hazy days of craft - ale street news their tropical fruit notes of grapefruit, peach, melon,...
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Craft Beer Origins
CiderConBaltimore
MauiBrewing
TAPNew York
Regional News
NewBrews
Event Calendar
L a r g e s t C i r c u l a t i o n B e e r P u b l i c a t i o n i n t h e U SL a r g e s t C i r c u l a t i o n B e e r P u b l i c a t i o n i n t h e U S
Spring—181— — VVol. 27 — No. ol. 27 — No. Spring—181
Celebrating a Quarter Century in Beer Publishing
INSIDE
Hazy Days of Craft
Page 2 Ale Street News Spring 2018
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Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 3
For 25 yearsAle Street Newshas coveredthe US and InternationalCraft Beerindustry.
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Page 4 Ale Street News Spring 2018
FROM THEEDITOR It’s Not Just the Liquid That’s Gone Crazy, er, Hazy!
These are the hazy days of craft beer, and not just because haze has become the in-thing, a la New England IPAs. Other issues like ownership, distribution and a fickle
marketplace are increasingly clouding the outlook for craft beer.First, those cloudy beers – the so-called Haze Craze. It’s all about
hop particulate suspension and keeping those aromatic lupulins fresh for seemingly insatiable hop-oriented palates. Some brewers may tell you that haze is not the main goal of a New England IPA, merely a bi-product. Whether it be water treatment, yeast usage, or massive amounts of dry hopping (hops added after fermentation), the goal is to create more flavor and show off the aromatics of new hops like Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, El Dorado and a host of others with their tropical fruit notes of grapefruit, peach, melon, tangerine and passion fruit. Some brewers have even bypassed the “cooking” of hops altogether – the traditional method of extracting bitterness – and have created 100% cold-side-hopped beers using aroma hops and lupulin powder exclusively. Filtration? You gotta be kidding!
Bi-product or not, this new style of IPA has become equated with murkiness, and some brewers proudly pursue the holy haze with additions of flour, apple puree (heavy with thickening pectin), oats and lactose sugar, creating the “milkshake” or “fruit juice” IPA. While it remains to be seen whether these fruit juice/milkshake IPAs are more than a passing fad, the New England-style IPA seems to be a keeper. Vermont’s Alchemist brewery has been making the so-called originator of the style, Heady Topper, for more than a decade.
Right now, haze is in. And as we plow deep into what is essentially the fourth decade of craft beer, the waters are as turbid as those double dry hopped IPAs. What indeed
is craft beer these days we are constantly asking ourselves? With big brewers selling their own “craft” styles, as well as putting their muscle behind acquired, formerly independent craft breweries, it is hard to know what to buy. Does it matter who owns a brewery as long as the beer is good? – is another question.
Well for a lot of brewers, not to mention the beer enthusiasts who have nurtured this craft beer revolution, it does matter – a lot. These brewers and fans are a passionate bunch – they’ve lived, and prospered by bucking the system and thinking outside the box. The Brewers Association has thrown its lot in with the independent brewers, kicking out of their club any brewery that sells more than 25% to a non-craft brewery. Last year they created an “independent” logo for brewers to stand behind as well as launching a tongue-in-cheek crowdfunding campaign to buy out global giant AB InBev.
These hazy, murky times also engulf the distribution world. The proliferation of small brewery tasting rooms has stirred the ire of beer distributors. Long protected
by the 3-tier system, or rather enabled by it, they are calling foul on
these direct to consumer sales – but, times change, tasting rooms may be the least of their problems. Look out when Amazon gets into alcohol distribution.
We do agree with distributors, however, when they gripe about retailers lack of loyalty and respect for the pioneering brands that opened the door to the avalanche of great beer choices in front of us today. Perhaps we need to create a new category to champion “heirloom” brands like Anchor Liberty and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – the heirloom tap of the week! (We at least give them a nod in this issue with Paul Sullivan’s retro piece on craft beer origins.)
In these hazy times, everyone has to dance to some degree – the more successful newbies have to dance between running a successful tasting room with profitable can and crowler/growler sales while not creating too much competition for their retail accounts. Retailers have to dance between satisfying consumer demands and maintaining strong relationships with their distributors. And distributors have to dance between trying to sell established brands while keeping up with the SKU-mageddon of new brands.
And the suppliers – the breweries – well, while the small and local ones are still proliferating, the more established, first tier, craft breweries are caught in the middle. On the one side they are being squeezed by the big brewery crafts, which are sometimes sold at
a considerable markdown (Goose Island IPA), and on the other by tasting room traffic. Already this year we have seen a venerable mid-level brewery, Smuttynose, succumb to market pressures. Unable to meet growth projections on which their state-of the-art brewery was predicated four years ago, it’s up for bankers auction in March. Green Flash, which opened a new East Coast brewery last year is also facing problems from over-leveraging. Having already announced announced a strategy change from nationwide distribution to a smaller footprint with more local support and more pubs, they are reportedly now looking for new investment.
Meanwhile, hit harder at the top of the craft beer pyramid, Boston Beer Co. is fighting back by introducing a new beer – Sam ’76. While still utilizing popular hops – Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic and Cascade – the new brew does so in a subtle way and is a hybrid ale/lager with lower strength (4.7%) and presumably the hope for a wider appeal. They are no doubt also hoping that their new CEO, Dave Burwick, can make a decent return on his reported $750K salary, not to mention $1.6 million signing bonus, by doing for Sam Adams what he did as CEO of Peets Coffee? Does this mean more Sam Adams taprooms in 2018?
As one industry veteran recently told me, there are “Fundamental changes going on in the world of beer.” Some you may like, some you may not, depending, like politics, on which side of the fence you are. And, as if things weren’t hazy enough, we may soon be adding cannabis into the mix!
Here at ASN our world is changing too. Curmudgeons that we are, we have to admit the gradual dissipation of the print media. Contemplating social media for
types like us may be somewhat akin to a quote I saw – that of a horse trying to understand the horseless carriage – or automobile – at the beginning of the 1900s. Some applaud us for staying in print for so long as we launch our 27th year. Still, while facing new media realities we are stubborn enough to continue in print, albeit with a more restrained schedule – four times this year (March, June, September and November) instead of six. To pick up the slack we are doubling down on digital. Please stay tuned to regular beer news updates at www.alestreetnews.com – while you’re there, sign up for our weekly e-letter. And please contact us for ways we can help you promote your business and brands though our new social media marketing department – [email protected]
– Cheers, Tony Forder
Bring us your latest social media campaigns, brand awareness and customer engagement projects. Launch your powerful social media ideas today through the reborn Ale Street News! – JB
Haze Craze/editorial ........... 4Brew News ...................5-7Blasts From tHe Past .... 7BrewsCooPs .................... 8CraFt origiNs ................... 9CiderCoN .........................10 aloHa BrewiNg ..............13
taP New York ................13CaleNdar ........................22
regioNal News New York CitY .........................10-11NY state .........................................15New JerseY ....................................16mid-atlaNtiC ...........................18-19New eNglaNd ...........................20-21
IN THIS ISSUE
Hawaii BrewiNg
New York CitY’s Beer Belt
BeerseNsei at Bruges Fest
editor’s Blog
asN tours
New Brews
regioNal uPdates
asN Vault
oNliNe – dailY uPdates at www.alestreetNews.Com
www.alestreetnews.comwww.alestreetnews.com
P.O. Box 1125, Maywood, NJ 07607 www.alestreetnews.com
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P.O. Box 1125, Maywood, NJ 07607 www.alestreetnews.com
(800) 351-ALES (201) 368-9100 FAX (201) 368-9101
P.O. Box 1125, Maywood, NJ 07607 www.alestreetnews.com
(800) 351-ALES (201) 368-9100 FAX (201) 368-9101
Ale Street News (ASN) is published bi-monthly by Tuscarora Inc. Distributed at breweries, brewpubs, restaurants, homebrew supply shops and retail outlets. For direct distribution, advertising and editorial contact (201) 368-9100. ASN reserves the right to refuse any advertising, editorial or other information. ASN is not responsible for typos or factual errors in advertising or editorial. Reader letters, articles and artwork are welcomed. ASN © 2018. No matter herein may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers.
Production: Marois CVM
Contributors: Kevin Trayner, Don Cazentre, Dan Kochakian, Chris Sweet, Kevin Brown, Chris Sullivan, Mark Marnell, Phil Galewitz,
Warren Monteiro, Cat Wolinski, Gail Kearney, Bryan Kolesar, Jim Kohl, Melissa Brady, Ron Sansone.
All references to alcohol percentage herein are based on alcohol by volume
Holiday Cherry Spiced Pie a la mode style DIPA DDH w/ Enigma + Motueka – got it? photo/Brix City
PuBlisHerstoNY Forder
JaCk [email protected]
editor: toNY Forder
direCtor oF marketiNg, retail aNd deVeloPmeNt
JaCk BaBiN
direCtor oF aCCouNtiNglaurie BaBiN
adVertisiNg maNagermelissa BradY
adVertisiNg salesal iaNNaCi
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 5
Brew News
Bumper Hop Crop
Hop shortage? What hop shortage? Those who remember the days of craft brewers desperately searching on-line for the hop varieties that make their brews so distinctive can breathe easy. At least for now.
The industry group Hop Growers Of America reports that US hop acreage and production hit an all-time high last year. Their annual statistical report shows that hop acreage has increased over 79% since 2012 (over 18% since 2016.) Yields are up 14%, with Oregon the largest producer at 75% of the national total. Idaho surpassed Washington for the first time with 13% and 11% respectively. Commercial production in 26 other states made up the balance.
Availability of aroma hops, most coveted by craft brewers, appears to be adequate. Demand for high alpha
“bittering” hops, on the other hand, are inadequate as surpluses from prior years are drawn down, which may cause acres to be converted from aroma hop plantings. The whole statistical report can be accessed at: usahops.org/enthusiasts/stats. html
Brewer Tax CHanges
Brewers large and small stand to benefit from the huge tax bill passed by congress last year. The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, included in the larger tax bill. Lowers the federal excise tax for breweries, wineries and distillers.
Under the bill, tax on beer will be halved, to $3.50 per barrel from $7 on the first 60,000 barrels for producers under two million barrels. Excise tax on large brewers goes from $18 per barrel to $16 for the first 6 million barrels. The Brewers Association has been working towards this legislation for almost 10 years, and estimates savings to brewers to come in at $142 million annually. More info can be found at www.brewersassociation.org.
THis is some sTones
Stone Brewing Co., has filed a lawsuit against beer giant MillerCoors alleging unfair competition and trademark infringement over the rebranding of Keystone Light. “Keystone’s rebranding is no accident,” said Dominic Engels, Stone Brewing CEO. “MillerCoors is making 30-pack boxes stacked high with nothing but
the word ‘STONE’ visible. Same for Keystone’s social media, which almost uniformly has dropped the ‘Key.’”
Stone Brewing Co-Founder Greg Koch, never shy about taking a shot at big beer, said “We all know Keystone is specifically designed to be as inexpensive, flavorless and watery as possible. We can’t have potential Stone drinkers thinking we make a *shudder* light beer. Or for our fans to think we sold out. MillerCoors needs to stop marketing its stuff using our good name.”
In a statement MillerCoors denied the claim and described the lawsuit as a clever publicity stunt.
DogfisH HeaD aTJames BearD
Attendees of the James Beard Award Gala (the ‘Oscars’ of the food world) will be treated to beer by Dogfish
Head Craft Brewery along with world-class cuisine. Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione was the winner of the James Beard 2017 award for Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional. The 2018 semifinalists for include: Leah Wong Ashburn, of Highland Brewing Co. in Asheville, NC; Jeffrey Stuffings, of Jester King Brewery in Austin, TX; Sean Lilly Wilson, of Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC; and JC and Esther Tetreault, of Trillium Brewing Co. in Boston.
The Chef’s Night Out and Award Gala will be held in Chicago May 6 & 7. Info about the events and tickets can be found at www.jamesbeard.org
in Case You misseD iT:aB Cries “DillY DillY”
Anheuser-Busch InBev showed its lighter side in December when it issued a cease-and-desist order to
Minneapolis’ Modist Brewery. Modist released a double IPA
called ‘Dilly Dilly’, a tongue in cheek reference to the Bud Light ad campaign featuring medieval royalty and the catch phrase “Dilly Dilly.”
AB took umbrage, as they have copyrighted the phrase “Dilly Dilly.” But instead of dispatching platoons of grim-eyed lawyers to rain legalese on the craft brewery, the giant brewer took a different tack.
A medieval town crier, in full regalia, arrived at Modist and proclaimed in the finest Olde English that AB “humbly ask that you keep this to a limited-edition, one-time-only run” and that “disobedience shall be met with additional scrolls.”
Modist’s lawyer, Jeff O’Brien,said he thought AB InBev handled what might have been an ugly situation in a “funny way.” As a good-will gesture, Modist was treated by AB to two Superbowl tickets, which Modist employees voted to raffle off for charity.
View the proclamation and Modist’s reply at modistbrewing.com/blog. ✒ ✒ ✒
Stone Brewing’s Co-Founder Greg Koch has a beef with MillerCoors for high-lighting the “stone” in Keystone.
Travel The World With ASN in 2018
Paris, Brittany, Normandyand Mondial de la Biere Fest TourFollowing a successful debut last year, the European edition of the Mondial de la Biere Festival, formerly held in Alsace, France will re-convene this summer in Paris. Our tour will take in the
festival, allow for plenty of free time in Paris, and follow a leisurely journey through the breweries, cideries and distilleries
of Normandy and Brittany including the World War II sightseeing tour at Omaha Beach. Normandy, Brittany only option available.
