Beer Terrain

Best Locally Sourced Beers of 2013

2013-12-31T08:24:00.000-08:00

1. Hugh Malone, Allagash

2. Vinland Two, Mystic

3. Hopulence, Wormtown

4. Baby Rhino, The People's Pint

5. Harvest IPA, Northampton Brewery

6. CBC2, Cambridge Brewing and Craft Beer Cellar

7. RIPL Effect, Jack's Abby

8. Total Eclipse, Brewmaster Jack

9. Five Mile Hop Harvest, Ipswich

10. Mongrel Red, Watch City

11. Stock Ale, Stoneman and People's

12. Smoking in the Valley, Cambridge Brewing

13. Dippity Do Brown Ale, Throwback Brewing

14. Soleil French Saison, Brewmaster Jack

15. Hop Session CH Evans

2013-12-26T17:40:00.003-08:00

Beer Terrain visits Mystic Brewery

The Chelsea Record has the story

2013-12-13T07:02:00.002-08:00

At The People's Pint. Alden Booth taps a firkin of local session rye IPA called Baby Rhino. Very memorable evening, as they all are at The Pint.

2013-12-13T06:55:00.000-08:00

Great story on Wormtown and Rapscallion with a few words from yours truly. Not everyone understands: Local is fresher and therefore better.

Click here for the full story

Beer Terrain review in Sturbridge Times

2013-12-11T19:01:00.001-08:00

Read The Sturbridge Times

Local author Richard Morchoe's blog.

A Firkin Good Time

2013-12-04T06:33:00.004-08:00

What could be better than fresh ale made with local ingredients? How about cask conditioned ale made with local ingredients. Oh yeah.

One of the great things about exploring the region's beer terrain is getting to meet others along the path. My good fortune in finding a warm and enthusiastic reception to my work has been the fuel keeping me rolling from book store to brewpub and on to the local library sometime in January. For the specifics see this post.

Beyond that lies the next book. A handful of thoughts have been vying for my attention. It seems logical to continue documenting beer from here as season after season New England farmers produce more and more of the stuff brewers crave: unique ingredients that invoke their land and climate.

But maybe I should focus on cask conditioned beer instead. When I think about how environmentally sound it is to put beer in a cask instead of bottles or cans or kegs for that matter, I realize this is an important topic to me. Also, I enjoy a cask conditioned beer better than beer from any other delivery method. Now I know I'm really on to something.

See how they glow: the brewers at NERAX North.

So when I got the very kind invitation to attend the industry session of the New England Real Ale Exhibition, North chapter, or NERAX North, I made sure to attend. Mid November, the tour began. The night before I'd had a book signing at Peppercorns in Worcester, home of Wormtown Brewing. Intending for the event to last an hour, I was there until the kitchen closed. The night was resounding success and the beers I tasted shared in common clean and delicious flavors, as well as Massachusetts grown ingredients.

A flight of Wormtown at Peppercorns

So it is without complaint, and with a smile on my face, that I note how tired I was the next afternoon when I navigated 495 to its end near the New Hampshire border. This evening may very well have been my first ever in Haverhill where dark brick buildings line Washington Street and the sound of the rushing Merrimack River competes with a cold wind in my ears.

Up the stairs in the front hall to the third floor of the Barking Dog pub I found my happy place. The large open room seemed empty at first, though a cluster of conversations came from the bar. Near the door, jotting on a clipboard I found Randy Baril, Head Cellarman.

Randy, who also purchased a few copies of Beer Terrain for the Homebrew Emporium shelves, invited me here and planted a bug in my ear about cask as a possible book subject. I told him how, ten to fifteen years ago, I'd come up with the idea myself. Back then I was enjoying Gritty's Best Bitter on cask as often as I could.

My collaborator and I would also hit The Coat of Arms in Portsmouth for the beer engine offerings there circa 1998. A great one is the Hampshire Special Ale (HSA) from Geary's.

Randy welcomed me, and as a true gentleman would, he ushered me straightaway to the bar where I was filled with awe, as if I were standing at the base of Mt. Rushmore, or atop a skyscraper.
There before me, a wall of firkins as pretty as a stable of racing ponies, all draped in grey blankets, towered over me. Along the temporary plywood bar, a row of more than 20 beer engine handles made me pause. I am so small.

