Winter ,
BY T H E GLASS
Ice Cold
BEER
Savannah, Georgia
Have you ever had a beer in a haunted
house? The Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah, Georgia, is known as
being one of the oldest buildings in the
town, and also has a rap for being “genuinely haunted.” Located in the historic
district, the brewery was originally the
City Hotel.
Built in 1821, it was the first hotel in
Savannah and doubled as the first
branch of the town’s Post Office. In its
prime, the hotel accommodated many
people of importance, including war
heroes, Naval Commodores, and naturalist James Audubon. The hotel closed
in 1864, during the War of Northern
Aggression, and later became a lumber and coal warehouse. The building
sat unused from the 1960s until 1995,
when it was finally reconfigured into the
Moon River Brewing Company.
In 2003, the American Institute of Paranormal Psychology named Savannah
the most haunted city in America. The
Moon River Brewing Company is regarded as the most haunted building
in Savannah. So, if you’re planning to
take a tour of the brewery, come prepared to meet a few “old souls.” There
are numerous tales, and a handful of
testimonies from customers and staff
alike, who’ve all encountered some eerie sights and sounds.
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FoodTraveler l Winter 2016
The brewery has a full pub menu,
complete with fried green tomatoes, a popular small plate that
even mentions a “ghostly resident’s” approval in its description.
The beer list is lengthy and intriguing, with fun brews like Swamp
Fox, Taterlicious, and Yoga Pants.
Relax in the beer garden or take
a stroll along the city streets with
your selected sample. There are always fun things going on at Moon
River, from haunted yoga classes
to holiday bashes, so be sure to
visit the brewery’s website for upcoming fall and winter events.
Stowe, Vermont
If you’re putting all of the ghosts
and ghouls of Halloween behind
you, and entertaining the thoughts
of Thanksgiving and the upcoming
winter holidays, take a trip to the
Trapp Family Lodge & Brewery in
Stowe, Vermont. The von Trapp story is a very famous one, most notably by the American film, The Sound
of Music, starring Julie Andrews, that
was released in 1965. The lodge is
very family oriented and the history
behind the site is something we can
all be thankful for.
Don’t fall in love with the accuracy of the movie, as Hollywood is
known for twisting a few details
around. Instead, visit the lodge
and experience the real story firsthand. The von Trapp family indeed
traveled the U.S. as a group of singers and performers, but they eventually settled down in Stowe, where
they opened the original lodge to the
public. After a tragic fire in 1980, the
lodge had to be rebuilt, and came
back bigger and better than ever before, boasting 96 rooms in the new
alpine lodge that sits on 2,500 acres.
A brewery was added as one of the
many attractions, and continues to
be a bright star among the resort.
Since 2010, the Bierhall has been
brewing an American version of
an Austrian Lager that Maria von
Trapp’s son, Johannes, has enjoyed
for many years.
With his vision in place, the brewery
opened and now serves a variety
of those very lagers. The Trapp Lager is widely talked about amongst
beer enthusiasts, and some travel to
the lodge