June 28-July 6, 2018$2399 pp, dbl occ
Brazil, Rio de Janeiroand Mondial de la Biere Fest Tour
Craft beer is booming in Brazil and the Mondial de la Biere Festival brings the country’s best beers together in Rio de
Janeiro. Our 7-day tour includes 2 days on the Beer Road in the mountains of Rio, full immersion into the Mondial de la Biere festival, and plenty of time to enjoy the sights and ambiance
of one of the most colorful cities in the world.
September 2-8, 2018$1995 pp, dbl occ
Belgium Beer Paradise TourWe'll be flying into Paris and visiting some of the choicest
chateaus in the Champagne area, before immersing ourselves into the Beer Paradise of Belgium. The itinerary features visits
to St. Bernardus, Chimay, Westvleteren (Cafe in de Vrede), Rodenbach, Drie Fonteinen, and several other small artisanal breweries. The tour will also take in the Night of Great Nightof Great Thirst Lambic Festival and the Zythos Beer Festival.
Hotel lodgings in Reims, Ghent and Brussels.
April 22-29, 2018$1750 pp, dbl occ
Please go to www.alestreetnews.com for more tour info. E-mail [email protected] Phone 1-800-351-2537
VIP Package available for 25th AnnualMondial de la Biere Festival, Montreal June 6-9.
Prices arefor land
only
By Kevin [email protected]
Page 6 Ale Street News Spring 2018
CrafT Brew ConferenCe speakers
Keynote speakers for the Craft Brewers Conference, to be held in Nashville, TN April 30-May 3 have been announced: Paul Saginaw and Deb Carey will address a crowd estimated at 13,000 at the annual event, which this year includes the World Beer Cup judging.
Paul Saginaw co-founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen in 1982 in Ann Arbor, MI, with his business partner Ari Weinzweig. With the goals of producing a great corned beef sandwich and creating an organization with a soulful culture, they transformed their venture into a community of businesses, consisting of 22 partners and over 750 employees. Saginaw brings an inspirational message—and strong vision—into the corporate world. His accomplishments include a “Champion of Change” award from the White House in 2014 and a lifetime achievement award from Bon Appetit.
Deb Carey established New Glarus Brewing Co., based in New Glarus, WI, in 1993, making her one of the first women to found and operate a brewery in the country. Under Carey’s leadership, New Glarus has become a national icon as one of the largest US craft breweries by volume,
while still being acclaimed for its local, in-state focus. She combines business management and brewing professionalism to run her brewery on foundations of individuality, cooperation and the use of 100 percent natural ingredients.
Register for the conference at CraftBrewersConference.com.
goose lanDs in CHina
Goose Island Brewing hopes to lay a golden egg in China, where the Chicago-based subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev has just opened a brewery in Wuhan, central China.
China’s beer market, the largest in the world by volume, is dominated by locally produced adjunct lagers. Though US beer exports to China have fallen significantly in the last few years, industry analysts have observed a growing demand for fuller-flavored brews by China’s burgeoning middle class.
Goose Island hopes to tap into that demand by brewing IPA, Honker’s Ale and 312 in Wuhan. That brewery will also produce beer for AB’s Chinese brands Boxing Cat and Kaiba. Goose Island beers have been available in China for some time, but in limited quantities. Goose Island operates a brewpub in Shanghai. AB also has a large brewery in Fujian.
ring in CrafT Beer week
The Brewers Association invites you to “Let Freedom Ring” during
the 13th annual American Craft Beer Week, May 14.20. Raise a pint with craft beer celebrations all around the country.
American Craft Beer Week gives seasoned beer lovers and anyone curious about craft beer the chance to discover more and support their local breweries and beer businesses. Find events near you by using the brewery finder at CraftBeer.com.
faTHer of HomeBrewing exiTs THe inDusTrY
After 40 years of homebrewing and promoting craft beer, Charlie Papazian has hung up his mash paddle. At least officially.
Papazian founded the American Homebrewers Association and the Association of Brewers, now the Brewers Association and inspired brewers around the world. His fun and readable book Joy of Homebrewing introduced thousands to the hobby of home brewing. In 1982 he debuted the Great Americn Beer Festival, the nation’s largest beer fest.
Papazian exited the Brewers Association Jan. 23, his 70th birthday. His last year at the association was spend working on a history of craft brewing archive containing thousands of photos, publicatons, films and videos. Brewers and homebrewers are invited to share their well wishes stories on the AHA and BA Facebook pages.
From all of us at ASN - Charlie, don’t worry; relax and have a homebrew! ✒ ✒ ✒
Brew News
Cannabis and Brew – Quite A Combo
As more states move toward legalizing cannabis use, links between pot products and craft beer are emerging. Why not? Hops and cannabis are related, after all.
Long Trail Brewing partnered with Luce Farms recently to release Vermont’s first CBD (cannabidiol) beer, Medicator. Medicator is an American IPA dry-hopped with Citra and Mosaic hops and finished with extracted terpenes and CBD oil from Luce Farm to deliver intense dank, hemp and weed flavors and aromas. Last year Lagunitas rolled out Supercritical ale brewed with terpenes extracted from Northern California hemp. Since laws vary by state, these brews have restricted availability.
Which leads us to -– beer and pot tourism! A number of entrepreneurs in Colorado and California have seen an opportunity and jumped on it. In San Francisco, the Sonoma County Experience offers tours to the north Bay area to sample craft beer and wine along with visits to dispensaries and grow areas. Dates and information can be found at www.thesonomacountyexperience.com.
The tour scene in Colorado is more developed, mostly centered around the Denver area. My 420 Tours offers beer and marijuana exploration tours twice a week, while the Summit County Brew Tour offers a Brews, Booze & Buds Tour, where Buds probably doesn’t refer to the King of Beers. For sensory overload, combine these tours with a visit to the Great American Beer Fest! See www.my420tours.com and www.kushtourism.com.
By Kevin [email protected]
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 7
smuTTYnose up for auCTion
“Keep drinking Smutty and hopefully new owners with more investment will keep things going,” is the message from Smuttynose Brewing Founder Peter Egleston. Citing competition, over leveraging and failure to meet growth projections Egleston announced in January that the 4-year-old state of the art green-certified brewery at Towle Farm, outside of Portsmouth, NH, will be up for bankers auction March 9. The sale includes the neighboring Hayseed Restaurant, but not the Portsmouth Brewery which Egleston will retain.
auTomaTeD BrewerY aimeD aT Bars,
resTauranTs
Originally aimed at home brewers, PicoBrew has launched the Z Series of commercial grade automated brewing appliances. The system auto-brews
from two and a half to ten gallons and will begin shipping in June.
Users can brew using PicoPaks containing the malt, hops and adjuncts to clone professional brews from over two hundred craft breweries. Of course the Z Series allows for the owner to use their own ingredients to craft unique brews. There is also an extensive on-line library of recipes available for download.
The wifi enabled appliance combines precision control and ease of maintenance into a small footprint, allowing for installation in the smallest area. Besides beer, the Z Series can produce cold brew coffee and kombucha. Special pre-order discounts are available until March 15. Take a look at www.picobrew.com/z.
people’s paraDise?
In an effort to “improve the lives of the North Korean people,” and also since Kim Jong-un likes an accasional beer, North Korea’s Taedonggang Brewing Company has begun production of a wheat beer. According to an article in International Business
Times, the wheat recipe has superior taste and smell to barley.
Taedonggang has been producing beer (from barley) since the early 2000s. The brewhouse was imported from the U.K. after the Usher’s Brewery in Wiltshire shut down and the equipment was sold to North Korea.
gooDBYe kilT
Ashville’s Highland Brewing is revamping their labels and packaging, calling the Scottish plaid and kilt theme used for the past 24 years ‘dated.’ A spokesman pointed out that the beer is neither Scottish nor dated.
New logos evoke the Blue Ridge Mountains and give a nod to the brewery’s status as Asheville’s first brewery with a stylized compass and North Star. Highland’s tasting room also has been updated to reflect the new design.
Since 2015, the company has been led by Leah Wong Ashburn, daughter of founder Oscar Wong. ✒ ✒ ✒
Brew News
– The BA reported 1514 breweries operating in the US. After a stagnant few years, breweries began their modern-day tear, climbing to more than 6,000 currently.
– ASN was getting ready to host Ultimate Belgian Tasting III at the Heartland Brewery in Manhattan.– Philly Beer Week was launched in Philadelphia, spawning Beer Weeks across the nation.
– Jackson tributes were held throughout Beer Week, with a special tribute featuring a Who’s Who of speakers including
ASN’s Tony Forder. The Beer Hunter passed in 2007.– Bad barley crops and a hop shortage drove up beer prices, which craft beer enthusiasts mostly took in stride (this was before that year’s crash!). One retailer said, “Under this scenario the $10.99 6-pack of the latest West Coast IPA becomes a special occasion beer rather than an everyday one.”– Boston Beer made 20,000 lbs of hops available to brewers in light of the hop shortage.
– Columns included - Cask Beer, Belgian Babble, Cheese and Tunes.
5 Years Ago— Vol. 22, No. 2
– 6,400 attended the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, DC. We described it as “off the hook”! (13,000 attended last year, also in DC).
– The BA reported 15% growth rate in craft beer for 2112. Also 400 new breweries for a total of 2,347 with a reported 1,200 in planning.
– With the proliferation of breweries, we reported on fears of another impending hop shortage.
- Budweiser touted Black Crown in their Superbowl ads – remember that beer? Guinness came out with Black Lager.
– ASN writer Warren Monteiro (aka the BeerSensei) was named Beerdrinker of the Year at Wynkoop Brewing’s annual competition in Denver.
– This issue contained regular columns on Ecological Beer, Beer Strategies, Spanish Cidra, the Art of Beer, the Beer Predator, BeerSensei and Collaborations.
– Kim Jordan, keynote speaker at the CBC proclaimed, “We’re the best thing to happen in the beer industry since the repeal of Prohibition. We have a beautiful power for an interesting future.”
Blasts from the Past
10 Years Ago — Vol. 17, No. 2
19 Years Ago — Vol. 8, No. 2– Charlie Papazian was on the cover, launching a 30-stop tour through the Northeast with his wife Sandra.
– The BA reported 1,514 breweries operating in the US.
– An invasion of Belgian beer and bistros was underway in NYC.
– Also in NYC, Mayor Guiliani raised hackles with a draconian drunk driving policy. If a driver was arrested with a blood alcohol over the legal limit, he forfeited his car, no if and or buts.
– The 149-year-old Stroh Brewery was reported to be getting out of the beer business and selling its breweries and brands for $400 million.
Page 8 Ale Street News Spring 2018
Brew SCOOPS
Shmaltz Brewing Co. and Barcade take the pairing of craft beer and food to the next level with the release of their latest collaboration, 5.5% Pastrami Pilsner. The beer is stacked with caramel, Munich and Pilsner malts to provide light, toasted bread flavors and caraway seeds for the complete rye bread experience. Kosher salt, pepper, mustard seed, and smoked malt wrap together the best pastrami characters. An aromatic blast of horseradish completes this truly unique offering. Available in 4-packs in 30 states across the country. shmaltzbrewing.com
Allagash Brewing Co. released its first non-wild, blended, barrel-aged beer. Pastiche starts out as four different beers, all created by sr. Allagash brewers. It is a complex, yet approachable amber with notes of caramel, dried fruit, spirits, and oak. This limited release will ship to the brewery’s full distribution footprint, available in 750-ml bottles and on draft at select locations.