I perused the tags for a place to start and chose the first likely local ingredient brewer I saw – Night Shift. I received a quarter pint of an ale made with Valley Malt rye and agave nectar. Dr Funkmeister himself, Brettanomyces, played an important role in the lambic flavors drifting over my palate. A touch of tartness, with the crispness of rye and a considerable amount of residual sweetness combined to wet my whistle. A moment later, I ordered again.

Randy noted that the Harpoon IPA on hand was dry hopped with Cascade grown by the Harpoon Brewmaster. This beer has been in the stable of bottles available almost everywhere in New England and beyond for quite some time. When the choice at a gas station is Harpoon IPA or Some Yellow Fizzy Thing With a Bad After Taste, I feel pretty good about life these days. I just flat enjoy it every time. Here, on cask and made with local hops, expectations rose. I was not disappointed.

The usual malty balance to the hop tingle was present, but in this quarter pint, I found the extra freshness, the tangerine zest of a ripe Cascade.

Those were the highlights from the native terrain and made this evening doubly special. But I also enjoyed a Frye's Leap IPA by Sebago and a Baxter IPA. The best of these non natives was the Portsmouth Brewery Whipper Snapper.

Martin Ogley of England spoke about his all-cask operation, Elland Brewery. I had the pleasure of speaking with him, as well as Alastair Hewitt of Mystic Brewery. Hewitt, with his British background, has helped Mystic, a Belgian/American style brewery, fashion some of the finest English influenced beers around.

Finally, I had the great pleasure to meet Todd Mott, former head brewer of Portsmouth Brewing and owner of Tributary Brewing Company due to open in 2014. Mott, by the way was the original brewer of Harpoon IPA, making him a legendary figure in these circles. His take on that status: "I'm just a brewer." Also, Mott followed my boss Sean Navish at Portsmouth. So we had plenty to talk about.

This small world stuff makes me feel warm and fuzzy, I have to admit. But it speaks to the perfect environment in this industry for a tightening of the economic loop of trade from farm to table and back to farm as compost and animal feed.

Yes, I think the beer terrain needs more exploring.

2013-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Click here for full story

Watch City Book Signing Dec. 1 and Saying Goodbye to a Red Sox Fan

2013-11-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Somehow, this time of year, when the days are growing shorter like an aging relative, and the clock seems to quicken as I merge into rushing heavy traffic on the pike, I stumble onto some way to feel more hopeful.

On this late October day, with the Red Sox on their way to their third world series in ten years, and myself on the way to visit a Sox fan who spent almost all of her 99 years on the North Shore rooting with all her might and didn't get her first championship season until she was 90, I pass right through Waltham.

In fact, anytime you go from the pike to 128 north, you pass within five minutes of a place I have far too often rushed by - Watch City Brewing.

If only I'd ever met Kelly McKnight before, you can bet I'd have worn out some treads on exit 26. And on this day it's pure good fortune to pick her brain when I amble in for a bite and a cup of cheer.

Yours truly at Watch City Brewing.
In my hand, a local harvest preserved as liquid.

The bartender stops to see what she can bring for me and I ask which beers have local ingredients. Now here's the great thing about a brewpub, knowledge of the beers on tap. So I am not surprised to get the run down of three native brews on this day made with local malt or hops and one other made with local pumpkins. Another great thing about brewpubs is seasonal beer during the season. Winter flavors can wait.

I order the Mongrel Red IPA which gets the bartender's approval. This beer has been wet hopped with hops grown in Weston at Gateways Farm, which as it turns out is on the National Register of Historic Places. You may have seen the red barn from the turnpike. Fitting, of course for a farm, in operation since 1705, to be growing the traditional New England crop of hops. This is happening more and more all over the northeast and thinking about that brightens my mood considerably.

Probably as a result of me peppering her with questions, I learn that I am speaking with none other than the brewer herself, Kelly McKnight. Turns out she's filling in for the regular bartender. Once again, on this journey through the native beer terrain, serendipity steps in and provides more and better than I expect.

As I enjoy the nutty, friendly wholesome flavors of the Mongrel, McKnight describes some of then ingredients. The fresh hops are Cascade, and the smooth, English style malt profile comes partly from the London ale yeast.

