Haverhill Brewery Brewfest Shenanigans

It occurs to me as I sit here with feet up and Dr. Who on the tube with a Dogfish Head 60 minute by my side that if we'd gone to the evening Brewfest session, we'd be getting home around now. Late, tired, and full of beer.

As is, I did get home tired and full of beer, had a nap, and now I have gone through my pictures and can do a write up of the event.

I'll preface the whole write up with the fact that this was our first visit to the Brewfest and we'll be back next year for sure. We ran into several friends who had been to previous Brewfests here and they all said this was the best run, most organized, really delicious event. So thumbs up to the Haverhill Brewery and Tap staff. I hope the evening session went as well as the afternoon session did. 

Dave, my husband Doug, and I headed down  to town, and had a heck of a hard time finding a place to park. We knew this would happen... Haverhill is notorious for little parking and with an influx of a billion beer fans things would be even tighter. We finally got a place to park at about 1pm, and headed in to feast.

The Tap restaurant, the basement, and the former antiques store next door were all transformed into beer heaven with brewers from all over the area. As the host, the bar was pouring all of the Haverhill Brewery favorites from Leatherlips to Gestalt, and some special new tastes.

We started off with the ciders, Original Sin and Woodchuck.  Original Sin had a lovely pear cider that is probably as close to the British "peary" that one can get here in the US. Very nice, crisp and light. Woodchuck's Fall Cider was delicious as well.

We immediately opted to eat, because the food was right there. They had a small roasted whole pig that they were serving on portuguese rolls with caramelized onions and gravy. Outstanding.

They had grilled sausages with fixin's, a nacho bar, and chicken wings with three or four different awesome coatings. Full up with deliciousness, we headed downstairs to the cask area. Casks were being pulled, from Jack's Abby, Haverhill Brewery, Notch, and Martha's Exchange.

 Dave and my husband were very into it though, and went through the line a couple times over. Cask beers are normally warmer than I like, but they were all very tasty.

We headed upstairs to the main room, where Clown Shoes, Frosty Knuckle, Sam Adams, The Beer Works, John Harvard's Brewhouse were serving up their beers.  Cisco from Nantucket had beautiful vodkas, and Doug tried out their Triple 8 blueberry vodka and loved it. He'll be picking up some of that for sure.

Clown Shoes had Eagle Claw Fist Imperial IPA and their Muffin Top beer, as well as their Clementine on tap. Eagle Claw and Muffin Top were delicious.

But I did hear two women talking about how they hated the name "Muffin Top" and didn't think it was funny. I kind of did. It doesn't bother me. But as I've written before about Clown Shoes, how you market your beer makes a difference.

John Harvard's best offering was sadly named Farewell to Summer. It was delicious. And sad. All at once.

 A volunteer pulls for Frosty Knuckle, and I liked their pulls so I took his picture.
Love the mural work in this room. It is often unnoticed but not today...
Be sure to go to the Frosty Knuckle website, and learn about some local Gloucester Lore.

Heading over to the bar area, the host brews were all being served up. 

Seeing as we drink beer here all the time, it wasn't a big draw for us. But they did have a surprise on tap. The Beerstand Berlinerweiss is bitter, sour, lemony almost. Looks almost like pee, to be honest. 

Straight up, it is kind of gross. But they put two cool additions into the glass when they pour it, a raspberry syrup or something called Woodruff syrup. This transforms the sour brew into a happy brew. A very happy brew. I think I had several samples of the raspberry version and Doug loved the Woodruff. Dave didn't care for it and stuck with the pilsner in cask.  

I'll be back at the Tap sooner than later for a full glass of this fun drink. 

Back over to the former antique shop for more beers. Representatives from Cape Ann Brewing Company, Narraganset, High & Mighty, Mayflower, Martha's Exchange, Ipswich and others were there. 

Two highlights from this room stood out. 

First, Cape Ann Brewing Company had a Pumpkin Beer. Now, I know I've stated in previous entries that I'm done with Pumpkin beers. Hardly anyone brought pumpkin beers, which was great... the cool thing about CABC was that they were tapping an actual pumpkin. The pull, the tap, the whole set up was in the pumpkin.