An Allagash favorite has also returned – Map 40, a Belgian-style stout that’s blended with cold-brewed coffee from local roaster Speckled Ax. Light nuttiness accompanies flavors of chocolate, raisin, and a resounding
coffee note that weaves its way throughout. Available in 4-packs of 12-oz bottles and on draft at select locations. allagash.com/
Genesee Brew House’s SIMCOE S.M.A.S.H Pale Ale, a 5.5% single-malt, single-hop brew, is both juicy and hop-forward with aromas of pine and citrus. Simcoe hops combined with the SMaSH brewing process is the ideal addition to Genesee’s annual S.M.A.S.H. series. The limited-time-only ale is available in 6-pack bottles, as well as on draft in select bars and restaurants. geneseebeer.com
Louisiana’s Abita Brewing Co. is toasting New Orleans’ Tricentennial celebration with the launch of Maison Blanc. NOLA’s French heritage can be found right in the name of the beer, brewed with malted barley, wheat and Sauvignon blanc grapes, and its taste reminds visitors and residents of the city’s light yet festive atmosphere. abita.com
As Game of Thrones approaches its final season, Brewery Ommegang and HBO Global Licensing announce the Royal Reserve Collection, a series of four limited release beers. First is Hand of the Queen, a big, bold 11%. barleywine. Malt forward and multifaceted, the beer balances the intense flavors of brandy-soaked raisins and dark fruit with the lighter notes of apricot and hints of molasses and toffee. Available in April, offered both on draft and in 750-ml bottles. ommegang.com
Alaskan Baltic Porter is a fan favorite from previous years, and it’s back as the latest addition to Alaskan Brewing’s limited Pilot Series. Smooth, deep maltiness abounds in every sip, with a rich mouthfeel and vanilla intensity, and an undeniable warming from this 9.8% porter. Jet-black in color from the deeply roasted malts, hints of cherry and dried fruit, and notes of bourbon and toffee are present from start to finish. alaskanbeer.com
Kona Brewing Co. announced its first blonde ale, Kanaha Blonde Ale,
is now available nationwide. A bright, sessionable, 99 calorie beer, tasting notes include pale and caramel malts; Alchemy, Mosaic and Amarillo hops and real mango fruit. In addition, Kona is re-releasing Koko Brown Ale nationwide as part of the Aloha Series. It has a nutty, toffee flavor and is made with real toasted coconuts. konabrewingco.com
Sam ’76 is a revolutionary new experiment with both lager and ale yeast strains. Samuela Adams brewers blended two active fermentations that showcases the slight fruitiness of an ale with the balanced drinkability and smoothness of a lager. It is sublty hopped with Cascade, Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe, 4.7%. Spring releases from Sam in the American Craft Lagers Variety 12-Pack include: Fresh As Helles (5.4% with Mandarina hops and Sam Adams yeast and malt, also available in 6-packs), Kellerbier (5% with Spalt-Spalter and Tettnang hops and oak chips), Smoked Lager (5% with three malts and Cascade hops), Coffee Black Lager (4.9% with three malts and two German hops and Sumatran and Monsoon Malabar coffee), and Noble Pils (4.9% with five hops producing a bright, but not overly-bitter hoppiness). These beers are available. www.samueladams.com
Hops are on full display in Summit Brewing Co.’s latest IPA Collection. Summit Sága IPA offers robust hop flavors and aromas of kiwi, apricot and passionfruit. 35 IBU Summit Wee IPA is a sessionable 4.7% with aggressive aromas of passionfruit, melon, pineapple and tangerine, as well as sturdy malt flavors. 6%
Summit Experimental Hop IPA, at 60 IBUs with intense aromas of fresh berries, pineapple, apricot, peach and coconut, uses hops so new they don’t have names. Summit Imperial IPA is a powerful 8.5%, 105 IBU ale that’ll batter your senses with immense aromas of tangerine, stone fruit, melon and lemon – thanks to a giant all-American hop bill. In a variety box of 12 12-oz cans. A limited amount of Summit Experimental Hop IPA will be made available on draft. summitbrewing.com
Nine Pin Cider Works announced the release of Earl Grey, the latest collaboration with Guilderland, NY-based Short and Stout Tea Co. Crafted with 100% NY state apples, cold infused with earl grey tea, and aged on lemon peel. In 12-oz cans available at bars, restaurants, and retailers. ninepincider.com
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is excited to reacquaint its fans with a quartet of diverse, flavorful beers. Dogfish is bringing back the bold, honey-tinged, 9% imperial stout, Wood-Aged Bitches Brew, aged and blended in giant oak and Palo Santo wood tanks where it develops vanilla, chocolatey-licorice wood aromas with a sweet, roasty, coffee flavor finish. Available in 6-packs of 12-oz bottles. Lupu-Luau IPA, is a 7.3% coconut IPA brewed with a tropical trifecta of toasted coconut, coconut water and an experimental hop which adds coconut aromas. Naturally hazy from Pils malt, flaked barley and rolled oats. In 6-packs of 12-oz cans. Namaste White is a 4.8% Belgian-style witbier brewed with dried orange flesh and peel, fresh-cut lemongrass, coriander and peppercorns. This refreshing, sessionable white ale is available in 12-packs of 12-oz cans. Dogfish celebrates its 2018 Off-Centered Art Series with the release of Romantic Chemistry. A serious IPA brewed with an intermingling of mango, apricots, ginger and the essential oil myrcene. It is dry-hopped with three varieties of citrusy hops, clocking in at 7.2%; it is available in 6-packs of
12-oz bottles. dogfish.comNew Belgium Brewing is
launching a new kettle-soured series of fruit-forward beers in 2018. The first release, 4.2% Tartastic Raspberry Lime Ale, pours a light raspberry hue with aromas of raspberry, strawberry and cherry, followed by lemon and lime. Available in 12-oz bottles as well as draft. The series will rotate other flavors throughout the year, including the return of fan-favorite Lemon Ginger Sour. newbelgium.com
Cascade Brewing has released Midnight Bramble, a 6.6% blend of wheat and blond ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 18 months with black and red raspberries, fresh ginger and thyme. Offering carefully layered flavors of ripe bramble fruit with a refreshing ginger lift and soft notes of lavender and pine, the Northwest sour ale is available in 750-ml bottles and on draft. CascadeBrewing.com
Full Sail Brewing Co. adds Session Tangerine Twist to their Session Series. Tangy aromas of citrus zest and tangerine burst from this golden, refreshing 5.2%, 20 IBU ale. It is light and drinkable, in line with the rest of the Session Series. Available through April in the Session Series 12-pack, Session Mashup variety 12-pack and on draft. fullsailbrewing.com
Lagunitas’ Cappucino Stout (aka Cap Stout) packs a punch at 8.9% and follows it up with boatloads of roasted coffee. Available in 22-oz bomber bottles. www.lagunitas.com/beer ✒ ✒ ✒
51 Arthur Street, East Brunswick, NJ 732-432-9393 • Just minutes off the NJ Turnpike Exit 9
Massive Selection of Domestic and Imported Craft Beer!
Cigar Fans — Walk-in Humidor!
Top Flight Wines — Craft Spirits!formerly Marketplace Wines & Spirits
By Gail [email protected]
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 9 By Paul Sullivan
American brewing has been influenced by classic European beer styles since the beginning, by immigrants who brought their brewing traditions with them. For a time these early American brewers produced ales and lagers in many styles. But in the mid 1800s a new style of beer took hold in what is now the Czech Republic. Using a lighter malted barley, soft local water and Saaz hops, and fermented with lager yeast, this beer was lighter in color and flavor than the heavier brown beers that preceded it. It was also much clearer, and coinciding with more efficient methods of glass production began the trend of glass beer vessels, so as to better view the beautiful golden beer.
By the late 1800s the new Bohemian Pilsner style became fashionable in America also and breweries raced to produce them. This happened at a time when malt was inconsistent an d brewers were experimenting with adding corn or rice to the mash to add more fermentables and lighten the beer so it wasn’t as filling. The use of adjuncts was the beginning of a uniquely American style of light American lager, which through economies of scale and acquisitions increasingly came to dominate big breweries in the 20th century.
In the 1970s when the number of American breweries had dwindled to an all-time low of only 44, an
alternative brewing culture sprung up in reaction. For inspiration, brewers again looked to Europe for classic styles to emulate, but in stark contrast to the prevailing trend they made full-flavored beers, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in ages. The very act of making a beer that wasn’t pale yellow and fizzy was revolutionary, and it took guts and passion to persevere.
anCHors aweigH
Anchor Brewing from San Francisco was one of the first in the trenches. Their signature product Anchor Steam Beer was a
Back to Basics: How European Beer Styles Influenced Craft Beer
uniquely American beer style born of necessity. First brewed in the early 1900s before refrigeration was available on the West Coast, Anchor Steam was a copper colored beer fermented with lager yeast at warmer ale temperatures, like a mashup of Vienna lager and pale ale. In 1972 they released Anchor Porter, setting the stage for an American revitalization of full-flavored dark beers. By 1976 they had introduced three more beers, each with a new spin on classic European styles and all hugely influential on the coming craft brewing scene. Old Foghorn was the first American barleywine, with more hops than English
versions to balance the copious malt and alcohol. At double the strength of light beer, it was both a reminder of the past and a beacon to the future. Anchor Christmas Ale was a spiced winter warmer, the first holiday ale released in the US since prohibition. It’s hard to overstate the influence this beer continues to have to this day; simply put, it is the grandfather of any domestic beer brewed with spices and herbs. And if all that wasn’t enough, perhaps the biggest continuing influence on craft beer was Anchor Liberty Ale, made with only pale malt and lots of a new citrusy variety of hops called Cascade. Although it did not use the name IPA, Liberty Ale was arguably the first modern IPA produced in America. It was also dry hopped for more hop aroma, which became standard operating procedure for American IPA brewing and set the stage for the double and triple dry hopped IPAs of today.
ameriCan pale ale
With these five beers Anchor led the way and signaled a new era in American beer as craft brewing began gaining momentum. Sierra Nevada began in 1980, and their signature Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, also hopped with Cascade was a uniquely hoppy American interpretation of English pale ale that was so influential that it created a new category called American Pale Ale. In 1981 Sierra first released Celebration Ale, an IPA
in everything but name that raised the stakes on what IPAs were and could become. And then in 1983 they released Bigfoot barleywine, even stronger and hoppier than Old Foghorn.
exTreme Beer
Meanwhile on the East Coast the Boston Beer Co.’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager first appeared in 1985. More or less an updated Vienna lager with more hops, this was also one of the first contract-brewed beers (made at a large brewery not owned by them), which allowed faster and wider distribution than the small homegrown breweries of the time. This was quite a controversial practice back then, and some questioned the authenticity of a brewing company without a brewery (The BBC did eventually acquire their own breweries). These days many beers are contract brewed and the term has lost its stigma. By the end of the 1980s the BBC released their own versions of classic styles like Dopplebock, Stock Ale, and Oktoberfest, and in 1993 they made arguably the first extreme beer, the 18% Triple Bock.
These pioneer craft breweries set the stage for the golden age of beer we are experiencing today, and although they may not be the hot new kid on the block, they paved the way for all of your favorite breweries. ✒ ✒ ✒
Page 10 Ale Street News Spring 2018
By ronald [email protected]
The craft beer industry has the CBC, the yearly Craft Brewers Conference that draws brewers from far and wide. In the cider world there is a yearly gathering of cidermakers called CiderCon, put together by The United States Association of Cider Makers. Like the CBC, the conference moves around – this year’s was held recently in “Charm City” Baltimore with well over 1,100 cider people in attendance, representing 41 states and 12 countries including Austria, Argentina, Canada and Estonia!
Also similar to CBC, it features educational programs, an industry trade show, tasting sessions and tons of networking and socializing opportunities. There were talks about industry growth with Cyder Market and from Nielsen, which offered solid data-backed insights into the growth of the cider industry – “At The Tipping Point and Poised for Growth”.
After hours activities were enhanced by Baltimore’s inaugural CiderWeek! There were tap takeovers around town, special cider collaborations and restaurant events hosted by cidermakers, and lots of great ciders from Pennsylvania cidermakers like Jack’s and Ploughman’s, Washington DC’s ANXO, New York state’s Graft and some unique small-batch ciders from Angry Orchard; the conference culminated in the Pour The Core cider festival at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore City’s historic Southwest neighborhood.
On their website, the cider association puts forth “CiderCon was created to effect positive changes in cider making, cider fruit production,
the cider market and cider regulations. It’s an opportunity for the cider community to gather, share ideas, collaborate and learn. CiderCon allows cider producers to meet their industry colleagues to exchange ideas on best practices, innovations and trends. The discussions that take place at CiderCon provide a foundation of strength and diversity for the industry.”
Such a philosophy manifested lots of talk about the growth of Rosé ciders, discussion about the newly developed conference session track with a focus on “Heritage Cider” and how apple selection, fermentation methods and terroir effect cider production outcomes. Next year’s conference will be held Feb. 4-8 in Chicago!
www.ciderassociation.org
Cider Trends4% of consumers say that hard
cider is their current adult beverage of choice today; 10 years ago it was only 1%.
The popularity of Rosé is growing beyond wine.
Cider dollars are 10 times greater than nine years ago! (2008 - $43.5million vs. 2017 - $469.8million).
Regional cider›s share is between 15% (midwest) and 51% (northwest), with cider›s growth rates 30%+ in most regions.
Top cider growth markets (in Food Off-Premise) are in Oregon, Idaho, Minneapolis, Rochester, Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Boston, Pennsylvania, Richmond/Norfolk.
Cider sales skew from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but (unlike beer) cider also has good balance through the last quarter.
Cider casts a broad and equal gender tent (51% Male, 49% Female).
Back to the RoséWe talked about the rise of Rosé in
these pages last year and now it seems like it’s everywhere! Original Sin’s Dry Rosé was ubiquitous (and delicious) with Shacksbury, Strongbow, Nine Pin, Crispin, Bold Rock and Angry Orchard announcing releases of their take on the Rosé style, possibly appealing to people who want a more colorful and less apple juice looking alcoholic beverage. Keep an eye out for some blush rosé cider this spring! ✒ ✒ ✒
Cider Industry Gathers In Baltimore LONG ISLAND UPDATE
By Bernie [email protected]
The crowds had barely finished leaving Times Square after the ball drop before the news came of another craft brewery planning to open on Long Island. Westhampton Beach Brewing Co. announced the leasing of 4,800 sq ft in the Hampton Business District at Gabreski Airport. The brewery was founded in 2016 by childhood friends Brian Sckipp and John Salvaggio, who were previously investors in a North Fork winery, along with another long-time friend, Kathleen Tedesco.
The three partners recruited a veteran Long Island brewer, Dave DeTurris, who was brewmaster at John Harvard’s Brew House in Lake Grove for 10 years until it closed in 2015. DeTurris was well known for brewing a wide variety of delicious dark ales including Atomic Espresso Stout, Pinstripe Porter and ‘Ohana Coconut Brown Ale. He also showed versatility
by brewing several Belgian and German beer styles, including a Maibock that won the Gold Medal for best individual craft beer at the Tap New York festival in 2010. Westhampton Beach Brewing is planning to open in time for the Westhampton Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 10. We expect that Dave will have a tasty Irish style stout on the menu!