Given that Waltham's water comes out of the Quabbin Reservoir, McKnight says the relative softness is perfect for Belgian style brews, but for English, where the hops should be pronounced, she adds brewing salts to mimic English water sources. The effect is similar to table salt, as she explains it. "It brings out the flavors," she says.

I swirl a sip around and under my upper lip to get a spicy tingle of hops with a hint of mineral finish.

The Mongrel, which is light in body, but deep in color has a very slight cloudiness to it, only discernible when I peer long into the glass held up to a light. McKnight says that all her beers are unfiltered. Check another box of approval in my mind. "Unfiltered beers are healthier," I say, referring to the latent proteins and vitamins that too many breweries filter out of their brews.

The natural connection between brewer and farmer makes it easy to talk. For example, I grow black walnuts, and McKnight is undertaking the daunting task of making black walnut beer, which first requires removing the husk. This process can blacken your hands for weeks, since the husks have historically been used as wood stain and fabric dye, famously for Confederate uniforms during the Civil War.

As we commiserate over this task without shortcut, I move right down to the bottom of my glass. With more beer than I can safely drink and still navigate the beltway, I ask for just a taste of the Hops Explosion, their house IPA, but this time dry hopped with some of that Cascade harvest from Gateway Farms. This is solid, well balanced beer of the kind I find hard to put down.

Having never had the regular Hops Explosion before, I cannot tell how much the dry hops punch it up, but I am sure ordering a whole pint of this will lead to another. I need a beer that will make things just a little easier when it's time to get up and walk away.

Fenway Fungo Scottish Wee Light ale promises to be gentle with me, so I go for one of those. And besides it's malty emphasis and Valley Malt ingredients, (including smoked oats!) proves a good showcase for locally grown grains. Velvety and comforting, like a peaty, smoky, Scotch whisky and water, I swish some along the roof of my mouth to catch a flash of yeasty funk and toasty oat flavor.

I guess the hops used here are Kent Goldings, and I am close. McKnight says she used U.S. Goldings to achieve a flowery, peppery highlight. Less than four percent alcohol, but so much comforting goodness in it that I feel relaxed enough to deal with another hour of aggressive drivers.

Not only does Watch City make great beer with great local ingredients, but the brewers, McKnight and Lee Lord, are friendly and down to earth. Not that I am surprised anymore at the open welcome I receive whenever I encounter someone working with local farm products, but I am always aware of the fact that the people I have been writing about all share the common trait of being some of the coolest people I've ever met. That, plus great beer, makes this project pretty special.

So thanks, Kelly and Lee, I'll see you the Sunday after Thanksgiving at 7pm and I'll bring some books.

http://watchcitybrew.com

2013-11-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

Beer Terrain: Field to Glass from the Berkshires to the Maine Coast is now available at the following places:

Book Stores:
Longfellow Books, Portland, Maine
Tip Top Country Store, Brookfield, MA
Booklink, Northampton, MA
Readmore Books, Taunton, MA
Vermont Bookshop, Middlebury, VT
Hero's Welcome, North Hero, VT
Bookends, Winchester, MA

Homebrew shops:
Strange Brew, Marlboro, MA
Homebrew Emporium, South Weymouth, MA, Cambridge, MA, Renssaeler, NY, West Boylston, MA

Breweries:
Mystic, Chelsea, MA
Brewmaster Jack, online
The People's Pint, Greenfield, MA
Rapscallion, Sturbridge, MA
Treehouse, Brimfield, MA
Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH

Beer Stores:
Julio's, Westborough, MA
Craft Beer Cellar, Belmont, MA, Newton, MA, Westford, MA, Winchester, MA

Restaurant:
Salem Cross Inn, West Brookfield, MA

Book signings:
Dec. 1 Sunday, 7pm at Watch City Brewing, Waltham, MA
Dec. 7 Saturday, 4 to 7pm at Provisions, Northampton, MA
Dec 12, Thurs, 5pm at The People's Pint, Greenfield
Dec. 13 Friday, 5pm at Mystic Brewery. Chelsea, MA
Dec. 21, 3pm Craft Beer Cellar in Newton, MA
TBA in Jan. Jack's Abby, Framingham, MA and Merriam Gilbert Library, West Brookfield, MA

See you around.