Pictured here is TJ with the setup. Ten points to Gryffindor for the great thinking and creative display!

We had met Tom at the Newburyport Brewfest in the summer, and he recognized me. I told him that I didn't like pumpkin beers and he said they don't either. It's messy to make, smelly (even for beer) and just no fun. But they made theirs a stout, instead of an ale. And this made all the difference. 

I can honestly say after trying this pumpkin beer "This Didn't Suck." And you an put that in the marketing campaign for sure.

Next, we spent time with High & Mighty Brewing Company, who refer to themselves as beer-vangelists, "the Clergy of Zymurgy, the Priests of Yeasts..." which cracked me up.

They had three beers to sample, and the best was their saison, "Pas De Deux" which was very similar to the Brooklyn Sorachi Ace that I enjoyed this summer. Light, champagney, delicious. It was a beautiful beer. On top of everything they were wicked cool guys.

 We met Abby and Jack of Jack's Abby Brewers, and it isn't every day you get to meet a guy in Lederhosen. Their Saxon Son's Pilsner was lovely. Dave and Doug both thought the Smoke and Dagger was too "smoky"for their likings.

Ipswich Ale Brewery is local, and the four beers they had on tap were great. The 20 Year was great and I'm a fan of their Oatmeal Stout. And, they had a guy with a handlebar mustache which is another thing you don't see every day.

 The afternoon's entertainment was provided outdoors by The Flip.
They were fantastic!

And inside, this guy. I didn't get his name. Sadly.
He had a lovely voice and gave the room a lot of joy.

We ended up back at the bar, enjoying the host beers... Dave and Doug both were like kids in a candy store all day - I spent most of the time chasing them around from brewer to brewer...

Haverhill Brewery Brewfest is Tomorrow!

Just a reminder, if you're local to the greater Shenanigans area, you should think about attending the Haverhill Brewery Brewfest. There are two sessions and we'll be at the afternoon session.

Do join us, won't you?

A Midweek Shenanigans Trip Back to the Grill Next Door

On Wednesday night, Tree asked me to take Dave out for dinner and get him out of the house. It was an errands day, and he likes to get out on Wednesday nights. So my husband joined us for a trip to the Grill Next Door in Haverhill. As you may recall, we were there earlier in September, and when Doug sat and read the beer menu he said "No wonder you guys like this place!"

I got my card and Dave's out of the bin, and started a fresh one for Doug.

We got their obscenely huge chili cheese fries for an appetizer and a shrimp cocktail, and poured over the beer list. Doug started with a Founders Red Rye, which was delicous, I got the Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA and Dave floundered about for a while until he landed at the Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin.

Now, I've pretty much decided for myself that I'm not having any more pumpkin beers. Dave however, forgets that he doesn't like them and then orders them. Sometimes I remind him and he gets a sample, and then hates it. I didn't stop him on his choice of the Post Road Pumpkin. He did hate it. Next, he went to the Avery Ellie's Brown Ale and that redeemed the universe for him.

The Bear Republic racer was more like a Cream Ale than I was expecting. I didn't get any "citrus" notes, it was tasty but I don't know that I will go back. Doug liked the Founder's Red Rye, and we all agreed it had a lovely flavor. 

Doug had the Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour next. Anything that has "sour" in the title or an ABV over 8% are things I normally avoid. Sour because ... well, I don't like sour things usually. And I'm the Driver so ABVs for me should be in the 5-6 range for me to comfortably have more than one beer. Well, the Flemish Sour was simply delicious. It was almost like plum juice (note, not PRUNE juice because that has super negative connotations when you think about it). Served in a little glass, it was just simply delicious, with the perfect kind of sweet sour. I am rethinking my views on sours...

For dinner, I ordered the Mac and Cheese with Buffalo Chicken. I am kind of obsessed with this dish. I have a great recipe for it, that I make at home, and whenever I see it on a menu, I have got to try their version. The waitress warned me "It's Hot.' And I said "It'd better be."

