Lately in my head I've been hearing songs of summer's end. A consistent one is "Summersong" by The Decemberists. Thinking of the lyrics "Summer arrives with a length of lights / And summer blows away and quietly gets swallowed by a wave" made me think that it was high time we lunched by the sea, by the harbor, by the water, something... before summer actually does get swallowed by a wave.
At the Newburyport Brewfest a few weeks back we met the fine folks of Cape Ann Brewing Company and enjoyed their Greenhorn Double IPA greatly. I figured it was high time we paid them a visit for lunch.
We arrived right after two giant parties of about 20 something people did so the kitchen was slow. That's okay -- the beer was cold and the ESPN Not Top Ten was funny.
Taking a spot at the bar as usual, we tucked right into the Fisherman's Ale.
Appetizers were mussels (delicious with a gorgeous garlic butter sauce) and some hellaciously hot habanero wings (which I ate two of and couldn't handle any more. Ouch).
I couldn't wait to have the Greenhorn D-IPA again, with the memory of said beer from a few weeks ago still fresh in mind. I ordered one to go with my lunch, and to cool off the fire from the wings. A perfect match. Fantastic beer, and I was so happy to be enjoying it in a really heavy glass that I would not want anyone to whack me upside the head with at any point in life... ever.
Dave had the coffee infused stout, and moved on to the 70 Shilling Scottish Ale, which I then enjoyed a 10 ounce glass of and called it quits because I had to be the driver. Pictured below are the two cute little 10 ounce glasses of 70 Shilling.
While we were eating, getting served up nice by Ally (she said she doesn't care how it is spelled so ... Alli, Aly, Ali... yeah!) one of the brewers came from out back with a sample of what we had been watching him working on. A Strawberry Rhubarb Saison. Here are Jay and Dylan giving it sniffs, whiffs and sips.
Modeling with the brew.
Dylan giving it a healthy sniff.
It's funny because when he told me the name of the beer, I thought he said Cezanne, like the painter. A Strawberry Rhubarb Cezanne. It was so noisy in there that I had no clue what the hell was going on. Too funny though. I think they should totally name it that, instead of Saison.
Make a note of it (or not!). I decided to get a growler of Greenhorn D-IPA to take home to Doug.
Turns out that I waited a little too long -- the tap was drained! The Greenhorn was dead.
We got enough for a pint and a half in the growler and they let me just have it... I thought about having them top the growler off with regular IPA but I knew Doug would appreciate just this bit of unadulterated D-IPA.
And I was right.
Dave and I decided out on the deck would be nice, so we headed out to enjoy the view, me with my water and Dave with his Honey Pils. A huge thunderstorm was rolling up close, and we watched it slowly rise out of the south. Huge, brilliant streaks of lightning with 10 to 15 counts until the thunder meant that we had a great long time to wait for the storm to actually hit.
We got some more food (Crab Fritters) and another 70 Shilling to share as we awaited the weather.
It finally hit -- with wind and pouring rain. We hit the road after helping clean off the tables and bring in the salt and pepper and paper towels so the waitresses didn't have to do all the work.
We made it home to discover that it didn't rain a drop here. Funny what 20 miles difference can do.
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