2013-11-05T13:52:00.002-08:00

Mystic Vinland Two, above and below. Some fine suds made with native yeast cultivated from the skin of a lowbush blueberry.

Now available at Mystic Brewery. Book signing Dec. 13 5pm

Below is a beer Chris brought over from his trip to Iceland. Outstanding and sustainably brewed, but not sure about specifics.

Harvesting a paperback

2013-10-21T05:42:00.002-07:00

Homebrew made with wild hops transplanted to my backyard where they grow up a swing set.

After a long Indian summer, mid October is here bringing low gray skies. The filtered sunlight makes the reds, oranges and yellows seem like campfire without heat on this finger numbing day. My collaborator and I head west on Route 9, which always has pleasant connotations. When we turn right out onto the Old Ware-West Brookfield Highway, we generally are headed for fun. First of all, the drive itself threads through the flatter areas of a hilly terrain, passing harvested fields, some planted for winter, some naked earth. Barns catch my eye. Falling in or spanking new, they always seem to look good. Then, across an open space where the curtain of trees draws back wide, the roll and feminine slopes and rounded hammocks show off their dresses of quilted forest.

Mixed feelings? To say the least. Summer was all peach juice and garden mania - the celebration of life unending. And now, the letting go. Still I've seeded hardy greens, stubbornly refusing to start into the frozen supply of August bounty.

And the book. A biannual garden itself, this story was two years in the telling from research to proposal, to shopping for publishers, to writing it, to finding an editor, to losing my publisher, to publishing on demand, and now I have to sell it. Am I looking forward to a cold season of shameless self-promotion and sales pitches? Aw, no.

But on that note, several independent book sellers have shown interest and so far it is in stock at Booklink in the Thorne's department store in Northampton, MA and Tip Top Country Store of Brookfield, MA. Also, of course, on Amazon. The price is $18 online. You get a $3 discount when you buy it from a human at a real store.

I guess that's why I'm a bit jumpy on the approach to the Young Men's Club of Hadley where Valley Malt hosts an annual Barley Fest. Then I see Andrea Stanley, maltster extraordinaire and she is glowing with pride and joy. I am welcomed warmly and invited to put a few books (that my collaborator said I should bring with us) out for sale. Now I am feeling more at ease.

Then there is the beer and food. Being a big fan of strapping on the feedbag and slurping down the suds, I sometimes settle for anything that can hold hot sauce to eat and a mainstream beer to rinse it down. Here we have a list of about a dozen beers, all made with local malt. The food choices are barbecue or pizza. Both options feature locally grown ingredients. Naturally we ate two pizzas and a pulled pork sandwich. Supporting local farms is very delicious.

Left: a Trillium New England Red. Right: Jack's Abby Mom n Pops Wet Hops

Meanwhile, the band Fat Bradley assembles their sound. Kids in years and kids at heart take over the ball field in a raucous pick up game. I wander out back to gaze at the neighboring farm. After speaking with Justin from Stoneman where beer CSA's are offered, Ben of Wormtown who puts local ingredients in every beer he makes, and Chris of Notch who bucks trends but supports this one, my thoughts drift back over a season of beer from here. Just one more look back before the coming frost.

Wild primrose still blooming in front of a quintessential barn.

Beer making at Barley Fest. The gentleman
facing the camera has a copy of Beer Terrain under his arm.

Portable wood-fired pizza oven and work of art.

Between sets jam.

And what's more . . .

Suzanne can't resist a Harvest Ale at Northampton Brewery.

Mystic Brewing's Bryan Greenhagen holds a jar of native yeast cultivated from an organic
blueberry. Called Vinland Two, the beer made with this yeast won a gold at GABF.
This pic was dropped from the book for technical reasons I don't understand.

Self explanatory.

Pioneer Brewing's Hop Whammy made with hops grown by a customer in Southbridge, MA.
This has been Pioneer's fastest selling beer year after year.

The ebook has arrived

2013-08-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Field to Glass from the Berkshires to the Maine Coast now on Kindle ebooks

And Lulu

Coming soon to nook and iBookstore, as well as paperback at those internet outlets.

Hop Harvest and a Stray Dog Lager

2012-10-01T11:05:00.001-07:00

Ah, kid free! The rare liberty afforded parents when not one child, but both children have been dropped off for birthday sleepovers. Glory be.

