seemed the new owner (the woman) knew she needed more HF on tap as she made a comment to us about only 2 being offered. She also made comments about trying to open a new b&b in town

 

tell her to get the shit straight with her bar first. thats a tiny place, not sure how anybody would make a go of it without the HF connection.

 

Hah I'm with you just stating my one any only convo I had w her

 

The awesome Hill Farmstead selection was a huge draw for me to Blackback. Very sad to hear that might be all in the past.

 

Ricky and his wife divorced. She moved to Portland with their son. He wanted shared custody so he moved too and sold Blackback to one of his customers who was in real estate, not hospitality. It sounds like her learning curve has been steep.

 

As I said before Dutchess, this is a great reason. I really enjoyed kings head, and they seem poised to do very well in this market.

If anybody in Maine ever got kegs of HF in the future I would expect it would be him. Would cause quite the flood of customers if so

 

If you are annoyed by loud and overwhelming you will hate every place really worth going to. (At least in peak hours). I would eat duck fat fries every day if not for obesity. Fuck a little noise.

 

Went in July with new owners, after frequenting the last few winters during ski season, and it is a lot different. Bad short pours, full of foam from HF being poured straight into glass about 10 inches below tap. Dirty glasses, and the customer service was piss poor. A damn shame.

 

I can get mad taco elsewhere...bring back the cheese pallets @ blkbk.

 

This. Big shame about Blackback. Went in there two weekends in a row and not a single HF on tap both times.

I will say that the Alchemist use to be even louder than ProPig, but was so much better (and cheaper) and worth the loudness and 2+ hr waits for a table. Just reminds me how shitty it is to have lost it. The Rez or Blue Stone are the better place(s) to go in Waterbury, imo.

 

Someone needs to call John Taffer now !!

 

I heard Shaun didn't like the poems written by the new owners, so he cut them back.

I haven't been up in a while, but Blackback was great the few times I went. Preferred it to the other places in town. Better atmosphere, low key vibe and great taps. But you really needed all 3 of those elements to make the place in work in a small and competitive market. Without HF taps, it's tough to compete. If the stories of bad pours are true, then I'm not surprised that Shaun is no longer distributing to them.

 

Yeah i couldn't hear the background noise on Friday because of how aggressively I was eating those fries

 

Disappointing to hear about Blackback. I definitely preferred it to both Reservoir and Pro Pig. Reservoir was less personal and Pro Pig wasn't personal enough IMO. Blackback also ran circles around then for HF (as has been said) offerings. Always had Edward and 3-5 others in my visits.

 

Blackback was literally my favorite bar in the world...this is killing me. First time I went 3 years ago they had 7 or 8 HF drafts and 2 lawsons. It was glorious...

 

Yeah we tore through two orders of those on Saturday. Delicious and addictive.

 

Things I will miss at BB:

Mad Taco
Hill Farmstead selection

Things I won't miss at BB:

Beer served in the same dirty HF stemware that rarely matched the beer style
The loud obnoxious guy in the Yankees jersey

2 pros/ 2cons.....a draw, I guess I'll give it another chance(but only one since there is plenty of good beer bars in Waterbury).

 

I am pretty sure I visited the Blackback on the first day they had new ownership. Many of the same beers that were on-tap two weeks previous had gone up $1-3 and the pour size seemed to decrease regardless. Also while we were sitting at the bar we awkwardly watched the owner change the price of Arthur from $6 up to $9 in one dollar increments, erasing and walking away between each change. I'm glad I ordered it for my first beer and payed $6. It's a damn shame because I have many fond memories of hanging out there very late on Friday nights having basically a tasting of what Hill Farmstead was currently producing. I also thought they chose the non-local brews very well. I liked pretty much everything about the old Blackback and it was clear the first day we were there that it was going to be a very different place and this thread confirms it. At least Waterbury has a few good beer spots. I'll probably stop in another time but without support from HF and apparently all new staff (really liked some of the old bartenders), I will most likely be spending my time across the street.