We got your Hop Rhizomes!

Hey all,

Just a heads up the Hop Rhizomes are in the store and ready for you. We have Cascade, Nugget, Centennial, Glacier and Magnum rhizomes. Growing your own hops is such a labor of love. Whether you are using them in our own hop harvest home brew or just growing them for the ornamental value, it all works. I have three varieties outside my house that I have been growing for 4 years now.

Check out this website for some tip on hop gardening.

Cheers,
Tyler

Been a long time...... but here's a good one!

Greetings beer lovers,
I have to admit I have been less than exemplary in my posts but when you have an able bodied assistant like, Tyler, there is no need to fear the lack of blog. In any event, we were short Smuttynose IPA this morning when I arrived into work, the IPA should arrive by later this afternoon, and so I took the liberty of putting on a keg of Sierra Nevada Celebration today! One of my favorite beers of all time (S/N) Cele, as we call it, has a beautiful light amber color and a medium mouth feel with a glorious aromatic of Cascade and Centennial. The hop flavor is spot on with a touch of bitterness lingering on the soft palette. The keg has mellowed so much and tastes really delicious, so if you have the time we've got some Cele!! Cheers! Todm

Cask is on!

Hey all,

So I went through the task of completing full surgery on our cask engine. Every screw and gasket was pulled apart, cleaned and put back together. It is up and running tremendously. We had a few casks of Whipper Snapper left and couldn't think of a better beer to pull through the freshie beer engine with. Come on in and enjoy the Whipper Snapper dry hopped with El Dorado.

cheers,
Tyler

one for me...two for you.. and three for me!

Hey all,

The triple that went on last night to replaced the Weizenbock. Nice big bubblegum aromatics in this 9.5% golden Belgian Ale. Everything yo wold hope for in a Triple. The whipper Snapper is gettting very low and is most likely goign ot kick today at some point. We will be putting on our Dubble to back that up.

Thus making our tap line-up, one for me (Smuttynose Star Island single); two for you (Our Belgian Dubbel); and three for me (the Belgian Tripel). Talk about a wonderful sampler paddle.

Cheers,
Tyler

"Did I do that?"...

Hey all,

We made a Cezch Style Plisner yesterday. The famous Cezch Plisner, Pilsner Urquell, popped into my head which lead me to call the beer "Steve Urquell" all day long. It's a working name for the beer, but legally i am not sure if we can name it that. I don't want to get sued by ABC as well as Jaleel White (the actor that played Steve Urkel. The truth is i had to cheat and used IMDB)

So after that side note, the tap line up is changing as fast as we all hope the weather is going to. Is it Spring yet?!?! For all of those out there that haven't been keeping an day in day out eye on the tap line up here is the Readers Digest condensed version of the tap changes.

-ESB -> Winter Weizen
-Murphy's Law Red -> WeizenBock
-Smutty Shoals Pale ale -> Oskar Blues Dale Pale Ale -> Oskar Blues G'Kinght (happened today!)
-Imp IPA -> Whipper Snapper (happened today)
-Oatmeal Stout -> Black Cat Stout
Plus the Grand Cru is on and i cant remember what kicked for that to come on.

So if you haven't been here in a while time to come back in because the line up to totally different then the last time you were here. Totally delicious!

cheers,
Tyler

More Kate News, Not So Big This Time

It probably could go without saying, but before yesterday's post gets amplified and distorted (and separated in people's recollection from the 4/1/11 date of the post), let's set the record straight:

Happy April Fool's Day!

Most of you spotted the joke right away.  (Was it the image of Tod Mott hand stamping over seventy thousand labels, perhaps? Or Robby's Italian “people” leaning on hapless EU bureaucrats?)

A few of you took the bait, absurd as it was.  Don't feel too bad - I was awakened early yesterday morning by a call from the Eliot PD saying they'd found my truck, which I'd parked in my barn the night before, abandoned by the side of Route 236.  And yes, I swallowed it hook, line and sinker (though at that moment I was too sleepy to really care that much).  So there you have it.

Cheers,

P-

Big Kate the Great News!

For Immediate Release:  1 April 2011

Portsmouth Brewery Passes Kate the Great Production to Smuttynose;
Brews More but Only for Belgian Sales.

_________________________________________

The Portsmouth Brewery is excited to announce that 200 barrels of its popular Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout is currently aging at sister company Smuttynose Brewing Company and will be released one year from today, exclusively through the Struise Yeast Shop in West Flanders, Belgium.  All purchases must be made in person and buyers must complete a questionnaire before being allowed to buy the beer.

Head Brewer Tod Mott was exuberant that ownership finally capitulated to years of him begging for a break from brewing Kate.  “That beer ties up so much tank space in our small submarine of a brewery.   Now that it’s been contracted out, I can get back to brewing Cream Ale the way it should be brewed, with ale yeast and lager yeast.”  Mott also cited a desire to have Kate named the #1 Beer in the Planet in BeerAdvocate magazine as a prime motivation behind the decision.

Owner Peter Egelston said the decision came naturally after reflecting upon the 2011 Kate release.  “Everything ran so smoothly with the scratch ticket system; lines were well behaved and the beer ran out around 6pm like it always does.   We also need more tank space and have no good way to expand the brewery space at Portsmouth Brewery. This was clearly the best option.”  The growing European popularity of American craft beer was also a driver in the decision.

Brewing the Russian Imperial Stout at Smuttynose for export to Belgium was no small feat  Portsmouth Brewery had to file alternating premise paperwork with the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) who handles all licensing for alcoholic beverage production.   The beer’s prestige and acclaim made it easy to find a European importer (Mott had previously worked with Struise on the Kabert collaborations beer), but working through European Union paperwork proved very difficult until Egelston remembered Smuttynose’s National Accounts Manager, Robby Brondolo is from Italy and “knew a few people.”  After a few phone calls, everything was smooth sailing.

The beer will be packaged in 11.2 ounce bottles and the labels have all been hand-stamped by Mott himself.  While no small feat, it was worth it to the brewing legend who said he was just happy to get back to brewing “normal beers” again.