Goodwater Brewery

Microbrewery in Williston, Vermont, United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: GoodWater Brewery

Established in 2016

Contact
740 Marshall Ave, Williston, VT, 05495, United States
Description
Founded by Marty Bonneau, a beer judge and avid homebrewer, in May 2016, the name is a translation of his French last name and plays on the old adage “good beer needs good water.” Bonneau has won multiple homebrew competitions and is lauded as one of the most creative forces in craft beer, which led him to a collaboration with Burlington’s own Matt Cohen of Fiddlehead Brewery. Since they opened, they’ve had a hard time keeping up with demand for their four flagship ales — Sweet Winter Brown; Hoppy Side of Pale; Proper Mild, an English-style beer; and InspiRED, an Irish-style red ale. But you’ll get to sample all of these as we tour their taproom and learn how Bonneau applied innovative homebrew techniques to larger scale production brewing. Goodwater brews are also available at locations such as the Bearded Frog in Shelburne and Finnigan’s Pub in Burlington and flow as far east as St. Johnsbury.

     Show


6.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draught at the brewery, 3/24/18.
Dark chestnut-to-mahogany. Clear, with an off-white head fading quickly to a ring.
A bit softer and creamier, with more base malt showing and no roast, compared to the similar brown ale. No sour, overexposed specialty malt here, at least. Light, playful fruitiness and no alcohol and very little hop character.
In the mouth it's somewhat soft, though still rather watery and thin at points. Fruity and bready with light honey and vanilla lingering amongst strong red fruit esters and a kiss of herbal hops. Mostly dry with a bit of malt depth, though could use more. No flaw or alcohol.

Tried on 28 Jun 2018 at 16:53


5.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Draught at the brewery, 3/24/18.
Dark mahogany-to-chestnut, clear, with a white head fading quickly to a ring.
After two excellently-done traditional styles (their kolsch and marzen), I was a bit surprised to smell sour-like, lactic, over-exposed malt with beany roast-like character and powdery chocolate.
In the mouth it's lactic and beany, as well with strong roast and bitter, cocoa powder-like notes. Dry, a bit thin and undermalted (base malt). Sourish.

Tried on 28 Jun 2018 at 16:15


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Draught at the brewery, 3/24/18.
Clear copper-amber. Off-white head sits lightly at cover.
Smells of bread dough with light honey and lightly toasted pizza dough. Soft and malty throughout with low fruitiness and no heavy specialty malt or crystal-like character (tea, spice, heavy toasted sourdough). Clean and lightly floral from the hops.
In the mouth it shows good floral and lightly bitter hop notes with lots of fruity notes and a malty finish. Fantastically-well balanced and very drinkable. Dry and malty. Clean with no alcohol or heavy hop/specialty malt character.

Tried on 28 Jun 2018 at 15:57


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Draught at the brewery, 3/24/18.
Clear, bright, golden-straw. White head steadily recedes to ring.
Very little aroma. As it progresses/warms/breathes, some light grain, cracker and perfume emerges. Very floral for a kolsch, but clean and attractive with no alcohol noted.
In the mouth it's light, as it should be, with a soft, malty texture and good attenuation. Crisp and refreshing with low hop and good honey-like malt remnants alongside rice/cracker character. Very clean, drinkable and lovely stuff.

Tried on 28 Jun 2018 at 15:12


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

4 oz. draft at the source. Clear orange in color a trace of lacing. The smell shows mild cereal grains, mild spice, and toffee. The flavor is as it should be; caramel malt very slight hop presence and a lightly mild malt backbone. Hints of spice. A good drinker and nice to sip this on a March afternoon. Yes on draft in March, not a typo.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 10:23


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

4 oz. draft at the source. The appearance shows me deep brown in color, aroma leans on English yeast influence and mild nutty character. Deep earthy malts, bread, and mineral hints Body is about normal for a brown. Nothing major to report. Drinkable.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 10:14


6.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

4 oz. draft at the source. The appearance is deep red in color with no head. Aroma is like ever other sour brown I have ever had. Cherry skins, oak and hints of vinegar. I really don’t like the style, but in general it seems like they had the right idea for the style. To much funky oak and sweet malt/ sour cherry hints for my liking. Maybe it is ok.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 10:06


4
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 4

4 oz. draft at the source. The appearance is indeed hazy... the flavor is candied orange, apricot and plastic. Weak bitterness that also shows an off note. (Reminds me of plastic) Bitterness is also mixed with a really off putting “chemical” nuance. I never would have sold this batch to customers. I hope they didn’t can this batch. Nearly undrinkable.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 09:57


5.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

4 oz. draft at the source. Aroma is Vienna and Earthy malts. Flavor is straight forward and plain. Toasted grains. (toffee, sweet malts) with some light yeasty hints in the finish. No issues or major flaws just very simple.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 09:51


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

4 oz. draft at the source. Color is a totally clear yellow with fast dying head. Aroma is fruit hints of pear, and maybe water. Flavor is mostly mineral water. The brewer used 8 varieties of hops?? I can’t find them any place. The body is light with a watery. It is kind of like carbonated pear water. Whoa.

Tried from Draft on 26 Mar 2018 at 09:41


Brewery Stats
Score
Not enough ticks to qualify for a global score
-
Beers11
Ticks34