Saturday, January 31, 2009

Some Oats for a Cat

Hey all,

The Oatmeal stout went on and has replaced the Black Cat. It is so amazing to me every time I try the Oatmeal Stout. The Black Cat stout and the Oatmeal Stout are very close in malt and hop profile. But that addition of the Oatmeal to the mash mutes the roasty note, brings out more of the chocolate note and lets the flavor linger on your palette for much longer. I don’t think I will ever get over this amazing phenomenon!

Cheers,
Tyler

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Growlers and Bottles

Hey all,

I have been asked a few times about the beer to take home from the Portsmouth Brewery so I wanted to clear it up for everyone. First and foremost we are a brewpub. This means that we can only serve our beers onsite. Our licensing dose not allow us to ship/distribute bottles or kegs to Florida, Mass, any local liquor store or even across the street. So if you want to enjoy a Portsmouth Brewery beer of any kind you are going to have to come to us and enjoy it at the pub in Portsmouth NH which is a great town to visit anyways :)

Once you are here, we do serve growlers of all of the beers that are brewed on site (except for Kate the Great of course). As soon as a new beer is on tap you can come and get a growler to take home with you. We recommend not getting growlers of our Black Cat Stout, Oatmeal Stout or Milk Stout because the are served off the Nitro tap. A nitro tap has a defuser build into it and it purposely de-carbonates the beer as it is being poured into a glass. Hence giving you a great head on your stout in the glass. If you did get a growler of one of these stouts there would be no carbonation left in the beer and it would be a super flat black water by the time your wanted to drink it at home.

The bottling situation is a little trickier though. We do a very limited bottling of most of our beers and stop bottling them when we are getting low in the serving vessels. The bottles are sold on a first come first serve basis, so there is no way that I can tell you if there is going to be a certain beer on a certain date available (except for Kate the Great of course). The 22oz bottles are sold in the retail store and if we run out of a certain style there is a possibility that we will be bottling it again. That is of unless we are just plain running low on the beer then it will just finish out its life being served off the tap here at the brewery.

I hope this clears up some confusion rather then creating more.

After reading my ramblings i want to make it a bit simpler. Growlers of everything are available as long as it is on tap (all except Kate). And bottles you are going to have to take your chances and come in to see what we have in 22oz. See ya all soon!

Cheers,
Tyler

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The wait is over

Hey all,

I wanted to let you know that the Flanders Red went on tap today! If you are into the sour Belgian beers this one is for you. All the sour characteristics come from the three days souring of the mash. No "bugs" in this one. Flavors of tropical fruit and tartness cover the palette and finish with a slight sweetness that makes you want to take another sip. It came out great.

Cheers,
Tyler

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Our Upcoming Beer & Chocolate Social

Join us on Wednesday, January 21, for a delicious
night of beer & chocolate,
co-Hosted By Susan Tuveson of Cacao Chocolates of Kittery, Maine.

Join Tod, Chef Rob and Susan this Wednesday for our second Social of the season. The cost is $30 per person including, tax and gratuity. For reservations, please call 603-431-1115. Payment is required in advance and space is limited.


The Menu:
Arugula Salad with Crispy Shaved Onion, Balsamic Tradizionale, and Susan’s White Chocolate Gorgonzola Truffle with Curried Walnut.
Beer selection: Portsmouth Brewery Tripel.

Milk Chocolate Risotto with Smoked Pork, Star Anise and Parmesan Crisps.
Beer selection: Portsmouth Brewery Imperial Pils.

Duck Confit Beggar’s Purse  - Confit Duck Leg, Cocoa & Toasted Black Sesame in a Dark Cocoa Crepe with Soy Ginger Sauce.
Beer selection: Portsmouth Brewery Holidaze Porter.

Espresso Dusted Elk with Dried Cherry Molé.
Beer selection: Portsmouth Brewery Flanders Sour Red.

Dark Chocolate & Marscapone Ravioli with Hazelnut Butter
Beer selection: Portsmouth Brewery Black Cat Stout

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Can't sneak anything by you!

Hey guys,

We can’t sneak any beers by you guys. I tell you about an Imperial IPA that we hid and put on cask. A few days later it is a changing. We did save one more though :) There is an Imperial IPA w/ Simcoe on cask right now. No explanation needed on this one. Get it before it’s gone!

Cheers,
Tyler

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Wonderful winter warmer.

Hello all,

I want to thank you all who made it out to the winter warmer social last night, it went over extremely well. The food and beer paired so nicely and it was great to be able to mingle and talk with so many different people that came. If you missed it keep an eye out on the calendar of events on the main website. There are a few more social coming up very soon, the chocolate and beer social, then the Farnum Hill Cider social and there are talks of a Beer vs. Wine- Thrilla in Manilla Rematch in early spring. I say bring it on wine! You are going down!

Now about some beer. The cask has changed over to the Imperial IPA dry hopped with Styrian Goldings. No the Impy IPA is not on, but we saved a couple of casks so we can still get our hop fix. I'm cleaning the line now and the cask should be on momentarily. The supply of Sierra Nevada Celebration has dried up. We are running the last few keg we have in house. Defiantly should make it through the weekend. So that means that we are going to be putting on the Flemish Red next week at some point. I'm excited about this one.

That's it for now
Cheers,
Tyler

Friday, January 9, 2009

January Greetings!