Fire Island Beer Co., located in Bay Shore in the same building as Great South Bay Brewery, is putting the finishing touches on its tasting room so it can open to the public later in the spring. Also in Bay Shore, The Brewers Collective Beer Co. opened a much larger tasting room in January just around the corner from its old tasting room and brewhouse. The expanded tasting room has ample seating and space for live music and games.
Harbor Head Brewing Co. in Northport held a grand opening of its tasting room in mid-January and had packed crowds enjoying flights and buying crowlers and growlers. Harbor Head’s tasting room will be open during the
winter months on Sat. and Sun. from noon to 5pm.
In Patchogue, new brewing equipment arrived in late January for the start-up Patchogue Beer Project and is being installed with plans to begin brewing later this month. Also in January, North Fork Brewing Co. in Riverhead finished installing its new brewhouse in the old firehouse on Second Street that is also home to Long Beard Brewing. Both breweries hope to open their tasting rooms later this spring. A brand new brewery is also close to opening in Huntington. Six Harbors Brewing Co., founded by longtime homebrewer Mark Heuwetter and his wife Karen, installed their new brewhouse in a 2,500 sq ft building on New York Avenue that formerly housed a dry cleaner. The brewery has already started canning its H3 Huntington Harbor Hoppy Double IPA and is putting the finishing touches on its new tasting room, with plans to open in a few weeks pending approval from the town. ✒ ✒ ✒
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 11
Above, Brewmaster Alex pours Kuka beer at Defiant Brewing’s Abominable
Snowfest Jan. 27.Right, Tonya Kolb pours for Queens’
Transmitter Brewing
By Cat wolinSKi [email protected]
The 10th annual NYC Beer Week will take place Feb 23 - March 4, filling 10 days and nights with more than 150 events at over 100 locations across the five boroughs. Organized by the New York City Brewers Guild, NYC Beer Week 2018 will have its official kick off at the Opening Bash Feb. 24, at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint. With nine new breweries opening here in 2017, it’s sure to be the biggest yet. Tickets and more information are available at www.nycbrewed.com.
BrooklynBraven Brewing has finally
locked in a location in Bushwick, Brooklyn! After five years in business, Braven, which laid claim to bringing brewing back to Bushwick when the brand launched in 2013, will be taking over the space of Lantern Hall, a former beer bar located at 52 Harrison Pl. The space will include a 3.5-bbl brewing system, a 60-seat restaurant, and Braven-centric pub fare. Also, as of press time, they’re hiring: Braven is seeking a brewmaster, so get your liquid resumes ready and head over to Bushwick. Braven is slated to open in summer of this year.
New York, it’s finally happening: Grimm Artisanal Ales will officially be opening its first brick and mortar brewery. The much-awaited brewery will grace Brooklyn with its as yet ephemeral, imminently permanent presence in East Williamsburg in late March. The specs: 7,500 sq ft total; 900 sq ft taproom, 30-bbl brewhouse; 200 oak barrels and foeders; 10 taps. For food, Samesa, a new shawarma shop in Williamsburg, will be offered during taproom hours. It’s going to be awesome.
Greenpoint Beer and Ale Co. and North Brooklyn Farms have partnered to open a new restaurant and bar called Annicka, located at 544 Manhattan Ave. at the Northeast tip of the sprawling McCarren Park in Greenpoint. Annicka will focus on local, seasonal produce and butchery, aiming to balance a “healthy and indulgent, ambitious and approachable” dining experience. The “lovechild of Greenpoint Beer and Ale Co. and North Brooklyn Farms” is the first restaurant to open under Governor Cuomo’s Farm Brewery license. It will exclusively serve New York beer, wine, and spirits.
Greenpoint recently released two outrageous brews: Publicity Stunt (8%), a double dry hopped DIPA brewed with Peter Pan donuts (the best in Greenpoint!) and lactose, hopped with Citra and Mosaic, and dosed with the adoringly bombastic attitude only a post-2015 brewer can have. We love you, Greenpoint.
“This beer embodies controversy, insensitive marketing ploys, and our natural anti-establishment tendencies. Take a close look at the can, you’ll see what we mean. And to add to the mystique and exclusivity, this will be a BREWERY ONLY RELEASE!,” Greenpoint’s announcement read. Also released is Down on the Street (7%), a DDH IPA with coriander and rye brewed in collaboration with Beer Street of East Williamsburg. “No lines, no BS, just good beer and good times.”
QueensThe latest newcomer to the NYC
brewing scene is Bayside Brewery of Bayside, helmed by Anthony LoSardo, founder and brewmaster. The brand launched its Bayside Ale at Bourbon Street on Bell Blvd. for Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 4. We had a chance to try it, and the traditional ale takes an English-style approach, with malt-forward sweetness, medium body, citrusy hop character and a bit of bitterness to balance things out. Welcome to the neighborhood!
Transmitter Brewing is about to hop the boroughs. That is, the Long Island City-based brewery will be moving to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2018. “The rumors are true,” Rob Kolb, Transmitter owner/brewer, told me in an e-mail. “We will relocate from LIC to the Brooklyn Navy Yard after signing a lease for an 8,165 sq ft space at the newly renovated Building 77.”
Construction was set to start in February, with an expected opening date of late spring/early summer. Transmitter’s new brewery will be located in Building 77’s ground floor, sharing an overall 60,000 sq ft space with tenants such as Russ and Daughters, Food Sermon, Pizza Yard, Rustic Tavern, and Brooklyn Roaster. The brewery will feature a full service tap room, retail sales and increased production capacity, Kolb said.
Transmitter also recently released JW1 DDH Sour Wit, a collaboration with J. Wakefield Brewing of Miami, a tart, DDH wheat beer brewed with tangerine peel and coriander. JW1 is fermented with a wine yeast for extra acidity, and a saison yeast for a dry finish. Transmitter describes the new brew as “delicious, dank and citrusy with a notable grapefruit pith vibe.”
Also upcoming sometime in the near future with no dates in sight at the moment are Mikkeller in Citi Field in Queens; Stillwater in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Evil Twin in Ridgewood, Queens; and Torch and Crown in Manhattan.
BronxIn more solemn NYC beer news,
Chelsea Brewing Co. has filed for Chapter 11 and will be auctioned by a trustee. Chelsea’s assets include a 30-bbl brewhouse, taproom with 12 taps, 12 fermentation tanks, nine
onlineEXPANDED AND UPDATED COVERAGE AT alestreetnews.com — NEWS-NY/NJ
New York City & LI brite tanks and a 2.1 million BTU boiler, along with a 7-year lease on the building, 15 beer brands, permits, licenses and a distribution agreement with Union Beer Distributors. Chelsea Brewing Co. opened in New York in 1995, closed its brewpub location in 2014, and reopened in the Bronx in late 2015.
Bronx Brewery co-founder, Chris Gallant has announced he will be stepping down from the company as his family moves to California. He will maintain an ownership stake in the business and a seat on its board, but will no longer be involved in the brewery’s operartions. Damian Brown, co-founder will take over as president.
Staten IslandKills Boro Brewing Co. has
started releasing their tasty beers in cans. Look out for Window Creep Double IPA and Cheat to Win DDH Pale Ale. All Kills Boro beers are available fresh at Craft House Staten Island.
ManhattanHeartland Brewery released the
latest in its New York Historic Beer Series. Now on tap is Jacob Ruppert Brewery Doppelbock, a dark amber lager with malt sweetness and a warm finish. The historic brew clocks in at 7.3% and is available at Heartland Brewery. ✒ ✒ ✒
Resource – www.nycbrewed.comBrewery Map – www.newyorkcraftbeer.com/brewery-map/
Page 12 Ale Street News Spring 2018
Rio Makes Vinepair’s Top 10 Beer Destinations – and We’re Running a Tour!
Head to Rio for a Brazilian beer fest in September, or an energized gypsy brewing scene, says the online lifestyle site vinepair.com! And it just so happens Ale Street News is running a tour to that very beer festival in September – the Mondial de la Biere - Rio.
Going into its sixth year, the Rio fest has captured the fun and enthusiasm of Rio’s burgeoning brewing scene. Our Sept. 2-8 tour includes 2 days on the Beer Road in the mountains of Rio, full immersion into the Mondial de la Biere festival, and plenty of time to enjoy the sights and ambiance of one of the most colorful cities in the world.
Left, Sarah Nacewicz & Shaun Radzuik of Greater Good Imperial Brewing of Worcester at the Beer Advocate Extreme Festival in Boston on Feb. 2. Right, Cricket Hill of NJ poured Nick’s Hazelnut Praline Porter at Defiant Brewing’s Abominable Snowfest in Pearl River Jan. 27.
Above, the Brotherton Brewing crew at Great Beer Expo, NJ Feb. 2. Above left, Shout out to Montclair State softball! — wigs and all!Left, Sticker Shock!
We’re Going to Paris Too!
Paris didn’t make the Top 10 yet, at least in beer, but it’s on its way. The Mondial de la Biere made a successful debut there last year and will build on that in 2018.
Our tour will take in the festival, allow for plenty of free time in Paris, and follow a leisurely journey through the breweries, cideries and distilleries of Normandy and Brittany including the World War II sightseeing tour at Omaha Beach.
Rio
Paris
Festival Fun
See the ad on Page 5of this issue and go to
www.alestreetnews.com/asn-tours-2018/
for more info.
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 13
TAP New York Turns 21 This Year at HunterThe longest running Craft
Beer Festival in New York is also the largest Single State Craft Beer Festival in America and it turns 21 this year. TAP New York takes place Saturday, April 28 from 1-5pm and Sunday, April 29, from noon-4pm at the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort in NY’s beautiful Catskill Mountains. The ticket price includes food, all the beer samples you can handle, live music, cooking demonstrations and plenty of friendly opportunities to mingle with brewery owners, brewers, maltsters, hops and grain farmers, writers, bloggers and other NY beer personnel. This year’s food theme will be The American Sandwich inspired by cultures from around the world. The sandwiches will join other food items like burgers, sausages, soups, sandwiches, corn dogs, chili and other small bites that are walked around during festival hours.
Over 7,000 attendees are expected to sample over 400 beers from more than 130 NY breweries with the sky the limit on beer categories and adjuncts. You can expect all traditional styles as well as festival specific casks, collaborations, barrel aged, wild, fruit and sour ales. Look for over 100 IPAs and some NY Farm Breweries offering special farm beers crafted with all NY ingredients. You can navigate around the festival with a downloadable app that has a list of the breweries, interactive social
media features and a map. There is a Saturday VIP
Experience with limited attendees so get your tickets early. The VIP tickets include special parking, an extra hour of access, a special seating area in the lodge, four exclusive beers that will not be served to the general public, a VIP specific bathroom, exclusive food offerings, a T-Shirt and a VIP beer glass. To go along with the usual coveted awards like The Matthew Vassar Brewer’s Cup for The Best Hudson Valley Craft Brewery, the F.X. Matt Memorial Cup awarded for the Best Craft Brewery in NY State, The Governors’ Brewers Cup for the best beer in NY State and the John Calen Memorial Plaque for the best beer in a designated English
Style, there will be additional awards given out for the best beers in many beer categories.
For transportation needs, pre-tax designated driver tickets can be purchased for $30 and many breweries and craft beer bars offer bus trip packages that include transportation, beer, mementos and of course an invaluable chance to sober up on the trip home. Saturday’s pre-tax ticket prices are $77 and $82 at the door, $67 for Sunday and $72 at the door. There are 2-day passes available for $123 or $133 at the door. Saturday VIP passes are $152. More at www.tap-ny.com. Download the app: tap ny craft beer festival.
– Mark Marnell
By Phil Galewitz
Ah, Hawaii! Amazing beaches, volcanoes, Pearl Harbor – even 14,000-ft mountains.
Yeah, yeah, but it has some amazing breweries that can’t be missed, too. In all, Hawaii has a dozen breweries scattered among its tropical islands and several should be on any beer lover’s itinerary. Maui is one of two Hawaii breweries with large distribution in the mainland US. The other is Kona Brewing, though most Kona beer is sold on the mainland.
Sitting on five acres of land, Maui brewery has a large taproom with an outdoor deck where you can see the Pacific Ocean about two miles away and often get to listen to live music with palm trees blowing in the wind. The taproom has about 30 beers on tap and offers wine and cocktails, too.
Owner Garrett Marrero had just returned to his brewery from picking oranges off his estate with some employees when he met me and a friend for a tour of the facility last October. Those orange peels were going into a new beer made from produce grown on Maui. That beer, POG IPA, 7.1%, is juicy, hoppy and full of tropical flavor. The acronym stands for Passionfruit, Orange and Guava and reflects the innovative spirit behind Maui Brewing, its close ties to the Hawaiian Islands and
ingenuity that has fueled its rapid growth since 2005.
Garrett and wife, Melanie, started Maui Brewing after buying a brewpub called Fishing Game Brewing Co and Rotisserie that made beer but also ran a sports bar, a high-end restaurant, a fish stand and a cigar lounge. They quickly discovered they needed to focus on the beer and to pair foods with local ingredient.
Today, Maui Brewing is available in 23 states and has nearly 400 employees. Its growth will accelerate in 2018 as the company expands their main production site in Kihei, which includes opening a 250-seat full service restaurant. The company already runs a large brewpub in Honolulu and has its original brewpub on the north side of Maui. Maui’s flagship craft beers include Bikini Blonde Lager, Big Swell IPA, Coconut Hiwa Porter and Pineapple Mana Wheat.