It was fantastic, and I got a nice Allagash White to go with it. Something crisp and refreshing that would take care of that heat on the mouth from the Mac and Cheese.

So far, of all the places I've tried a Mac and Cheese with Buffalo Chicken, this has to be the best. Super awesome, and I can't wait to go get more. Yum.

Doug had a fried haddock sandwich, and liked it a lot.

He then ordered something unexpected. He decided to try the Moonlight Meadery mead. He told me that I wouldn't like it-- that I would think it tasted like cough medicine.

Most of the time this is true. Hard, straight alcohol like Makers Mark or Southern Comfort, Whiskeys and Bourbons and the like all taste like Nyquil to me. Which is why I stick to beer and wine in my happy little world.

I wanted to at least taste it and decide for myself.

It didn't taste like cough medicine at all. It was honey and appley and delicious, thick on the tongue, and I immediately thought of Tolkein and Middle Earth and Game of Thrones and other such things. It was perfectly delicious. Doug was surprised that I liked it. Dave liked it too, but not enough to get a glass. I will be looking into finding some for a nice cold night here in the woodstove room, wondering if this is good to heat up just a tad to help edge off the cold of winter.

My final beer of the night was the Spatan Oktoberfest, an official Marzen beer from Germany. Dave had the BBC Oktoberfest, which is Marzen style. Click here to learn more about Marzen and Marzen style beers.

Dave wound up with the Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which was black as night and thick and hearty. We had fun with the glass, making note of where the pint and half pint lines were "Who would even WANT a half pint of this!" Dave exclaimed.

 Dave thought he may want a pumpkin beer, even though I told him that he would hate it. He got a sample of the Southern Tier Pumpking, and as I pretty much predicted, hated it.

I think the next several weeks will be spent with me reminding him repeatedly that the only Pumpkin beers he's liked at all this year were Shipyard's and Wachusett's. He feels like they're all trying too hard, and if he wanted pie, he'd order pie.


We ended up pretty much closing the place, watching the Red Sox blow their lead. It was another lovely beer experience at the Grill, and extra fun to have Dave and Doug sharing and talking about their likes in brews.

Low-Key Shenanigans at Rory O'Connor's Pub

This week we had a very late lunch due to Dave having a doctor's appointment about his seizure situation. I'll let him decide if he wants to share the discussions around that, but it was the centerpiece of our conversation for the time we were at lunch.

I forgot to bring my camera, so no photos.

Dave had a Boddingtons, I had what was labeled "Octoberfest" by Sam Adams, but it was the wrong pull on the tap. It was actually Sam's October Pumpkin, which was all vanilla and disgusting. I hate vanilla unless it is in ice cream. I suffered through it and poured half a regular Sam Adams Boston Lager in it to make it less awful.

I ordered a Patty Melt, which was perfectly done. Dave wasn't hungry at the start but ordered wings towards the end of our visit. The wings at Rory's are always just right. Sometimes you get them places and it is like they put them in a microwave. They are all flabby and gross. These, no way. Perfectly fried, wonderfully seasoned. We even sat there and wafted the smell up to our noses and laughed for a bit. 

No one fun was at the bar, things were very quiet. It is funny how sometimes on a Friday we can go somewhere and the bar is elbow to elbow, and other days we land somewhere and we hold court by ourselves.

It wasn't a very exciting lunch. But it was a beautiful day and I hope Dave decides to share some of his thoughts about what we talked about that day. Eventually

On the Deck at the Portsmouth Brewery

On Friday, I needed to make a trip to NH for some errands, so I figured we should just stay in NH for lunch. Eventually, we'll get Dave to Bowdoin, but this week I had a drop dead return time of 4:30pm.

Errands run, car loaded with all the stuff I needed to get, and we drove up into beautiful downtown Portsmouth. I've been to many restaurants there, but one had eluded me for the past couple of years, and that was the Portsmouth Brewery.

