Vanished Valley Brewing, Ludlow MA

The name refers to the valley that disappeared – along with 4 small towns – when Quabbin Reservoir was created. This little brewery has a good number of beers on tap and a small but friendly space. There’s also a small outside area and a much larger Beer Garden under tents that opens on Friday and Saturday evenings.

I arrived earlier than I’d planned, but I was glad I did because they really started to get busy by 1pm on this Friday, something I was told was pretty common. That made me wonder why there were only two people to handle both the inside and outside spaces (and the inside has more seating than you can see here); those two were really busy by the time I left.

This flight, left-to-right:

Gone Fishin Kolsch – 5% – This one is just splendid! It’s one of the better I’ve had, but on the other hand, it’s so flavorful that I ended up happy it was just the taster size. I’d have to have the right kind of food with it to do a full pint, I think.

Take Flight Pale Ale – 5% – I’m constantly amazed at the variation in Pale Ales both across the country and from one brewer to the next locally, but variety is never a bad thing. This one was more hoppy than I’d expected, but was still good.

Pomona IPA – 6.5% – I believe this is their original NEIPA and I did enjoy it, but the next one was even more to my liking.

Watershed IPA – 6.7% – Now we’re talking! I loved this NEIPA with its solid fruitiness, and it’s the one I opted for a pint of later.

For the meal, I went with their Fish & Chips which comes with roasted Brussels Sprouts.

This was a generous meal, but not perfect. While the breading on the fish was arguably the crispiest and least-greasy of any I’ve ever had, the fish itself was slightly “fishy” tasting so perhaps wasn’t super fresh. The Brussels Sprouts were good, and a nice added touch, but some were burnt to the point that they tasted like charcoal or were so tough as to be difficult to chew.

Once the flight was gone, I tried a 10oz pour of their 1839 Amber Ale (also 5%) which was quite good but not outstanding. That was followed, as mentioned before, by a pint of the Watershed IPA which I liked so much.

I do love the colors of their beers.

And just because I could, I tacked on a Creme Brûlée.

The color is odd, but the taste is just as expected. I was told later that some people are put off by the color, but it is what it is because they make it with their stout. I wasn’t in love with the color, but it certainly did taste good. I do think they wasted good stout on it, though – I couldn’t tell it was there.

So, overall? A B or B-, I think. The beers were good but not outstanding, and the food had its pluses and minuses. Sometime, I’ll have to try them again and do either a pizza or BBQ, both of which they seem to be known for. For now, I’m just glad I finally got there to try them out!