Best Locally Sourced Beers of 2013

1. Hugh Malone, Allagash

2. Vinland Two, Mystic

3. Hopulence, Wormtown

4. Baby Rhino, The People's Pint

5. Harvest IPA, Northampton Brewery

6. CBC2, Cambridge Brewing and Craft Beer Cellar

7. RIPL Effect, Jack's Abby

8. Total Eclipse, Brewmaster Jack 

9. Five Mile Hop Harvest, Ipswich

10. Mongrel Red, Watch City

11. Stock Ale, Stoneman and People's

12. Smoking in the Valley, Cambridge Brewing

13. Dippity Do Brown Ale, Throwback Brewing

14. Soleil French Saison, Brewmaster Jack

15. Hop Session CH Evans

Beer Terrain visits Mystic Brewery

The Chelsea Record has the story

At The People's Pint. Alden Booth taps a firkin of local session rye IPA called Baby Rhino. Very memorable evening, as they all are at The Pint.

Great story on Wormtown and Rapscallion with a few words from yours truly. Not everyone understands: Local is fresher and therefore better.

 

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Beer Terrain review in Sturbridge Times

Read The Sturbridge Times

Local author Richard Morchoe's blog.

A Firkin Good Time

What could be better than fresh ale made with local ingredients? How about cask conditioned ale made with local ingredients. Oh yeah.

One of the great things about exploring the region's beer terrain is getting to meet others along the path.  My good fortune in finding a warm and enthusiastic reception to my work has been the fuel keeping me rolling from book store to brewpub and on to the local library sometime in January. For the specifics see this post.

Beyond that lies the next book. A handful of thoughts have been vying for my attention. It seems logical to continue documenting beer from here as season after season New England farmers produce more and more of the stuff brewers crave: unique ingredients that invoke their land and climate.

But maybe I should focus on cask conditioned beer instead. When I think about how environmentally sound it is to put beer in a cask instead of bottles or cans or kegs for that matter, I realize this is an important topic to me. Also, I enjoy a cask conditioned beer better than beer from any other delivery method. Now I know I'm really on to something.

See how they glow: the brewers at NERAX North.

So when I got the very kind invitation to attend the industry session of the New England Real Ale Exhibition, North chapter, or NERAX North, I made sure to attend. Mid November, the tour began. The  night before I'd had a book signing at Peppercorns in Worcester, home of Wormtown Brewing. Intending for the event to last an hour, I was there until the kitchen closed. The night was resounding success and the beers I tasted shared in common clean and delicious flavors, as well as Massachusetts grown ingredients. 

A flight of Wormtown at Peppercorns

So it is without complaint, and with a smile on my face, that I note how tired I was the next afternoon when I navigated 495 to its end near the New Hampshire border. This evening may very well have been my first ever in Haverhill where dark brick buildings line Washington Street and the sound of the rushing Merrimack River competes with a cold wind in my ears.

Up the stairs in the front hall to the third floor of the Barking Dog pub I found my happy place. The large open room seemed empty at first, though a cluster of conversations came from the bar. Near the door, jotting on a clipboard I found Randy Baril, Head Cellarman.

Randy, who also purchased a few copies of Beer Terrain for the Homebrew Emporium shelves, invited me here and planted a bug in my ear about cask as a possible book subject. I told him how, ten to fifteen years ago, I'd come up with the idea myself. Back then I was enjoying Gritty's Best Bitter on cask as often as I could. 

My collaborator and I would also hit The Coat of Arms in Portsmouth for the beer engine offerings there circa 1998. A great one is the Hampshire Special Ale (HSA) from Geary's.

Randy welcomed me, and as a true gentleman would, he ushered me straightaway to the bar where I was filled with awe, as if I were standing at the base of Mt. Rushmore, or atop a skyscraper. 
There before me, a wall of firkins as pretty as a stable of racing ponies, all draped in grey blankets, towered over me. Along the temporary plywood bar, a row of more than 20 beer engine handles made me pause. I am so small. 

I perused the tags for a place to start and chose the first likely local ingredient brewer I saw – Night Shift. I received a quarter pint of an ale made with Valley Malt rye and agave nectar. Dr Funkmeister himself, Brettanomyces, played an important role in the lambic flavors drifting over my palate. A touch of tartness, with the crispness of rye and a considerable amount of residual sweetness combined to wet my whistle. A moment later, I ordered again.

Randy noted that the Harpoon IPA on hand was dry hopped with Cascade grown by the Harpoon Brewmaster. This beer has been in the stable of bottles available almost everywhere in New England and beyond for quite some time. When the choice at a gas station is Harpoon IPA or Some Yellow Fizzy Thing With a Bad After Taste, I feel pretty good about life these days. I just flat enjoy it every time. Here, on cask and made with local hops, expectations rose. I was not disappointed. 

The usual malty balance to the hop tingle was  present, but in this quarter pint, I found the extra freshness, the tangerine zest of a ripe Cascade.

Those were the highlights from the native terrain and made this evening doubly special. But I also enjoyed a Frye's Leap IPA by Sebago and a Baxter IPA. The best of these non natives was the Portsmouth Brewery Whipper Snapper.

Martin Ogley of England spoke about his all-cask operation, Elland Brewery. I had the pleasure of speaking with him, as well as Alastair Hewitt of Mystic Brewery. Hewitt, with his British background, has helped Mystic, a Belgian/American style brewery, fashion some of the finest English influenced beers around. 

Finally, I had the great pleasure to meet Todd Mott, former head brewer of Portsmouth Brewing and owner of Tributary Brewing Company due to open in 2014. Mott, by the way was the original brewer of Harpoon IPA, making him a legendary figure in these circles. His take on that status: "I'm just a brewer." Also, Mott followed my boss Sean Navish at Portsmouth. So we had plenty to talk about.

This small world stuff makes me feel warm and fuzzy, I have to admit. But it speaks to the perfect environment in this industry for a tightening of the economic loop of trade from farm to table and back to farm as compost and animal feed. 

Yes, I think the beer terrain needs more exploring.

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