Ashley and I were driving around listening to a local radio station when there was an announcement for the 11th Annual Harpoon Championships of New England Barbecue the following weekend at the Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT.
Forty teams competed for prize money and trophies with a select few selling their award-winning barbecue to the public. There were great Harpoon varieties on tap for our tasting pleasure, a live band (minus the vocals, which was nice) playing some good music and a sunny, blue sky. What more could we ask for? This was exactly what we needed in our first week of transition from New York City.
We strolled around the grounds and had a small sampling which included beans, ribs, pulled pork sliders/sandwich, wings and, of course, chocolate-covered bacon. I’ll venture to guess that Ashley enjoyed the chocolate-covered bacon the most. I’m going with the pulled-pork sandwich from, none other than, the Bastey Boys booth. This booth had a number of different sauces to taste with the sandwich and we sampled as many as we could until the pulled pork ran out. All in all, we enjoyed everything we sampled.
This was the booth to beat!
Mmmmm....sweet and savory!
Of course, the best part of the day was the tasty brew. We’ve only been to Harpoon Brewery a couple of times because we usually go to Long Trail Brewery (Bridgewater Corners, VT) instead. I do have to admit that Harpoon is slowly growing on me. I tried the Belgian Pale Ale which had a tangy aftertaste (not too bad). However, I really enjoyed the India Pale Ale and its hopped-up, cheek-puckering aftertaste. There’s nothing like an hoppy brew! I am definitely willing to visit Harpoon, again, to give it another shot.
After strolling around for a couple of hours we found a picnic table in the shade. We sat listening to the live band play some instrumental, classic rock tunes and enjoyed the surroundings. Sunshine (and shade), tasty beer and easy-going people. I could get used to this.
The Parallel Life 