The bar was full, which bummed Dave out as it is his favorite place to roost. But the day was gorgeous so when they offered seating on the deck, I felt we needed to head there.

Our waitress informed us that it was Firkin Friday, and we decided to start there. I'm not 100% sure which beer was in the firkin, but I think it was the Smuttynose Big A IPA.

The beer was beautifully cloudy, I love unfiltered beers. It smelled wonderful, a touch of fruitiness and spice. But the taste just wasn't working for me, and turns out it wasn't for Dave either. He said "there's something not quite right about this one," kind of overpowering. The mouth feel was heavy, the after taste really strong. It had great promise, but disappointed me.

I was reminded that Dave really didn't like the Smuttynose Pumpkin last week, so I was starting to fear that he was getting into an Anti-Smuttynose mode. There isn't a brewer that he doesn't like on this planet. Sometimes there is one brew by the brewer that doesn't fit his liking but he can always move on to another pint of something else by the same folks and be happy.

The waitress came back and Dave asked if there was a flight or a paddle option. Of course there was!

She brought us a huge paddle with ten beers on it. Watching her handle it coming out of the door was impressive. That's a lot of real estate! Now, knowing most places usually offer four, maybe five, on a flight...  this was a treat.

A cheat sheet was handed to Dave so he knew which was what, but it also matched up to the chalkboard on the wall outlining what today's fresh beers are (as opposed to yesterday's stale beers).

Going top to bottom, or right to left from the perspective of the photo of Dave with the flight above, here is the run down of what I thought about each one.

Keeping in mind that basically when sharing a flight you get two sips off each sample, it's hard to make a true, lasting judgement. A couple of these will require a pint-visit for me to make a real judgement on them.

Dirty Blonde: No overwhelming scent, flavor was very gentle.

Thaizenheimer: Kind of a "step up" in power from the Dirty Blonde, it had a great smell, great flavor. I liked it.

Gose: Another step up in flavor and scent... very wonderful. I really loved this one.

Milkstout: Outstanding stout, very dark but not heavy and weighty. Had a very light mouth feel, and I think that people who don't like stouts and porters would actually like this one.

left to right, Kölsch, Milkstout, Thaizenheimer

Kölsch: Fantastic. The Milkstout probably should have come after this one as the progression of the other beers would have been completed with this one. I had a glass of this after the fact, I liked it that much (It was a hard choice between this and the Gose). 

Fruit Gruit: I had to ask what a Gruit was, and our waitress knew her stuff. Before the advent of hops usage, beer or ale was often made with herbs, and this beer spoke strongly to that tradition. It was absolutely flavorful, rich in aroma, made me think of cold fall nights or snowy winter days. While it was delightful, I don't know that I could drink more than a glass of it.

The Portsmouth Brewery lists their "sister" company as being across town at Smuttynose. All the beers that came before this point on the flight were brewed in house at the Portsmouth Brewery. Spotlighting the following Smuttynose beers are the next three:

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog: I personally think this is the best of the Smuttynose beers, and on the flight it was indeed the best beer. Dave loves this one, and had a pint of it after we went through the flight. It is a standby, a loyal beer, like an Old Brown Dog. Loved it. 

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, Fruit Gruit, and the Kölsch.

Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale: A very nice pale ale, nothing remarkable or outstanding. A great flavor.

Smuttynose Finest Kind IPA: I had this a few weeks ago. It is a very nice IPA, if you like IPAs! And I do!

Northcoast Scrimshaw Pilsner:  The last beer on the flight was from far away California. It stood out from all the others because it was just different. All the others, from the Smuttys to the Portsmouth  brews had a craft brew feel to them. This was more ... Familiar. Kind of like... a Budweiser. And being a pilsner, you sort of expect that ... 

Compared to all the other beers on the flight, it is the kind of beer that I would have my dad get if he had been at the restaurant with us. My dad (shudder) drinks Budweiser and PBR. He used to be a Schaeffer man, before Schaeffer went out. Then he was a Meisterbrau man (the first word in German I knew was, sadly, Meisterbrau). And then that went out. So he drinks Bud, or PBR, and when I take him to fancy brew pubs and craft breweries, I have to ask the barkeep "what is the closest thing you have to Budweiser?" so he can have his beer.  I would recommend this to him.

