Spring skiing is always a crap shoot. Weather's nice, but snow resembles cream of wheat. So it was with relief and unexpected glee that we stumbled upon Brewfest ‘09 at Mount Snow on Sat. Dumb luck never tasted this good! This was my first beer tasting and now I see the virtue of the beer belly. A dozen brewers from across New England and the great state of Cali. were there to represent. First lets start local. Pennichuck Brewers from Milford, N.H. tapped a rich cask-conditioned ale made w/ bourbon and raisins. It turned some heads — I happen to like raisins and thought the brew was playful on the palate. But, the Grand Cru from Brooklyn Lager stole my heart. What was in it? Elderflowers and other sweet things that dovetailed w/ the spring weather we were not experiencing. Who knew snow showers and ale were heaven-sent? The big, bad boys Stone Brewing from San Diego served a Ruination (7.5 % alcohol.) that for many reasons was a crowd fav. They ran out of this early on and a ruckus almost started. Vermont’s own Magic Hat pulled a brew made w/agave and poppy that called to mind a cocktail and the rep. from Allagash likened its malty, red dubbel to a pinot noir.
The craft brew industry is smart to take a page out of wine’s tasting notes. We’ll be seeing more sud socials and dinners as beer steps up to the palate. I would like to see a local beer dins. The defunct rib n' brews fest in Lowell was mentioned by the Pennichuck's pres. Anyone know if this will return?
Thanks for the mention in your blog. We had a great time even with the snow, 36 degree temp and 22mph winds. The summer festival is another one we are looking forward to doing. Hope you and your following will join us.
Cheers,
Phil Jewett, President, NREMT-Paramedic/Firefighter
Pennichuck Brewing Company
The fact that Rib-n-Brews no longer exists her in Lowell breaks my little heart...
Oh, I second the comment made on the last post - join Twitter!
I just found about a local beer dins:
Wednesday, May 6th: Sam Adams Beer Dinner, $50 at www.SereneRestaurant.com in Andover. Not sure of the menu, but the locale, above Starbucks is v. nice. And that's a good price for ale and eats.
Thanks for the tip about a new local brewery! We always like to try new brews in our kegerator and I like the mission/message of this brewery. Let's hope the drink is just as great!
Kegerator? Please explain.
Kegerator. A refrigerator especially designed to hold a 1/2 or full keg. It has a built in tap on top, you just insert keg and draw.... and surprisingly we are not yet alcoholics...at least I don't think so. Its a pure splurge to always have a nice cold interesting brew at the ready!