Running a business in Hawaii adds extra expenses with higher shipping costs because of its distance from the mainland. But Maui Brewing has found ways to control costs. By the end of this year, the brewery expects to run on 100% solar power. “We have to run more efficiently because of where we are,” said Garrett, who grew up in San Diego said. The brewery is also diversifying with plans to start making distilled spirits as well as offer its own cider.
While the company has expanded fast, Garrett said the primary goal is to serve Hawaii, where 75 percent of its beer is now sold. Visitors can get some Maui brew while flying Hawaiian airline.
“I don’t have dreams of becoming a Budweiser. Its OK to be a small craft brewery and move and shake as you will,” said Garrett, who last year was named Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration.
For a longer version of this story and more about Hawaii’s other breweries, visit www.alestreetnews.com
Aloha! ✒ ✒ ✒
Aloha! Brewing in Hawaii
Garrett Marrero, Co-Founder Maui Brewing outside his brewery.
Maybe sunny skies this year for the 21st TAP New York Beer and Food Festival to be held at Hunter Mountain, NY, April 28-29.
Page 14 Ale Street News Spring 2018
11:30AM- 8:00PM
CHECK WEBSITE FORDETAILS AND UPDATES
281 BLEECKER ST NY, NY212-462-4682
WWW.BLINDTIGERALEHOUSE.COMevents subject to change,please see website for details
SloopMarch 4 (Sunday)
Hudson Valley& FriendsMarch 7 (Wednesday)
Suarez FamilyBrewingMarch 25 (Sunday)
BrooklynApril 11 (Wednesday)
LovullopaloozaApril 18 (Wednesday)
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 15
onlineEXPANDED AND UPDATED COVERAGE AT alestreetnews.com — NEWS-NY/NJ
New York StateHudson Valley
By MarK [email protected]
Cousins Aaron Brown and Chris Dorn are set to open Cousins Ale Works mid March in Wappinger Falls. The 3,100 sq ft facility, equipped with a 5-bbl brewhouse and a farm brewery license, will serve a malt forward beer slate that will include IPAs, pale ales, wee heavies and others, but, their main focus will be on darker brews like stouts and porters. All malt and hops (Cascade, Centennial and Newport) as well as local fruits and other produce will be grown in New York with an emphasis on the Hudson Valley region. Their flagship ale is Smoking Musket Stout and they plan on barrel aging some of their darker beers in local bourbon and single malt barrels. Seasonals will include beers tinged with local fruits like Dutch Apple Bite Ale, Peach Ale, and Chocolate Strawberry Stout.
The brewery will have a revolutionary theme and the wood used was either rough cut or derived from a century old barn. They will have food on Fridays and Saturdays supplied by NOSHIS Poughkeepsie restaurant and will sometimes have
Big T’s Smoked BBQ. The brewery taproom will also serve locally-distilled spirits, locally-made hard cider and local wines and will have live bands and comedians.
Sloop Brewing is set to open another location that will serve as both a production brewery with a canning line and a pub that will feature wood fired pizza and street food themed dishes from around the state. It will join a mixture of companies and shops in what used to be the old IBM facility on Route 52 in East Fishkill in what is now known as i.Park Industrial Complex. It is set to open in late May or early June. With 120-bbl tanks, the increased capacity will allow them to increase distribution and to can a lot more of their popular juicy IPAs and sour ales. They will retain their presence in Elizaville right now. In February and March, look for double dry hopped versions of their Green Islands and Simcoe Bomb IPAs.
Brown’s Brewing held a huge party Feb. 23 to celebrate their 25th birthday featuring such beers as Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Cappuccino Milk Stout, a classic Oatmeal Stout and 8.1% Dubz Belgian Ale aged in whiskey porter barrels. Chatham Brewing just unveiled their newly renovated
taproom equipped with a horseshoe bar and more seating. At CH Evans Brewing in Albany, new head brewer Sam Pagano plans on reformulating old classics like Kick Ass Brown Ale and Pump Station Pale Ale as well as introducing plenty of new hoppy beers and more pilsners. From The Ground Brewery, located on Migliorelli Farms in Red Hook, just got a hold of a train car to alter what will eventually become part of their future Beer Garden and Farm Stand.
At Rip Van Winkle Brewing in Catskill, the new Catskill Black Series beer is a 5.8%, Kent Goldings hopped Oatmeal Stout. Their popular Kaaterskill Crush DIPA returns at 7.8%, both hopped and double dry hopped with Amarillo, Chinook, Citra, Columbus and Mosaic. Hyde Park Brewing is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
Left, Scott Shimomura and Rick Shobin have recycled the Woodstock Brewing Co. name for their Phoenicia brewery. Right, Aaron Brown and Chris Dorn are planning a spring opening for Cousin Ale Works in Wappingers Falls.
Upstate New York
By don [email protected]
As anyone who has traveled north of Albany knows, Interstate 87 heading toward Montreal is also known as the Northway. Northway Brewing Co. just off I-87 in Queensbury launched March 1 Northway’s Sunrise Session IPA, Perfect Day Pilsner, and Burly Beard Nitro Oatmeal Stout, all in draft and cans. Northway is the brand of “house” beers brewed at the 4-year-old Lake George Brew House in Queensbury, on Route 9 between Lake George and Glens Falls. That brew house is also the production facility for Cooperstown Brewing Co. of Otsego County and Davidson Brothers Brewing Co. of Glens Falls. The Lake George Brew
House, formerly known as the Lake George Beer Hub, is one of the largest brewing facilities in Upstate New York. It was built by Davidson Brothers in 2014. Two years later, John and Rock Davidson sold the big Queensbury brewery to Northern Eagle, a beer distributor located in Oneonta. The Davidson brothers retain control of their self-named brewpub in downtown Glens Falls, where they still make beer for on-premises sales. Their draft and packaged beers for distribution are made at the Queensbury brewery by Northern Eagle. Northern Eagle, meanwhile, had purchased Cooperstown Brewing in 2014. It moved all production of those beers from the original brewery in Milford south of Cooperstown village to Queensbury. The Northway beers will be distributed across the eastern half of Upstate New York, said
Northway state manger Matt Conroe. That includes the Adirondacks, the Capital Region, the Hudson Valley and west to the Syracuse area.
The suburbs of Rochester welcomed two new breweries in December 2017. The first to launch was K2 Brothers Brewing on Empire Boulevard in Penfield. Operated by brothers Kyle and Brad Kennedy it features beers that range from hazy, double dry-hopped IPAs to Vanilla Porter and Jalapeno Cream Ale. The tasting room features a menu from Rochester’s Midnight Smokin’ BBQ. The second suburban Rochester brewery to debut in December had to overcome a tragedy: Wood Kettle Brewing Co-founder Bill Allen died in November, just weeks before the opening of the brewhouse and tasting room on Manitou Road in
Greece. Allen’s son, Jeff, and partner Mark Miles are pushing on in Bill’s memory with a beer line-up that includes a several single malt, single hop (SMASH) IPAs, including a Cascade and a Citra. There’s an English mild called Brexit, a Calfornia common called The Steamer and a stout called Storm Chaser among more than a dozen rotating offerings.
In the old Erie Canal town of Canastota, beween Syracuse and Utica, there’s a new brewery tasting room. No surprise here: It’s the Erie Canal Brewing Co., with its new location at 135 S. Peterboro St. (Route 13), just a block from the old canal itself. The has 8 taps -- it will pour beers from Erie Canal Brewing and its sister brewery Seneca Street Brewpub in Manlius, a Syracuse suburb. The Menikheim family, will keep its 7-bbl production brewhouse at a nearby industrial location in Canastota, where it opened four years ago. That location is not visitor friendly. Along with its regular line-up, Erie Canal Brewing is marking the ongoing 200th anniversary of the building of the Erie Canal with a new series of beers it calls the “Bicentennial Edition.”
In Syracuse, Buried Acorn Brewing Co. is expected to open this spring with a brewhouse and taproom in the city’s Inner Harbor area, near the Destiny USA mall. Buried Acorn’s Tim Shore and Sam Kin have already started
brewing, and have some beers aging in used oak wine barrels. While they will make some “standard” beers like IPAs and stouts, they will specialize in barrel-aged beers, plus sours, farmhouse ales, and various Belgian styles. It has a 20-bbl brewhouse, and five 40-barrel closed fermenters, plus smaller open fermenters.
Also in Syracuse, Stout Beard Brewing, a 2-year-old brewery with a production facility on the city’s West Side, has opened a tap room in the Westcott neighborhood, not far from Syracuse University. The Westcott tasting room has 12 taps. Typically, 10 will offer Stout Beard brews – they specialize in stouts, porters and other beers on the dark side – and two will be “guest taps” from other local brewers, such as Sahm, Full Boar or Willow Rock.
In the Finger Lakes, Bandwagon Brewing Co. has closed its downtown Ithaca brewpub – where it got its start nine years ago – to focus on its production brewhouse and taproom in Interlaken, Seneca County. The pub closed on Valentine’s Day. The production brewery, which opened in 2016, and the taproom, launched in 2017, are located in a restored red barn at 3582 West Ave. (Route 96A) in Interlaken. That’s north of Ithaca on the west side of Cayuga Lake. It’s open Fridays to Sundays for the winter, and will likely expand to Wednesdays to Sundays. ✒ ✒ ✒
with 5.5% Irish Creme Amber Ale and 5.2% Dry Irish Stout. The latest Hop Barn Brewing beer in Greenville is a Honey Wheat Ale. Helderberg Mountain Brewing in East Berne will have some new beers on tap in March that will include Finn’s Irish Red Ale, a Scottish 60 Shilling Ale and Simmons Ax Milk Stout.
Rushing Duck Brewing has a few new beers out on tap that includes a version of Dad Breath Lager that was dry hopped with Mosaic and Simcoe and Brux IPA, fermented with Saccharomyces Bruxellensis Yeast and hopped with Azacca, El Dorado, Meridian and Mosaic hops. Mad Jack Brewing in Schenectady just released their first ever 4.5% Session IPA hopped up with Citra and Mosaic. The Brewery at The Culinary Institute Of America in Hyde Park will re-opened their Post
Road Brew House gastropub Feb. 23. Initially they will be opened on Friday and Saturday nights and will eventually expand their hours. Look for eight taps in the pub and a few more in The Egg. New beers include Beefsteak Blonde German-style Kölsch, an Extra Pale Ale and collaboration beers like Kool Beans, a Crossroads Brewing Imperial Stout collaboration made with coffee and coconut and a Paradox Brewing Raspberry Milk Stout collaboration.
Keegan Ales in Kingston is releasing their first spring seasonal in late February called Catskill Pale Ale. It is hopped with Cascade, Chinook and Falconer’s Flight. They also will be releasing their new rotational Natural Selection IPA series in March with the first being a hazy 6% IPA made with oats, lactose and lupulin powder. ✒ ✒ ✒
Left, Partners Mike Paetow, Mike LeRoy and Tom Derby in the Stout Beard Brewing Co. taproom in Syracuse.Right, the Menikheim family, owners of Erie Canal Brewing in Canastota (from left) Bob, Brooke, Heidi and Joyce.
Resource – www.newyorkcraftbeer.com/Brewery Map – www.newyorkcraftbeer.com/brewery-map/
Page 16 Ale Street News Spring 2018
By Kevin trayner [email protected]
When you think about Red Bank, your thoughts may go to nice restaurants, small concerts (Count Basie Theater), or perhaps you think of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash (home to AMC’s Comic Book Men series). Even if you are familiar with Birravino’s, the Italian restaurant and brewpub (once known as Basil T’s), you don’t necessarily think of Red Bank as beer destination. And yet, based on current plans, there is a good chance that Red Bank will have three new breweries open by the end of this year – and not a nano in the bunch. With Birravino, this would give Red Bank four breweries, more than any other town in the state.
Triumph Princeton turns 23 years old in March. And Triumph Red Bank has been in the plans for nearly that long. Owner Adam Rechnitz has always wanted to open a brewpub in Red Bank near the Two River Theater that his parents founded in the early 1990s. In the past year though, owner Rechnitz’s dream has really starting to take shape. The 11-bbl brewpub will share space on Bridge Street with
residential lofts and other retailers in the West Side Lofts building. The brewpub’s brewing system is online and making test batches since the end of 2017. Although Rechnitz has been unwilling to provide an opening date, it seems a given that the brewpub will open sometime this year.
Ross Brewing will be located in the old Liberty Hose firehouse on White Street a half dozen blocks away. The space had some challenges initially – water pipes had burst in the vacant building and repairs and inspections took longer than expected, but the building has water and electricity now, said Brewer T.J. Smolka, a physics teacher by day. “The township has been super supportive,” he added. “They are encouraging breweries.” The bottom of the firehouse will contain the brewery, while the second floor is planned for residential currently, although Smolka hopes he will be able to claim that space as well. The firehouse barn-style doors will open into the tasting room.
Smolka is a co-owner along with John Ross Cocozza, President and namesake for the brewery, and Mike Feaser, Production Manager (and Cocozza’s father-in-law). The brewery has its federal brewing license and necessary permits to distribute in both NJ and NY. Smolka is looking at a 15-bbl automated system from Atlantic Brew Supply. “I will be able to start the mash water heating up from my phone,” he said, which will come in handy as he commutes back and forth from his teaching job or home.
The brewery is looking at a Spring/Fall opening, although they may use a contract brewer prior to that. The plan is to open with five beers, all named after NJ rivers - Manasquan Wit, Shrewsbury Lager, Navesink IPA (Double), Raritan Red
Rye IPA, and Passaic Porter (made with honey, vanilla, and Cacao nibs). A future addition to the lineup may be an Oyster Gose. Smolka made a batch for an event on the pilot 1-bbl system, and it was a big hit. “It was sour and sweet. Not briny like you would expect.”