I neglected thus far to mention the food. I got Buffalo style beer battered chicken tenders, I think there were five on the plate, which seems like the perfect amount for one, but if you're sharing that's not a lot. They were, however, absolutely delicious. 

Dave got the Mussels. They serve them up in two styles, and Alehouse style or spicy curry style. Dave went with the Alehouse style, and it was delicious. I would love to sample the spicy curry version. 

The amount of mussels that he had in front of him was borderline obscene compared to my chicken tenders. There was enough in the bowl for four people to easily enjoy as an appetizer. Dave finished off all but the one that I stole. I'm not a huge mussels fan, so the one I ate did the job for me. Instead, I used his garlic bread and dipped in the alehouse sauce while he worked his way through the pile and we sampled the beers. It was delicious. Highly recommend the mussels there.

We then had sandwiches, because Dave really wanted their special sushi-grade seared tuna wrap. He would have gotten it if the tuna was offered as an appetizer, and as you know he's a fan of the sushi grade tuna appetizers in this world.  The wrap was filled with tons of tuna, so worth the price. He used the wrap as a bowl almost and ate the tuna out of it with a fork. I got the lemon dill chicken salad sandwich. It was delicious, but I think the bread would have been better toasted. Lemony, dilly, chickeny, delicious.

I was enjoying my Kolsch and Dave was on his Old Brown Dog when a fine young gentleman approached us with a tray of sample sized beers. His name was Brennen, and he was offering samples of the Thaizenheimer to entice people into trying it. 

We'd had it in our flight but took samples anyway, always happy to receive offerings of free beer. Brennen told us that there was a brewery tour starting at 3pm but Dave wanted to sit and drink another beer before we had to head home. A brewery tour could wait. Enjoying the sample of the Thaizenheimer, I almost regretted having a Kolsch for a second... but I got over it. 

It was time to head home, but before we left I wanted Dave to take this picture of me. 

The sign says "slow" and it is an old wooden street sign from who knows where. I liked it, because I was sitting there with Dave talking, eating, drinking beer, talking about the kids, talking about the food, talking about the beers... and doing it slowly.  We were enjoying the day, the sunshine, the deck, looking at the people on the deck. A girl with very purple hair. A very old couple. A guy in the most orange T-shirt either of us had ever seen in our lives. 

It crossed my mind, that life should be lived a little more slowly sometimes. So I wanted to hold onto this philosophy for a second or two by immortalizing it in a photo. I don't usually have pictures taken of me, I don't like my skin tone and I'm fatter than I see myself in my mind's eye, but this was worth taking the shot for.  I'm not making fun of "slow" people, or indicating somehow that I think I am "slow" and that's funny. I just really want you to slow down, have a beer (or whatever you like to have... a Shirley Temple, a glass of chardonnay, whatever) and spend time talking with a friend.

I think this is what the shenanigans blog is all about at this point in our lives.

Go Ahead and Fall in Love with ... The Grill Next Door

This weeks Shenanigans brought us to a local place that I had no idea existed. 

The Grill Next Door is located in Haverhill, MA on Rte. 97 as you're headed north towards Salem NH. I was aware there was a brewing supply/darts store and craft beer shop at this location, but really never knew a restaurant was in that little group of stores... much less a restaurant with so many great brews on draft! Normally I'm cruising past at top speeds in order to get to tax-free Salem NH to buy essentials, and watching out for crazy drivers through that stretch of road.

Dave and I were welcomed in by the bartender, Brittany (didn't ask the spelling of her name so I'm figuring it is the traditional way). 

Taking a corner spot where we could see all the pulls and make our picks, we quickly found Dave's old index card in the boxes that they use to track how many different brews you try so you can "go around the block a few times" with the Grill... I started a card too. We'll be back, I'm sure.