The youngest's friend happens to live outside Northampton and we bee lined it for the oldest New England brew pub, the Northampton Brewery where they were pouring a Hop Harvest made with hops grown at Four Star Farms in Northfield.

Our happily busy bartender (on a Saturday at 2:30) explained that this was a brew based on the recipe of an earlier pale called Four Star Harvest Ale. Only this was an IPA liberally dry hopped for more aromatic punch. The varieties used are Galaxy, Centennial and Nugget.

A golden yellow color, clear around the edges, but hazy overall, this beer gets in the nose like the spray from a peeling orange. It has a fruity, citrusy zing and an upfront bitterness that leaves me wanting more.

The malt stands on its own in this hop infused glass, providing backbone and a hint of soft French bread for balance.

In my eagerness, I'd neglected to relieve myself of the road coffee when I first arrived. Now, with this beer pressing, I made my move.

Normally restroom ritual wouldn't work its way into the blog, but as we make special note of brewers who value all local resources, not just grain and hops, it becomes important to mention that this place uses waterless urinals.

Not only does this appeal to my yankee frugality, but it shows respect for the most important ingredient in beer-the water, of course.

With another Hop Harvest in front of me, my collaborator Suzanne and I checked out the menu. Lo and behold, this place also includes fresh produce grown within 10 miles at a place called J.O.E.'s farm.

According to the brewery website, this food is sustainably grown without pesticides.

A few pints later, we went around the corner to Provisions where I had to lick my lips to prevent the drool from running onto the floor. A man next to me made a grunting noise that was a mix of awe and happiness. I felt the same.

Having only two hands, I selected a six pack of Brewmaster Jack's Stray Dog Lager as well as a pair of Jack's Abby concoctions I will try later.

As I write, I have a glass of Stray Dog in front of me. Caramel color, with off-white foam, malt is forefront here lacing the mouth with a medium to heavy body and flavors of winter squash and Anadama bread.

I suspect the hops are of the noble variety, as they provide an accent of bitter herbs.

On the malt side are two-row, crystal and Munich. The Munich having been grown locally and malted by the one and only Valley Malt in Hadley. Stray Dog could easily pass as a top notch Octoberfest, or maybe it's the leaves blowing by outside my window that have me thinking that way.

2012-09-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

Notch Saison and Tree House Local Nugget

The bright sunshine slants lower on the sky as the first calendar days of autumn swing the northern hemisphere closer to the sun. Closer, yet cooler every day as the hours of sunlight shrink with each dawn.

All the autumn traditions kick in: picking pumpkins, eating apples, raking leaves and enjoying the recent harvest as it infuses fall brews with freshness and sustenance. Soon the season of Octoberfest will be here and Suzanne has her two bands practicing for outdoor celebrations in area towns.

Friday evening in our kitchen, the Luscious Lushes practiced for the October 13, West Brookfield Harvest Fest to be held on the town common. Beer will be served beginning at 11 am, but no word yet on what beer that will be.

Mando player and good friend Jeff, brought over a mixed sixpack of Notch Session, which peaked my strong interest since Notch is known to use local grain. He offered up the saison, brewed with Mass grown wheat malted in nearby Hadley at Valley Malt.

This farmhouse ale possessed an uncultivated yeasty aroma filled with spice notes. Pouring out a clean straw color with a very generous champagne head, the effervescence erupting over the top of the mug released intense citrus notes and bready warmth that got the palate eager to taste. The gentle bite of wheat malt accentuated the dry finish and was highlighted by another citrus blast, a cross between orange and grapefruit-almost pucker dry. I thought of that old pizza place standby, dry orange soda in the days before everything had corn syrup.

Coming in at 3.8 percent alcohol, I felt I could have gulped down two or three of these saidsons before I had a handle on its real character. So often a 12 ounce bottle leaves me unsatisfied. Yet, like the dwindling daylight hours, I was forced to savor and found myself swishing the suds between tongue and teeth.

According to the Notch website, their saison was "brewed to the original saison strength. This is the classic farmhouse beer. Originally brewed by farmers to slake the thirst of seasonal workers (les saisonniers), this refreshing beer had a lower alcohol content that is not often seen in today's modern saison. Notch returns saison to its roots, not only in alcohol content, but by using local ingredients much like Belgian farmers."