Red Tank brewing will be located down the block from Ross Brewing at 77 Monmouth Street, a 4,000 sq ft space next door to Jamain’s restaurant and bar. John Arcara had initially dreamed of opening a restaurant. “All the friends I have in the industry told me that if I love my family – don’t do it!” Arcara recounted, noting the long hours restaurateurs typically put in. Instead, Arcara, who runs a wedding photography business with his wife Lovina, decided a brewery would be a better fit.
“We have a passion for good beer, good wine, good whiskey and good food. The brewery was a no brainer for us,” he said. Red Tank is looking at a late spring opening, with 24 beers on tap ultimately. The Deutsche 20-bbl brewhouse is already on order. The brewery will have a “large, beautiful tasting room” with a “coffee shop atmosphere,” and will be family friendly – as the Arcara’s have two young daughters. “The township loves us,” he said. “We live here, my kids go to school here, and my name is written in giant letters on the back of my truck, so they see me every day.” And if other towns are as supportive as Red Bank of breweries, maybe we will start to see more NJ towns become craft beer destinations.
Hidden Sands Brewing Co. opened in Egg Harbor Township jin January. They drilled down hundreds of feet to tap into the pristine waters of the AC Sands aquifer to brew their beers – which include Pump Handle, a wheat beer brewed with NJ honey; Sandy Blue Pale Ale, First Drop, a Baltic Porter with coffee; and the Unfathomable IPA series with rotating single and Double IPAs.
Brewer Luke Lindsay with experience at Victory, Southern Tier and Lagunitas breweries mans the 20-bbl state of the art automated brewery. The brewery is located right off Exit 37 of the Garden State Parkway and is open Thurs through Sun.
Hidden Sands Open in Egg Harbor
4 Breweries in Red Bank by Year’s End ?
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Hidden Sands tasting room features two bars overlooking the brewery. Growlers and Crowlers are available to go.
Hidden Sands Managing Partner Matt Helm (center) with Partners Tony Cepparulo and John Cipriani.
Red Tank looks to become Red Bank’s fourth brewery this spring.
Seasonal Gaslight Beers:Bulldog Blonde, Citra IPA, Bison Brown,
The Eliminator, Red Rye IPA,Colossis Stout barrel aged inBuffalo Trace bourbon barrel,Perfect Stout, Pirate Pale Ale,Wet Hop IPA, Chernobyl 2x IPA
Seasonal Guest Draughts:Ramstein Blonde
Woodchuck Amber
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Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 17
Happy Anniversaries! Above, Owner Gretchen Schmidhausler and Head Brewer Peter Douma toast Little Dog’s 3rd year at the brewery’s anniversary party in Neptune City last November. Right, Heide and Erik Hassler and staff celebrated Angry Erik’s (Lafayette) 4th anniversary Feb. 18.
Also in the Garden State...
Heavy Reel, Seaside Heights first brewery, is putting the finishing touches on its tasting room and plans to open in March, according to owner Jeff Greco. Greco’s 3-bbl brewery is located a few blocks from the ocean, where he can be found saltwater fishing in warmer months – when he’s not brewing. Greco expects to have four standard taps and four rotating taps when he opens. Local artist Gregg Hinlicky has done some great mural work for the taproom as well which you can see on the Facebook page. Look for the official opening date there as well.
Speaking of beach breweries, Bradley Brew Project is getting closer to its April opening date for the 2-bbl nano. The storefront brewery broke ground in late 2017, and is expecting to get its CO by the end of Feb., said owner Mike Ziolkowski. The brewery will open with four house beers – an American Pale Ale, organic American Pilsner, IPA, and session Stout, along with six rotating beers. And while you are in the neighborhood, it is only a 10-minute walk to Little Dog brewery in Neptune City. Little Dog just celebrated its third year this past November. The 4-bbl brewery features a half dozen beers on tap, with an accent on German styles, and some cask surprises as well.
Continuing north on the shoreline, Carton released its first nitro cans this past Valentine’s Day – Cupid, a 6.6% chocolate malted stout brewed with roses, and Carton of Milk, a 4% session milk stout. Look for it in four packs at the brewery. Carton makes its annual trek out to Cigar City’s Hunahpu’s Day celebration in Tampa, FL at Raymond James Stadium on March 10, joining over 100 other breweries.
A short drive away in Keansburg, Raritan Bay Brewing is waiting on its NJ license to open its 7-bbl brewery. The brewery is looking to open as early as March, and will feature eight taps. Raritan Bay is about three miles north of Belford Brewing, a 2-bbl nano that opened last year.
Beach Haus releases its Parade Day Coffee Stout, made with coffee from local roaster Turnstile Coffee, to celebrate Belmar’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The brew will be available in 16-oz cans and on draft. The brewery continues its Test Dept. series, tapping a new one-off style every Friday. The latest brew is a New England IPA featuring Vic Secret hops – which the brewery will have available on draft and in cans.
Ship Bottom Brewing continues its seasonal can releases – next up is Chicken or the Egg IPA on March 31. This brewery is definitely pushing the “can” envelope with its can release club, and canned versions of its 2016 Barleywine and 2017 Imperial Stout.
Source Brewing is a new farmhouse brewery in planning for Colt’s Neck. The brewery will be housed in a historic 125-year old
barn on a 1.75-acre dairy farm. Brewer Greg Taylor and the other owners will start renovations in the next few months. The 10-bbl system will produce beer for sale and consumption on premises, with a farm-to-glass brewing approach using locally sourced ingredients. “We are forming partnerships with farmers throughout Monmouth County to help us achieve this,” he said.
In addition to fermenting in steel, the brewery is planning to use oak foeders as well as some horizontal tanks for lagering, Taylor said. The space will be pet and family friendly and will include a courtyard, and German-style biergarten.
Up north, Cricket Hill in Fairfield features several bourbon barrel-aged treats through the remainder of winter months, including an Imperial Red Ale (7.4%), Abbey Cherry Tripel (9.6%), Imperial Porter (7.5%), Russian Imperial Stout (8.9%), and Doppelbock. All are aged in Wild Turkey barrels.
NJ Beer Co. in North Bergen has a few seasonals coming up, including an Imperial IPA, Berliner Weiss, Imperial Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Stout and Saison. Look for new releases every other week, with one-off tappings every Friday.
Departed Soles (Jersey City) releases Peaster Biere, a Biere de Garde brewed in the Easter tradition – with marshmallow Peeps! The brewery will also be releasing a collaboration beer it made with Montclair Bread Co., it is calling a White Stout. The batch included over 100 Brioche donuts in the mash, cold brew coffee, and cacao nibs. The beer will be available throughout the weekend of Feb. 24 at the brewery. On the gluten-free side, the brewery will be bringing on Rick Rolled-Oat Coffee Stout and Bumper Hops. Angry Erik celebrates its fourth anniversary with Quadhalla, their first Belgian-style Quadrupel. High Point releases its award-winning Maibock at the brewery open house on March 10. Additionally, the brewery plans to do a limited wax-dipped bottle 20th anniversary release of its Winter Wheat in late February. Check Facebook and Instagram for more info.
In Hackettstown, Czigmeister hosted its annual Stoutfest Feb. 17, featuring over 50 different stouts on tap. Jersey Girl’s Sun Kissed Citra is now available at the Prudential Center in Newark. In other news, the brewery was named 2017 Emerging Business of the Year by NJBIZ.
Gaslight will be tapping its Eliminator Doppelbock in time for Easter. Also look for the Colossus Imperial Stout (11%) aged in a Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel brewer DJ picked up on a trip to Kentucky. The brewpub hosts its annual bus trip to Tap NY on April 29. The trip includes transportation and a ticket to the festival. Call for more details. ✒ ✒ ✒
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Page 18 Ale Street News Spring 2018
Desperate Times call for – Desperate Times beer! In their Carlisle brewhouse.
Pennsylviana News
By Bryan J. [email protected]
North Slope Brewing Co. is approaching its third anniversary in Dallas, northwest of Wilkes-Barre, and coming off a year of growth in 2017. Co-owner Vanessa Warren says that there’ll be an announcement soon for a big anniversary celebration. For the uninitiated, Warren describes the pub’s atmosphere as “urban/country” and is proud of the local sourcing for the “farm-to-table gastropub” of beef, pork, bread, hydroponics, and honey.
The 8.5-bbl brewhouse, overseen by head brewer Rich Lupi and assistant Connor Boyle, has employed a mobile canning company as well as contracted with Free Will Brewing in order to get more of its canned product in regional bars, bottle shops, and Wegmans grocery stores. For the time being, the brewery is only distributed in Pennsylvania. In addition to flagships that include a pale ale (with the
aforementioned honey), a nitro Stout, a DIPA, and a dry cider, customers can look forward to late March when Crushed – a “blood orange, higher ABV ale” – will be released in cans.
Matt Dunn, co-owner and head brewer, opened Desperate Times in November 2016. The Carlisle-based brewery has a kitchen putting out a menu of German-influenced sandwiches and sausages. The 10-bbl brewhouse (20-bbl fermenters) knocked out around 350-bbl in 2017 with most of it served on their 12 taps, where six are core beers and six are constantly changing.
They look to grow more off-site accounts in 2018 as they brew more and begin hand-bottling 12- and 22-oz. bottles. Popular beers include the Schwarzbier (2017 GABF silver medal), the Einbeck (a nod to Martin Luther), and the Turtle Stout (with chocolate and pecans). In addition to the house beers, Desperate Times serves spirits from Midstate Distillery in Harrisburg. Look for a collaboration between the two for Harrisburg Beer
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Week, which begins April 20. Each will be serving a 10-gallon batch of the brewery’s Baltic Porter aged in the distillery’s bourbon barrels.
One of Philadelphia’s original brewpubs, Manayunk Brewing Co., continues to keep up with the young ones and crank out new beers. 2018 will also bring a new can label format. Evan Fritz, head brewer, says that the new cans will be sporting a number of
beers including Wandering Wit, Mint Chocolate Chip Crunch Porter, and Rise & Grind Imperial Coffee Stout all in the first quarter. Sour Is The New Black and Upshitz Kriek Sour will be showing up in 500-ml bottles.
Bill McGeeney has as many titles as can fit on his business card at Round Guys Brewing Co. in Lansdale. The Partner, Community Liaison, Director of Marketing/Sales passed along news of the recently released Liquid Swords Double India Pale Ale. Its packaging art is by John Comerford, a character artist living in Philadelphia. Also available now for your drinking pleasure is Buddha of Suburbia, a Foreign Extra Stout Ale made for Philly Loves Bowie Week and Double Dry Hopped Alien Saison. The brewery loves pairing its beer with events and hosts plenty of them with yoga, drag shows, talent shows, and live music.
Hidden River Brewing Co. Douglassville continues to grow as a beer geek destination. The brewery is
nearing its third anniversary in 2018 and close to a year since debuting the pub room that opened up more of the historic landmark building to its customers. It’s been a big hit, complete with a few dozen more seats, a comfortably larger bar with a creekside view, and a kitchen turning out a menu of 100% locally-sourced food as perfect accompaniments to the brewery’s constantly changing lineup of beers and styles.
A recent visit of mine saw a menu that included Ginger Carrot Hummus, Kimchi Quesadilla, Buffalo Chacon Dip, and Corned Beer & Cabbage, to name a handful of the enticing offerings. From the 12 taps, there may routinely be five to seven IPAs or variations thereof, but you may also find a kvass, a stout, a porter, a brown, a saison, a Kölsch, a Gose, a braggot, or a cider to provide some interesting and tasty diversity.
At the 3-year-old Race Street Brew Works in Clearfield, Bohb Striker checked in to share some of what’s keeping him busy as both owner and brewer. He aims to keep 24 beers from his 5-bbl system on tap and includes a couple guest taps Striker recently bought a 4-head counter-pressure filler with which he plans to fill bomber bottles with beers from his Barrel Series. Bourbon barrels are Woodford Reserve Rye and wine barrels are all minimum 36-month Cabernet from either France or Napa Valley. The first four up that he says he’s just waiting for “the beers to tell us when they’re done” are: Bourbon Barrel Brett Saison; Comrade Conrad Russian Imperial Stout in Bourbon barrels; Wurm Wud Cider with Brett and dry-hopped in red wine barrels; and Un-named Lambic in red wine barrels. If that goes well, plans are to use proceeds to purchase a canning line. ✒ ✒ ✒
Resource – www.brewersofpa.org/Map – www.brewersofpa.footguides.com/brewersofpa
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 19
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Mid-AtlanticIf anything can make you really thirsty it’s a visit to
the spacious Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum and Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, about 30 miles outside Washington DC. Opened in 2003, its two huge hangers house the Space Shuttle Discovery, a Concorde, the Enola Gay plane that dropped the first atomic bomb and hundreds of other historic aircraft. Thankfully, there’s a wonderful new brewery less than a 10 minute drive away from the aviation museum that borders Dulles International Airport. Ono Brewing opened last fall in a small industrial park at 4520 Daly Drive with a broad array of fresh beers and speedy service. https://www.onobrewco.com/
How speedy? Ono Brewing has a self-service taproom. After checking in at the counter, you swap a credit card for a special RFID card that has a magnetic reader on the back. Then all you do is walk over to the wall of beers and pick which one you want. Then you choose the size glass, set your RFID card on the LCD screen above and pull the tap handle. The system then bills your credit card per each ounce you pour. For a guy like me, who loves sample sizes, it’s perfect. Owners Scott and Cyndi Hoffman said the automated taps help them better track which beers are selling best and reduces waste. “When we saw the self-serve concept at a wine store we knew this is where we had to go,” said Scott, an engineer by training.
