Portsmouth Craft Beer Long Weekend Celebrates Locally-Brewed, World-Class Beer

A significant portion of Portsmouth was built by beer.  Frank Jones Brewery, once the largest in America, left a long-lasting imprint all over town and exported large amounts of its beer to the UK, before the blighting hand of  Prohibition swept through the Seacoast.  By 1950, there were no local breweries in operation.  

Cut to 1991:   After a few decades of dormancy, brewing came back to Portsmouth when Peter and Janet Egelston opened the Portsmouth Brewery on Market Street.  Smuttynose was soon to follow in 1994 and together, these two long-serving Portsmouth breweries are providing the nucleus for the second Portsmouth Craft Beer Long Weekend, which runs from March 2-7, 2011.  This week of beer celebrations will peak with the Portsmouth Brewery’s annual Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout release on March 7. 

The last three or four years have seen beer weeks spring up all over the country, with Philadelphia’s being the largest, comprised of over 1,000 events.  These elongated celebrations seek to drawattention to not only the beers themselves, but to establiushments who support these bold brewers.  Portsmouth’s will be on the smaller end of the scale, but that just means there’s much more room to grow.  “We’ve got beer and food pairing events, rare keg tappings, and meet the brewer events,” says Bill Harris, Smuttynose’s New Hampshire Field Manager, “ we’re even showing a beer-themed movie, all in the name of sharing and promoting the world class beer that’s brewed right here in Portsmouth.  However, you don’t have to take my word for it,” says Harris, “come have a beer and see for yourself.”  The events will showcase many different aspects of craft beer: it’s versatility when paired with food, how well certain beers can age, as well as beer’s ability to bring people together.

Event Schedule:

Tuesday March 1st-Tuesday March 8th 

·         Smuttynose is taking over the taps at the Barley Pub for “Seven Days of Sin”  leading up to the Seacoast’s biggest Fat Tuesday bash on the 8^th.

Wednesday March 2nd

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      Smuttynose – J. Lohr, Beer vs. Wine Dinner at the Blue Mermaid:  Reception will start at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.  We’re pairing with J. Lohr Winery for another culinary throwdown.  If you want to see why beer is better with food than wine, call the Blue Mermaid for reservations, (603) 427-2583

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      "Meet the Brewers" at the Portsmouth Brewery.   We will have brewers from Smuttynose and the Portsmouth Brewery on hand to answer any questions customers may have.  Meet the Creator of Kate the Great!  Marvel at his bearded visage!  6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Thursday March 3rd:

 Smuttynose Rare Beer Tapping at the Press Room: Featuring rare and vintage beers.  A real live       Smuttynose brewer will be in attendance from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 Smuttynose Rare Beer Tapping at RiRa:  Featuring our current Big Beer and a selection from the vintage cellar.  Much like the Press Room, you can meet an actual Smuttynose brewer and ask them any questions, but dating advice will cost you money.  8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Friday March 4th:  

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      Smuttynose Rare Beer Tapping at The River House:  Vintage Smuttynose Beer with a tugboat view.  6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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      Smuttynose Rare Beer Tasting at Pocos Cantina:  Featuring 2011 Barleywine and something from the vintage cellar.  There’s a water view here and you can get a nice tequila back to go with your Barleywine.  8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Saturday March 5th: 

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      Smuttynose Pub Crawl:  We will begin by “Tapping the Barrels” at the Coat of Arms 2p.m.  Blue Mermaid, Fat Belly’s, Poco’s, The River House, RiRa, and The Press Room to follow.  We’ll be tapping three cask conditioned Smuttynose beers at the Coat of Arms-the most ever in Portsmouth!

Sunday March 6th:  

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     Smuttynose Beer Geek Brunch at the Chef’s Table:  An open-to-the-public brunch featuring Smuttynose Big Beers, vintage beers, and giveaways.  Who doesn’t love Baltic Porter with pancakes?  10 a.m.-2 p.m.

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      Smuttynose, Pizza, and A Movie: replicate your typical Friday night, but in public, with better beer and an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet.  The featured film is American Beer, a documentary about the ultimate beer run: 38 breweries in 40 days!  5pm-8pm  Please call the Gaslight for reservations 430-9122. 

Monday March 7th:

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      Kate the Great Day!   Doors will open at 11 and the first Kate will be poured at 12:30.  We have no idea what time lines will begin forming but it could be very early.  The Portsmouth Brewery’s Website has all the information about Kate the Great Day events.  http://www.portsmouthbrewery.com

 Smuttynose Brewery Tour:  We'll be offering a special brewery tour at 2pm on Kate the Great Day.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to receive visitors until around 1:30, but that'll give yo plenty of time to drink a glass of Kate before coming across town to see us.

We hope to see you out and about in downtown Portsmouth!