Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Crazy times at Ridgemont High.

Hey all,

I want to apologize for not posting in a while. We have been crazy busy here in the brewery. After the crazy Red White and Blue offering this July 4th It put our staple beers in jeopardy and we have finally gotten back on track (I say with my fingers crossed). Plus we just got back from pouring at the Vermont Brew Fest up in Burlington. An amazing brew fest, right on the lake in the park. Plus you can't forget about the amazing pubs there are in Burlington. If you get a chance to go next year defiantly check it out.
So beer wise we are doing great for now. Our Old Brown Dog is back on, and we have our Black Cat Stout back on. Seasonally the Saison kicked and was replaced with our Hefewiezen and the Murphy's Law Red has been replaced by our Thaizenhimer. What is a Thaizenhimer you ask? Well it is a Thai influenced American wheat beer. Having a malt and hop profile similar to our Weizenhiemer but the addition of Kaffir Lime leaves, Lemongrass and ginger add that unique flavor and aroma to this light bodied beer.

Well back to the cleaning for me. See ya all soon!

Cheers,
Tyler

Monday, July 14, 2008

New Beers on tap

Hey all,

You are going to have to say good buy to the Bluebeery and the Hefewiezen. But don’t worry, you will see the Hefe sooner than later and the Bluebeery you are going to have to wait until the end of the summer when it is actually blueberry season where we will make a double batch of it. To replace them we have our Bottle Rocket IPA back in action and we put back on our Saison that has been aging in a serving tank. (I had some at the servers meeting this morning and WOW the age has helped it become beautiful).

Secondly the Smutty Robust Porter has kicked and we will be putting on our Black Cat stout. So we have a stout on now!

Cheers,

Tyler

Friday, July 11, 2008

Warning!

I just want to let everyone know that we have gotten a couple of concerns on two of our beers.

First, we had a Bluebeery Ale sent back because it tasted too much like blueberries! We do uses 120lbs of real blueberries per 7bbl of beer, so they might be on to something .

Secondly we after our Imperial IPA went on we had a complaint that it tasted too hoppy! Well not really, it was compared to a west coast IPA. So we stole a few tricks from the west coasters, hop backs, dry hopping, having 8 kettle hop additions. We wanted to wake up those taste buds of you all!

I thought I needed to share that with you all.

Cheers,
Tyler

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Summer time and the livin easy..... HA!

Hello all,

My goodness, you guys are drinking some beer this summer! We are going though Old Brown Dog here faster then we have ever, the IPA is being sucked out of the tanks so fast, and every one has discovered the glory of a cask conditioned beer. Here is the rundown.

Bottle Rocket IPA kicked yesterday afternoon with the back-up just finishing primary fermentation. So to keep you hop heads from burning down our house we decided to put on our Imperial IPA to tide you over. This beer has hops stuffed and jammed into it in ever step along the brewing process. Mash hopping, over the sparge, on first runnings, 8 kettle additions, hop back and Fermenter. So if you cant find the hops while drinking this beer get your tongue checked, and at 9% abv you need to be gentle with this one.

Our OBD flew and production wise of getting the Red, White and Blue ready for the 4th made it so we couldn't fit in our OBD. So we have Smuttynose's OBD as a replacement. The two beers are very close in all aspects. I find a slightly more roast character coming from Smutty's but hey you tell me what you think.

The Oatmeal stout was a big hit as well. We are going to put back on our Hefewiezen as a filler which means that there is not a stout on the menu. But if you are looking for that dark roasty-ness you should try the Smuttynose Robust Porter that replaced the Bigfoot. One of there finest beers if you ask me.

That’s all for now!

Cheers,

Tyler

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Birthday USA!

While Tod and Zach are working on the Mash Tun I thought I would get a quick Blog in.

Happy 4th of July everyone. To celebrate here at the Portsmouth Brewery we decided to do a Red, White and Blue sampler for you all to enjoy.
The Red being our Murphy's Law Red Ale, our version of a Irish Style red ale.
The White being our Belgian Wit, which is a Belgian Wheat beer with orange and coriander flavors and a nice white color from the raw wheat used in the boil.
Last but not least is the Blue, which we put out another fan favorite our Bluebeery. It is a light bodied beer that has turned almost purple from the 120lbs of REAL blueberries added to this brew. If you have never had our Bluebeery you have not experienced what a real fruit should taste like.

See ya here for a pint later!

Cheers,
Tyler

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Ya intern!

Hey all,

Our intern Zach Bodah started yesterday giving us the extra set of hands that are truly needed in the summer time. He is from the American Brewers Guild program and his beer education will be completed here at the Portsmouth Brewery. Come in and say hello to him if you get a chance.

Beer wise the Wild Thang is gone and been replaced with our Hefewiezen. This is a traditional German style Hefe with the banana and clove esters created during fermentation. Remember No F.L. The lemon will cover up the beautiful nuances. The cask is Oatmeal Stout dry hopped with Columbus. Personally one of my favorite casks we make here. The columbus add a earthy spiciness that works so well with the oatmeal stouts mouth coating roast character.

Tod asked what was in my radar. Well I am hoping to be able to get another chance to make the Barleywine this year to tweak the recipe one step closer to perfection. I am going to try a home brew batch of Gruit and see how it turns out. But I am still searching for a few key ingredients. Dose anyone know where I can find Marsh Rosemary or Labrador Tea? If we like the outcome we will scale it up to a batch here and hopefully have it out for the fall.

Cheers,

Tyler