Ono means “delicious” in Hawaiian. The couple spent time Hawaii and wanted to bring some of that flip-flop and tiki bar vibe to their brewery. That includes walls lined with beach pictures and Jimmy Buffet playing on the sound system. Scott served in the Army and was at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Cyndi’s mother was born and raised in Hawaii.
Ono includes three 30-bbl fermenters. Some of their top offerings include Paradise Pineapple IPA, a 6% Saison infused with Dole pineapple juice, Beach Bum, an American wheat ale, Shaka, a wheat ale infused with grapefruit juice and Mango White Ale infused with
real mangos. Though it was a bitter cold day on my first visit, these island-themed brews had me looking forward to spring and summer. Speaking of warmer days, Ono has a few tables outside the taproom perfect to enjoy the outdoors with your kids or dog.
“Our plan is to have drinkable beers that run the full spectrum,” Scott said. “It’s not just about the beer but about the environment and we wanted a place people would come to hang out for a couple hours,” he said. Cyndi, who has worked as a high school biology teacher, said she and Scott were always hosting parties with neighbors and friends so running a taproom and brewery feels right to them. “We are adventurous people and always seem to have that 5-year itch to try something new,” she said. The couple, both 44, decided to form the brewery instead of taking a corporate location back to Florida. Residents and visitors to western Fairfax County are glad they did.
– Phil Galewitz
Oh Yes, Ono Brewing Opens in Northern VA
By Phil [email protected]
Port City Brewing in Alexandria, VA, is the latest area brewer to set up its own brew membership club offering special perks. Port City Porters Union is limited to just 100 members and dues start at $150. But quicker than you can down a Port City Porter, they sold out.
Siren Noire, Heavy Seas’ imperial chocolate stout aged in bourbon barrels has been making the rounds. This year, the brewery is offering it in 4-packs of 12-oz bottles instead of 22-oz bomber bottles. The rich chocolate stout is 9.5% of vanilla and chocolate deliciousness. Heavy Seas has also brought back Alpha Effect, a hazy IPA. The 7% beer is a bitter monster made with Columbus hops to give it a unique flavor not found in most IPAs. Juicy, resiny, piney hop aromas and flavors are the stars of the new brew.
DC Brau has made its first barleywine and it’s called Sleeping Standing Up. The 10% English-style brew is only available at the brewery. It was aged in whiskey barrels for three months and head brewmaster Jeff Hancock said it boasts flavors of marmalade, candied orange and dry fruit cake.
DC Brau also teamed up with LGBT newspaper The Washington Blade on a special can of Brau Pils for this summer’s Pride celebration parade. The brewery is seeking design submissions from the public. Approximately 1,400 cases of Brau Pils will be re-packaged as PRIDE PILS for distribution during PRIDE 2018 this June in Washington, D.C. The winning can design will be chosen through a multi-step process that includes public voting on the Blade’s website from March 12–23 to narrow the field to three top contenders. The winner will work with DC Brau to finalize the artwork for production. Proceeds from the sale of PRIDE PILS will benefit local LGBTQ youth empowerment program, SMYAL, smyal.org, and The Blade Foundation (www.washingtonbladefoundation.org), which is dedicated to funding new enterprise journalism projects and encouraging the next generation of LGBT journalists.
Old Bust Head Brewing in Warrenton, VA, has produced its 2 millionth bottle of beer and released Table Talk, a Belgian style wit. The beer that’s being sold in bottles and on draft includes packaging that honors their home county’s namesake Francis Fauquier. Francis lost his family inheritance over a game of poker, (complete with rousing table talk), but gained himself a spot as the governor of Virginia — and now we have some great beer!
In Manassas, VA, on the site of an
old dairy barn, 2 Silos Brewing and Farm Brew Live has opened one of the biggest and most ambitious farm breweries in the region. The 8-acre site includes a brewery, live music venue and restaurant surrounded by hiking trails. The brewer has a tasting room that can hold 175 people. In addition to five flagship beers – cream ale, Belgian white, black IPA, pale ale and imperial stout – 2 Silos will offer seasonal options, using pumpkins, blueberries and hops grown on site.
The Villagio Hospitality Group that’s put together the destination brewery has many cool features but none cooler than igloos that are adjacent to the brewery and can accommodate eight guests for two hours and include their own server. And yes, the 12-ft domes are heated. http://farmbrewlive.com/igloos/
At Frederick, MD-based Flying Dog Brewing has introduced Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter that’s been aged in whiskey barrels from A. Smith Bowman Distillery. The whiskey adds a layer of warmth to the already robust chocolate,
Cyndi and Scott Hoffman, owners of Ono Brewing in Chantilly, VA.
coffee and roast character of the porter. Its also released Barrel-Aged St. EADman, an Abbey Ale that blends of dark fruit, caramel, cinnamon and clove. Both are sold in 750-ml bottles.
Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, VA, has released Old Ox Bier, a German-style smooth copper ale that was fermented at cold temperatures for several weeks to impart a clean and rounded malt character that disappears from your palate. It will be on draft and 6-pack cans. ✒ ✒ ✒
Brad Humbert and Harry Harne of Milk House Brewery in Mount Airy, MD pour beers at Love Thy Beer hosted by the Brewers Association of Maryland in Silver Spring.
Resources – www.marylandbeer.org/ – www.dcbg.org/ www.virginiacraftbrewers.org/ – www.delawarebrewersguild.org/
www.ncbeer.org/
Page 20 Ale Street News Spring 2018
handpicked for the brew day. In the first week of April, we’ll see MAxican (Mexican-styled lager) and Citrus and Sunshine wheat ale with lemon and lime peels in 12-oz bottles followed by Hopulence DIPA in 16-oz cans for the first time.
CraftRoots Brewing in Milford will release their first lager, Birthday Suit, on March 11 to celebrate the brewery’s first birthday. It’s an India pale lager dry-hopped with Lemondrops.
Out along Rte. 2 is Millers Falls where Dan Kramer and Ben Anhalt have built a loyal following with Element Brewing. Distilling has been added to the repertoire and the guys have been making vodka (from local potatoes), gin, whiskey, rum and agave. We’re hoping they can make a hoppy vodka from their big beers. On the beer side of things, Element is releasing Northern Lights, a 5.1% unfiltered pale ale. Octennial, celebrating the
a collaboration between this excellent beer mecca and Upland Brewing of Bloomington, IN. Made with a 15-month aged beer and a 20-month aged tequila barrel base with a Meyer lemon barrel from Row 34, the beer is a very drinkable sour with a tart finish of lemon. The name comes from the sea level of the brewery (770) and that of Row 34 on the Boston seafront. We’ve heard on good authority that there are 3-4 kegs left, so grab some now.
On March 17, Wormtown Brewing in Worcester will hold an all-day bash for its eighth birthday. Besides Smokestack BBQ and live music throughout the day, Birthday Brew 8 will be unveiled: a barleywine that highlights malt complexity using five base malts and two specialty malts with a heavy dose of US hops, including Centennial, Four Star Cascade and Pepite with Chinook kicking in a resinous finish. At 11%/85-IBU, this beer can be cellared for many more birthday parties! In early March, African Queen Bee Hoppy will be in 16-oz cans. This IPA was fermented with Real Deal Honey in Shrewsbury and dry-hopped with the rare African Queen hop from South Africa. At 6.5%/70-IBU, there’s a smooth buzz without the bitter sting. Pink Boots Society and the women of Wormtown will collaborate for Hopular Culture #004, using the YCH hop blend
By dan KoChaKian [email protected]
Massachusetts
We’re being teased with temperatures in the 50s and 60s recently, which is making us look forward to enjoying our local beers on patios and decks throughout New England very soon. Sam Adams released its New England IPA in several cities in 2017, but launched to the masses in February. At 6.8%/35-IBU, this beer is more fruity and smooth than having a big hop wallop. Galaxy, Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra and Cascade hops lend a fruity aroma with tropical flavor. Don’t forget Harpoon’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival at the brewery, set for March 9 and 10. The spring release is Apricadabra in the UFO Series. It’s a 4.8% hefeweizen with a hint of apricot puree and is available in 12-packs or in the UFP ‘Jet Pack’ Spring Mix Pack as well as on draft.
And up the street at Row 34, there’s Dieu du Ciel!’s (Montreal) Peche Mortel Day celebration on March 24. Seven versions of this Canadian coffee-infused imperial stout will be pouring at 50 selected beer bars in the world (19 in Canada, 18 in the US, including Threepenny Taproom in Montpelier, VT, and 13 international) – good company indeed. In the meantime, get to Row 34 to try the new 770.0,
brewery’s eighth anniversary, is a smooth 15.5% version of the Dark Extra Special Oak brew.
Vanished Valley Brewing in Ludlow, who had throngs of beer fans at its booth at the Extreme Festival, will be brewing larger batches of its very successful Pomona IPA, Watershed IPA and Cease & Desist Double IPA at Berkshire Brewing. Co-founder/brewer Josh Britton has a smaller system at VVB where he works on the XPerimental Series to have fun. A number of successful recipes will be going to market. ISO7 is a New England IPA with Ella and Amarillo hops, No Trespassing IPA features Citra and Amarillo, and Eleven Under Pale Ale has Lemondrop hops with several other domestic varieties. Josh will be playing around with Motueka hops in a double-dry-hopped saison. A larger facility with a full tasting room is now in the design phase.
White Lion Brewing in Springfield has released a new IPA called Lion’s Galaxy at 7%/47-IBU. This is a midwest-style IPA with Galaxy and Mosaic hops with a soft fruit profile and citrus finish. ROARange Session IPA, light-bodied at 4.7%/45-IBU, is the warm weather seasonal brew.
Christian McMahan, president of Wachusett Brewing, is a good mate of Fergal Murray, a former brewmaster at Guinness in Dublin. During Fergal’s recent US visit, Wachusett brewers and Fergal collaborated on New England Stout, a 4.5%/40-IBU combination of Irish malts and American hops. Wachusett has also released Mass Soul, a 6.5%/60-IBU IPA with passion fruit and pineapple notes with medium bitterness, and the brewery’s first session New England IPA called Wally, Jr. that has the big hoppiness (50-IBU) of Wally, but with a lower strength at 4.5%. For non-beer fans, Wachusett has also produced a new 5% Nauti Seltzer called Rose for the pink wine drinkers among you.
On Nantucket, Cisco Brewers has had Gripah Grapefruit IPA (5.5% with Citra, Galaxy, Ella and El Dorado hops) available on-island only for about five years, but the beer is soon coming to the mainland. With zest from ruby red grapefruit and the four hops, there’s a balance between sweet and tart with a grapefruit blast.
With the abundance of New England-style IPAs throughout the area, many stand out with their big, hazy, unfiltered brews. Among them are the IPAs of Lamplighter Brewing
Continued on next page
Fergal Murray and Ned LaFortune at Wachusett Brewing.
No Worries Brewing in Hamden team: Head Brewer Kevin Mark and Julian Crespo and Melissa Greaves, brewery staff.
onlineEXPANDED AND UPDATED COVERAGE AT alestreetnews.com — NEWS - New England
New England
By ChriS [email protected]
Connecticut
There’s a change of brewmaster at City Steam Brewery and Café in Hartford. Sam Pagano has moved back to Albany for the head brewing gig at the Pump Station. The new brewmaster is Jeff Pasquale. A collaboration beer between Jeff and Sam is Lost in the Woods Black IPA. This beer features simcoe and cascade hops with a dark and slightly roasty character from carafe II malt in the grain bill. Stop by and welcome Jeff to the new job.
March brings baseball back to Hartford and that means Nectar of the Goats will be pumping through the brewhouse at Thomas Hooker. This session IPA is available at the stadium and the brewery and is 4.9% making for a very drinkable experience. A second session IPA is Fairway IPA (5%) that features all Citra hops and will be distributed in late March to early April. Finally for spring, watch for the fan favorite watermelon ale of 5.1% both at the brewery and in distribution.
Some big news from Beer’d Brewing in Stonington is the opening of a second facility in nearby Groton. This facility will be a 20-bbl
brew house and 60 bbl-cellar plus a modern tap room. Also in the news is Aaren is working on a grassroots campaign to have the current limits of beer volume purchased from a brewery changed in State Law; the current law limits a daily purchase to nine Liters. There will be a public hearing in Hartford on the proposed amended language. Reach out to the brewery and Aaren at [email protected] for instructions on how you can help with the effort.
At Two Roads, CONNtucky Lightnin, an 8.5% sour mash ale aged in bourbon barrels is out; also Bergamonster, a 6.4% Belgian style wheat ale, brewed with bergamot oranges and spices with a lot of wheat in the grain bill. Look for the return of a heavy hitter, 20 Ton Blond Barleywine, 12%. The Tanker Truck Sour series will feature passion fruit gose (5.2%), Persian lime gose (4.5%), and sauvignon blanc gose (4.8%) for the spring.
In Branford, Thimble Island Brewing is releasing a new beer named Scarlet Siren. This sour ale will feature orange peel and raspberry additions. The final beer will be 7.25% on draft and in cans. Back East Brewing in Bloomfield, just released Big Ed Barleywine, a 13.8% barleywine that is available in a very limited can run at the brewery. Some draft pours are also available at the brewery only. If you like to chase big beers get to Bloomfield as this one wont last long.