This beer came out in march and us hardly at its freshest seven months later. Yet the funky Belgian yeast seems to have kept working all that time as the lively flavor attests. Pils Malt and oats joined wheat malt on the grain bill while Mt. Hood and Styrian Goldings provided the hop accents.

From Tree House to Orchard

I used to think Brimfield was boring place, that is when the flea market was not in town. Another time things liven up is when the apples start to snap with sweet juice. Cool nights of late help to pump up the fructose levels and man, the trees at Cook’s Orchard (no relation, just friends) look impossibly full this year.

Plus top shelf musicians Livestock would be sharing the stage with local legend Dick Chase. On top of all that promise of fun, I’d just learned of a very small brewery on the other side of the town called Tree House. Open only one day a week, the 40 gallons or so available always sells out before the 6pm closing time.

First thing upon waking, I logged onto the Tree House blog to see what the weekly offerings would be. My pulse picked up a notch when I saw one of the beers available was made with locally grown hops. According to the photo of the blackboard, Local Nugget would be joined by Cascade, and Awesome Autumn Ale on tap.

This got my engine revving. I didn't want to dally and chance missing out on local hops.

Rising up the side of St. Clair Road, I knew we'd arrived when the narrow and empty street suddenly had cars parked on the side. Looking left, I spotted a nondescript wooden sign and several people milling about a koi pond and enjoying some relaxation in the deck chairs.

Inside the small red barn, several customers stood by the bar that was stacked with 750 milliliter flip top bottles. Three young ladies were busily filling the bottles but kindly offered to pour Suzanne and I a couple flights of the day's selections.

After placing our snifters on the paddles, Lauren recommended that we work left to right. This fit with the standard tasting format-lighter to darker. Wine tastings tend to go the same way.

On the other hand, I wanted the local hops to be first to my parched tongue, so I started in the middle. I was not disappointed. Local Nugget was thick with lupulin resin like a room with a freshly installed Christmas tree. Pow that's good.

Normally used as a bittering agent, this double IPA did not hit the back of the palate with a lingering bite like many will. When used as a flavoring and aroma ingredient, Nugget tends to be herbal. But here I was loving a floral scent on top of the plunge into an evergreen forest.

As we were sipping along, Suzanne gained permission to noodle around on one of several guitars in the room and Dean Rohan introduced himself as one of the proprietors.

After exhibiting shock that I would ignore protocol and taste my flight out of order, Rohan said the hops were grown in neighboring Warren by a Tree House customer. When he opened the bag, he said the hops "were the most gorgeous."

He added that they went straight into the kettle fresh and wet. I was not surprised given the aromatic density. Still a respectable malt backbone balanced nicely. This fleeting and tiny batch of native hopped beer was a great example of what locally grown ingredients can do. Nugget hops from Warren had characteristics unlike any Nugget I'd ever had, and far better. Why it's better is no mystery at all; local is fresher.

Rohan couldn't linger as new customers continued to pour in, empty bottles in hand or in boxes. A three legged retriever with a red bandana introduced itself next and made clear with wet brown eyes that it was the peanuts in my hand that earned this new friend.

Snifters drained, I asked for another flight, but learned it was one per customer. This being Massachusetts of the arcane liquor laws, I was not surprised. If I wanted more, and I did, I had to pay for a bottle. A $5 deposit on top of an $8 fill would be about normal for a half gallon, but for a 750, it was a bit steep. Still, my cheapness aside, this was truly a one of a kind beer and utterly worth the price.

As I waited for my order to be filled, I took in the view to the southwest which opens up over the little valley of Chicopee Brook and takes in a ridge line in distant Palmer.

Perched in a copse of trees, a little house worthy of a children's fairy tale nested about 10 feel above the ground. Near the painstakingly manicured koi pond an amusing little replica of a Hobbit hole sparked an image of Bilbo Baggins sitting in his pantry enjoying a frothy mug.
Meanwhile, Rohan and another Tree House employee had begun jamming with Suzanne which provided a rollicking show for the folks waiting patiently for their precious refills.

Finally, bottle of nuggety goodness in hand, we had to depart, and like everything else this time of year, our time at Tree House was naturally fleeting. But we'll be back.