Yankee Brew News Archive

North Country Brewings

Originally Published: 07/94

By: Ron Lachance

With summertime here it's time to get out and enjoy the weather, the summer festivities, and the beach or hiking and biking trails. Along with your summer fun, mark July 23 and 24 on your calendar to attend Gunstock's newest summer event, the New Hampshire Brewfest in Gilford, New Hampshire. Sylvia Leggett, Brewfest organizer, indicated she is trying to have those microbreweries that are licensed to sell their products in New Hampshire attend. She is also planning to have Home Brew Associations attend. The Brewfest will be from Noon to p.m. For more information such as exact location, directions, etc., you can call Sylvia at 1-800-486-7862.

Maine

No Tomato Restaurant & Great Falls Brewing Company. Central Maine now has a brewpub! Charlie Herrick and Cass Bartlett have expanded the No Tomato Restaurant, located in Auburn, Maine, into a brewpub, and is now known as the No Tomato Restaurant & Great Falls Brewing Company.

Sea Dog Brewery. Camden's Sea Dog Brewery is now brewing a Maibock for the early summer. A "big beer" with a big malty palate and a spicy finish, it was the brewery's most popular beer at the recent Boston Brewers Festival. Also on tap is Black Irish Summer Stout, which is naturally-conditioned in and dispensed from oak barrels. It has a very smooth and creamy flavor. Peter Camplin, owner and brewmaster, has also added an extensive and elaborate oyster and seafood bar under the waterfall adjacent to the brewery. The bar will feature locally-smoked Maine seafoods and fresh oysters.

The big news is a second Sea Dog will be opening in Bangor. The projected starting date for construction is August, with a March 1995 anticipated opening. Peter plans to use a 14-barrel Peter Austin system and will produce both ales and lagers, as the Camden brewery does. The new brewery will triple the present production, which is badly needed because of the overwhelming success of their wholesale keg business. "There is a great deal of demand for the Sea Dog in states other than Maine, and this new brewery will give us the capability to spread our wings into other markets," said Peter. "It will also give us the capability to bottle as well as keg," he noted. The new Sea Dog will also contain a 300-seat tavern and restaurant, which, like Camden, will celebrate the maritime legacy of Penobscot Bay and the Penobscot River.

New Hampshire

Amoskeag Brewpub? (Business name still pending). New Hampshire will soon have a third Brewpub open its doors. Peter Teldge, Dan Pariseau, and J.B. Smith are planning for an early fall opening. The brewpub will be located in one of the mills off the Merrimack River in Manchester, New Hampshire. They have purchased a 14 barrel DME System and initially plan to brew three beers; a Dark Stout, a Light Ale, and an IPA.

Vermont

The Mountain Brewers. Central Vermont's Mountain Brewers, known for its Long Trail family of ales, is pleased to announce the introduction of Brown Bag Ale, a traditional Northern English-style brown ale. "Brown Bag Ale is the first in a series of 'seasonal and not-so-seasonal brews,' which will be introduced as members of the 'Brown Bag' line," according to Mountain Brewers president Andy Pherson.

Keeping the Long Trail family as his brewery's mainstay, Andy hopes the new line will capture the attention of the growing segment of brand-shifting beer drinkers, who are always looking for something new. "The Brown Bag line will enable us to offer new brews to the consumer as quickly as we can develop them. Some will be perennial, some will be seasonal. Some will reappear and others won't. We're all pretty excited about it," he enthused, referring to the obvious fun that brewing an assortment of styles entails.

The "Brown Bag" name refers to the simple packaging of the beer. "We didn't commission an artist to draw us a fancy clipper ship or a likeness of Paul Revere," explains Andy. "A low cost package is the highest hurdle to leap when it's time to bring out the next beer in the line. A generic six-pack for the line means that consumers will have to reach in and pull out a bottle to see what's in the bag."

The release of Brown Bag Ale, and upcoming members of the Brown Bag line, was made possible by a recent expansion that has taken the central Vermont brewery's annual capacity to 14,999 barrels. Pherson is quick to note that it's no coincidence that the brewery's expansion brought capacity to just below the production limit definition of a microbrewery. "We don't have a philosophy of perpetual growth. Small size and attention to detail are big parts of our identity," he said. "We don't want to be anything more than a good microbrewery, emphasis on micro. If we have to stop brewing the week of Christmas to keep production under 15,000 barrels, then Felice Navidad, we will," promised Pherson. "That's how important being a true microbrewery is to us."

McNeill's Brewery. Two sweet, very strong Bavarian Style Bok Beers are presently on draught; Mai Bok and Helles Bok. In addition, McNeill's has an English style brown ale called Professor Brewhead's Brown, a double brown hoppy ale called Slopbucket Brown, a classic Burton Style "bitter" named Duck's Breath Bitter, a rich dark hoppy porter called Pullman's Porter made in the style enjoyed by porters in the 19th century England, and a mildly hopped, extremely rich, very full bodied stout called Oatmeal Stout.

McNeill's has also begun bottling operations, and are packaging 8 ales available in 22 oz Brown Long Neck Bottles. Ray McNeill is selling his fine ales at area retailers in Brattleboro and Putney, Vermont. The eight ales are; an American style amber ale called Firehouse Amber Ale, Pullman's Porter, Professor Brewhead's Brown Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Extra Special Bitter Ale, Duck's Breath Ale, Dead Horse India Pale Ale, and Big Nose Blond Ale.

Jasper Murdock's Alehouse (located at the Norwich Inn in Norwich). Jasper's celebrated their first anniversary on May 26th! Congratulations Sally! Their first batch of Wheat Beer for the '94 season is on tap. It's a classic Bavarian Weissbier, known as Heifer Vice, with an assertive clove aroma and spicy flavor. Barley the brewhouse dog delivered six puppies this past spring. Sally Wilson is proud to report the mother and pups are doing fine.

Other draft beers brewed at the Norwich Inn are; Whistling Pig Red Ale, which is a slightly sweet, full-bodied, and malty in flavor with a garnet-red color, Jasper Murdock's Extra Special Bitter, a malty amber brew called Mud Season Mild Ale, a Pale Ale which is brewed using hops from Czechoslovakia and five different malts called Br. Bowles' Honey Elixir, Old Slipperyskin India Pale Ale, Stackpole Porter, a classic dry Irish Stout called Short 'n' Stout, a classic golden ale brewed with Fuggle hops and pale barley malt called Fuggle & Barleycorn, and a rich, amber pale ale called Nonesuch Ale.

Magic Hat Brewing Company. Bob Johnson and Alan Neuman are renovating the building that will house the Magic Hat Brewing Company in Burlington, Vermont. Presently, Bob and Alan are brewing an Irish Red Ale, called Magic Hat Ale, at the Kennebunkport Brewing Company. They are currently distributing their in kegs and sold mostly in Burlington. They are planning to open the Magic Hat Brewing Company in the early fall.