Half Full Brewing Co., in Stamford is doing a small run of George 16-oz cans. The final beer is a 6.5% with some hint of banana and a little spice from the Belgian yeast strain. They are also hosting Beers and Bites March 21 featuring limited release beers paired with menu items from food trucks and restaurants in Fairfield County.
Rhode Island
Some unfortunate news in Rhode Island comes from Pawtucket, with the imminent closing of Bucket Brewery in mid March. Visitors are welcome during normal hours until closing and there are several movie events from now till the closing date.
Foolproof Brewing also in Pawtucket will be releasing a new
beer for late winter early spring. Ocean State Lager will be on draft accounts and 16-oz cans. A strength of 4.8% and low IBUs of 14 make this a very crushable beer that should be available for around $9 per 6-pack.
Revival Brewing in Cranston is releasing some stouts on nitro in 16-oz cans in time for St Patricks Day. Nitro White Electric Coffee Stout is an 8.5% brew with 55 IBUs and is hopped with EKG hops and specially roasted White Electric coffee from New Harvest Roasters. Also look for Nitro Irish Stout, a 5.5% brew with 28 IBUs and a traditional roasted flavor profile and creamy body. Bourbon Barrel Aged Juliett Imperial Stout is also available in cans and draft at the brewery only. ✒ ✒ ✒
Spring 2018 Ale Street News Page 21
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Top: Butch Heilshom, co-owner of Earth Eagle Brewings of Portsmouth, NH, at the Beer Advocate Extreme Festival in Boston Feb. 2.
in Cambridge. Check out Birds of A Feather IPA (6.8%) with Columbus, Citra and Mosaic hops; Rabbit Rabbit DIPA with Citra, Amarillo and Idaho 7 at 8.5%; and Not McKinley, a 6.8% double dry-hopped IPA with 100% Denali. Looking Glass ESB, while in the British style, has Target and Challenger hops to balance the earthy flavors. Richard III is a 7.4% English IPA aged with Brett for over a year, and Easy Tiger (6.5%) is aged with Brett for seven weeks and dry-hopped with Amarillo and Eldorado. For stout fans, check out the 9% After Midnight Imperial Stout brewed with bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans and 200-lbs of Vermont maple syrup.
Ipswich Ale Brewery has added its potent Hellhound Barley Wine to its canned offerings. Coming in at a warming 11.8%, the sweet touches of raisins and caramel are just what the doctor ordered for cold winter evenings. Shag Pack, the new 12-can mix pack holds Oatmeal Stout, Original Ale, Route 101 IPA and Route 1A DIPA.
Newburyport Brewing Co. won bronze awards for its Maritime Lager and Plum Island Belgian White at the Craft Beer Awards in Bend, OR, this past January. The last batch of Joppa Grande Stout (7%, with hints of dark chocolate and berries) was packaged, and concentration will soon be on the big summer seller, Yankee Blueberry Weiss.
Maine News
By ChriS [email protected]
Baxter Brewing Co. in Lewiston is expanding its taproom to 10 times its current size. Founder/Owner Luke Livingston said the new taproom will be 4,800 sq ft and will open in the summer just around the corner from its current taproom in the Bates Mill. The small size of Baxter’s taproom never seemed to befit Maine’s third largest brewery with 15,000 barrels brewed last year. The expanded space will also come with expanded hours, Thurs thru Sat, 3-9pm.
Maine Beer Co. in Freeport is also expanding...its brewing capacity. MBC is actually doubling production to 24,000 barrels annually. The 2-phase project is in the process of wrapping up phase one which will see the 15-bbl brewhouse expand to 60-bbls. The system also includes 120- and 240-bbl fermenters in addition to the existing 30- and 60-bbl tanks. Phase two gets under way in the spring which will expand the seating in the taproom.
Waterville’s first microbrewery started up in January. Waterville Brewing Co. is located downtown in the Hathaway Creative Center along the Kennebec River. Co-owner/brewer Ryan Flaherty and co-brewer Eric Willett plan to open to the public once Willett returns from his
Army deployment in the spring. In the meantime WBC is producing the beer and prepping the facility. Look for a stout, a red ale, a saison, an IPA and a DIPA at the launch. WBC is a large 2-room space divided by the brew house and a tasting room.
The location, a repurposed former mill building with mixed usage, is reminiscent of the Biddeford-Saco locations featuring Run of the Mill Public House and Brewery, Banded Horn Brewing Co. and Dirigo Brewing Co. along with other small businesses and apartments/condos.
The historic midcoast city of Bath opened its first brewpub. Bath Brewing Co. opened a brewpub on Front St. with beers from nearby breweries and they hope to add beers brewed on premises sometime in April according to co-owner Terry Geaghan. A federal judge in Missouri has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by Shipyard Brewing Co. in Portland against Logboat Brewing Co. in Columbia, MO. The lawsuit stems from Logboat naming one of its beers “Shiphead” which Shipyard maintains is a violation of its trademark. That portion of the lawsuit is going forward and
The Springdale lines of beers from Jack’s Abby in Framingham will see wider distribution through Atlantic Beverage. First up in cans, kegs and bottles are Pearly Wit Belgian-style wheat beer, Brigadeiro, a breakfast stout and Good N’ You?, a New England IPA. Beer that has been aging in barrels for nine months is also set for release. Check out launch parties throughout Massachusetts that will feature Melange des Mures, a sour saison aged on blackberries, and No Fuzz, a golden barrel-aged sour aged on nectarines.
West Concord’s Saltbox Kitchen & Brewery will now be able to provide beer in kegs for any event in your life. You may purchase one of the brewery’s nine seasonal brews or opt to work with head brewer Ralph Fiegel to formulate a custom recipe.
In the meantime, stop in at Saltbox Kitchen and Brewery and enjoy a fine meal with Top Bracket IPA, Saltbox Prophecy Farmhouse Ale or Jean’s Highland Chief Coffee Chocolate Milk Stout.
Tackle Box Brewing is in the planning stages to open in Marlborough this year. A nice array of beers will be on tap, including Belgian Summer, Belgian Ale and Porter, and Top Water Haze, a lemongrass wheat beer. Baltic Sea Monster promises to be a rich Russian Imperial Stout.
Vermont
Scott Salmonsen, owner/brewer at Saint J Brewery in Saint Johnsbury, has started a series of Saint Beers. First up was Saint Nicholas, a Belgian quad
followed by Saint John, a barleywine aged with Vermont dark maple rum. March, of course, will have St. Patrick, a hoppy imperial red ale aged on Scotch whiskey. Saint Steven is an Easter release, a Russian imperial stout aged with bourbon!
Be sure to visit von Trapp Brewing in Stowe this spring to enjoy great beers and food in the biergarden while you contemplate life gazing at the nearby verdant mountains. Weiss will be available through April 1 when Kolsch takes over with its classic Tettnanger and Hallertau hops. Bock Bier, a dark strong lager, comes in during March. This 6.5% beer has Munich and Carafa Special Type 2 malts and light hopping with Hallertau. Double IPL, at 8%/55-IBU, is set for April with Simcoe and Amarillo hops.
May of this year is the 25th anniversary of Jasper Murdock’s Alehouse in Norwich! The cozy pub now has eight draft lines for brewer Jeremy Hebert’s solid line of British-styled brews. Whistling Pig Red Ale is the only year-round beer, but Jeremy is planning a Patersbier, a German Pils, and a hybrid brew called English Lager that is a bitter brewed and lagered. And usually there is a cask-conditioned beer served via beer engine.
New Hampshire
Henniker Brewing is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Congratulations! The brewery has introduced Wait A Minute, a rotating 6.5% IPA series that will be brewed once a month in 30-bbl batches that
will feature a new hop and malt profile for each version. Batch #1 was released on Feb. 10 and boasts a load of Citra, Vic Secret and Galaxy hops with notes of apricot and peach. For dark beer fans, Double Roast Imperial Coffee Stout will warm you with its 10% and blend of coffee beans from White Mountain Gourmet Coffee.
Bad Lab Beer Co. in Somersworth currently has Mullet Proof Vest, an American stout and will debut a Smoked Helles in March, complete with a Viking Party. Great North Aleworks of Manchester has recently launched in Massachusetts through Night Shift Distribution. GNA also placed three beers in the 2017 Great International Beer Festival in Providence: Tie Dyed in first place in American Pale Ale, Moose Juice IPA took third in IPA, and Northbound took first in Lager-Continental Pilsner. Chocolate Milk Stout was just released in 16-oz 4-packs, and on the horizon are the releases of a barrel-aged RIS called Black Bear, and Cerveza De Leche, GNA’s Chocolate Milk Stout with vanilla, cold brew coffee, cinnamon and chili peppers.
For those who may not know, the 24-year-old Smuttynose Brewing in Hampton is going on the auction block March 9. The Hayseed restaurant, located next door in a beautiful Victorian, is included in the sale of the 75,000-bbl brewery. We have our fingers crossed that the brewery is rejuvenated by a New England buyer. ✒ ✒ ✒
will be decided in May if the two parties do not come to an agreement before then. The part of the lawsuit that was thrown out had to do with an onslaught of negative online reviews aimed at Shipyard which, seemingly, were posted by Logboat Brewing supporters in the midwest. US District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey said Shipyard’s claims of defamation were not compelling. ✒ ✒ ✒
An Allagash Brewing Co. brewhouse employee grinding some of the 430 lbs of coffee beans from Speckled Ax coffee in preparation for Map 40.
Page 22 Ale Street News Spring 2018
Festivals & Other HoppeningsFeb. 23-March 4: NYC Beer Week, www.nycbrewed.comMarch 2: Springdale Hudson Valley Launch, DeCicco’s, Millwood, NY,www.deciccoandsons.comMarch 3: Big Brew Beer Festival, Morristown, NJ, http://bigbrewnj.com/morristownMarch 3: New York Craft Brewers Festival, Albany, NY, http://newyorkcraftbeer.com/festivalMarch 3: Beer Fest of Westchester, White Plains, NY,https://www.beerfestwestchester.comMarch 3: Philly Craft Beer Festival, Philadelphia, PA,http://www.phillycraftbeerfest.comMarch 4: Sloop Brewery Night, Blind Tiger Ale House, NYC,www.blindtigeralehouse.comMarch 5: 5th Annual New York Craft Brewers Festival, Albany, NYhttps://newyorkcraftbeer.com/events/March 7: Hudson Valley and Friends, Blind Tiger Ale House, NYC,www.blindtigeralehouse.comMarch 23-24: AC Beer and Music Fest, Atlantic City, NJ,https://www.acbeerfest.comMarch 23 & 30: Gilded Growler semi finals, Pennings Farm, Warwick, NY,www.penningsfarmmarket.comMarch 24: Vermont Brewers Festival, Killington, VT,https://www.vermontbrewers.com/festivals/vermont-brewers-festival-killingtonMarch 24: Peche Day from Dieu du Ciel, DeCicco’s, Armonk, NY,www.deciccoandsons.comMarch 25: Suarez Family Brewing Night, Blind Tiger Ale House, NYC,www.blindtigeralehouse.comMarch 31: Smugglers Notch BrewFest, Part 2, Jeffersonsville, VT,http://www.smuggs.com/pages/winter/skiride/winter-events.phpApril 2-7: Albany Craft Beer Week, Albany, NY, www.albanycraftbeerweek.comApril 6: Gilded Growler Final, Pennings Farm, Warwick, NY,www.penningsfarmmarket.comApril 7: Maine Beer Fest, Newry, ME, http://www.mebrewfest.com
April 7: Rails and Ales, Strasburg, PA, http://www.railsandales.org/April 7: Pour the Core Cider Fest, Boston, http://www.pourthecore.com/boston/April 11: Brooklyn Brewery Night, Blind Tiger Ale House, NYC, www.blindtigeralehouse.comApril 18: Lovullopalooza, Blind Tiger Ale House, NYC,www.blindtigeralehouse.comApril 22-29: ASN Tour to Belgium, https://alestreetnews.com/asn-tours-2018/April 26: A Night with the Legend Frank Boon, DeCicco’s, Armonk, NY,www.deciccoandsons.comApril 27-28: Newport Craft Beer Festival, Newport, RI,http://newportcraftbeer.com/April 28: Spring Craft Beer Festival, Belmont Park, NY,http://www.springcraftbeerfestival.com/April 28-29: Tap New York Festival, Hunter Mountain, NY, http://www.tap-ny.com/April 30-May 3: Craft Brewers Conference, Nashville, TN,https://www.craftbrewersconference.comMay 11-12: North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival, Huntersville, NC,http://www.ncbrewsmusic.comMay 14-15 & 21-22: Belgian Fruit Beer Dinner at BJ’s Restaurant Brewhouse, www.bjsrestaurants.comMay 19: Meadowlands Beer Fest, NJ, www.playmeadowlands.comMay 19: Beer, BBQ and Bacon, Morristown, NJ, http://njbeerbbqfest.comMay 19: Five Boro Craft Beer Fest, Brooklyn, NY, http://www.fiveborocraftbeerfest.comJune 1-2: SAVOR, Washington DC, https://www.savorcraftbeer.com/June 6-9: 25th Annual Mondial de la Biere Festival, Montreal,www.festivalmondialbiere.qc.caJune 16: West Chester Craft Beer Festival, West Chester, PA,https://wcbeerfest.comJune 28-July 6: ASN Tour to Paris, Normandy & Brittany,https://alestreetnews.com/asn-tours-2018