Hello beer lovers, and welcome to January. Looks like we're in for some weather here and you know what that means.... good drinkin' and we will not let you down. For starters we've put on our Imperial Pilsner which I have been informed that it is actually a Barvarian Imperial Lager (or as like to refer to it as BIL) which has"an acidic viniferous aroma" followed by a lovely malty sweetness finishing with a noble type hop aromatic. That's a mouthfull! However, you should put your mouth up to a glass of this unique beer and see for yourself. Lots of goodness coming to the brewery over the next few weeks including a sour mashed Flanders style Red ale, a Belgian style Tripel and Dubbel and a Bier de Garde as well as our Imperial Stout; Kate the Great. So if the weather sucks, don't let it bring you down.... just come on down to the brewery for some cheering elixirs. See you soon and Cheers! Todm

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Winter Warmer Social food and beers

Hey all,

The Winter Warmer Social menu and beers are finalized! The social is the 14th of January and the price is $30/person that included tax and gratuity. The menu and pairings are as follows:

Winter Warmer Social Menu:

Ginger vegetable dumplings with Thai chili and lime chili sauce.
Paired w/ Portsmouth Brewery Holidaze Porter

Thai curry shredded chicken taco with cilantro foam.
Paired w/ Portsmouth Brewery Winter Weizen

Kung Pao onion and broccoli beef.
Paired w/ Rogue Santa’s Reserve

Galangal and coconut scallion noodle cakes with sambal shrimp.
Paired w/ Smuttynose Winter Ale

Tempura Vegetables with cardamom, ginger caramel dipping sauce.
Paired w/ Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog

Cayenne Chocolate ooze with fresh crepes.
Paired w/ Dogfish Head Raisin D’etre

I’m going to be there! Call us up to reserve your spot! 603-431-1115

Cheers,
Tyler

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Kate Day is Coming Up

Howdy all. With Kate Day a little more than a month away (February 9, to be precise), we thought we’d provide some information about how it will shape up. We'll be doing a couple of things differently this time around. The biggest change is that we will limit bottle sales to two per customer, without any additional allotment for Imperial Pint Clubbers. This was a tough call to make, but we figured it was the fairest way to spread the love around. We're also running a contest in which you can win an entire case of Kate. Here are the details:

• Approximately ten barrels of Kate were brewed, which will be divided evenly between bottles and draft. Bottles will be made available at the same time as the tapping, and not a moment sooner.
• Due to the high demand and limited quantity (about 900 bottles), we are limiting bottle purchases to two per person. Last June, we sold out our entire stock of bottles the first day, and we're hoping to stretch things out a bit this time.
• No Growlers of Kate will be filled.
• Same as last time, we will issue numbers to people in the order in which they arrive. Your number holds your place in line, freeing you up to wander about freely until 1:14.
• If you're just coming in for a glass of Kate and aren't interested in purchasing bottles, don't worry about arriving early or getting a number - we should have plenty of draft Kate, at least for a couple of days.

We all had a terrific time on Kate Day last June. Folks were waiting on our doorstep by eight in the morning, and by the time we started issuing numbers around nine, the line stretched down the block. Here's a video our friends Nancy and Brian from Atlantic Media shot that day. We're thinking that perhaps things might be a little more low-key in February, but we have no way of knowing for sure. One thiing we do know is that we'll have a great time again in February. We're looking forward to serving you that day.

Flex Your Literary Muscles & Win a Case of Kate!
You can win an entire case of our hard-to-get Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout, but you're going to have to show you really want it. None of this random entry stuff - any nincompoop can have his or her name pulled out of a hat! In order to win a case of Kate, you must impress us and your fellow beer lovers with your literary prowess by authoring a beer-related poem, essay or short story.
• Works must be original and can be either about beer, inspired by beer or otherwise relating to beer.
• Seven First Prizes, single bottles of Kate, will be awarded to winners in the following categories:
  • Poems: sonnet, haiku, limerick, ballad or free verse
  • Essays: between 500 and 2,000 words
  • Short fiction: between 500 and 2,000 words
• A Grand Prize of a case of Kate will be selected from among the First Prize winners.
• Entries will be read by a panel of local literary luminaries and barflies and will be judged for originality, adherence to form, and how much the panel likes them.
• Entries must be submitted by email, regular mail or in person by midnight on February 2, 2009.
• Winners will be announced on Kate Day. Winning entries will be posted on our website and displayed in our front window.
• Winners do not have to be present on Kate Day, but must pick up their prize in person by the end of February.
• Entries must have sufficient merit in order to receive a prize. In other words, if yours is the only sonnet submitted, you may not win simply by default; we reserve the right to withold prizes if no entries in any given category are deserving.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Imperial Pils is grand

Hey all,

The Imperial Pilsner went on over the weekend, and as promised it is delicious. The Saphir hops add a very nice spicy hop note and the malt is sweet in the front with a slight acidy that finishes clean and dry. But be careful the 9% abv really sneaks up on you with this one.

Cheers,
Tyler

Thursday, January 1, 2009

An Impy for an Impy

Welcome to 2009! Hopefully a year of lots of changes for our country, economy and more.

Speaking about changes we are giving you an Impy for an Impy. To clarify, the Imperial IPA is almost gone but we have an Imperial Pilsner to back it up. This is a true lager that was cold conditioned for 8 weeks. The lagering give this 9% beer a clean finish. We used a lot of Saphir hops in this one. Saphir is derived from the traditional German hop Hallertau, making it a great addition to any lager. I am sure that you wont be disappointed with this beer!

Cheers,
Tyler