Straw Barb, Big A, Scotch Ale and Keg Socials

Big A IPA (9.8% abv), Our international award winning double IPA, begins shipping on September 16. It'll be available on draft and in four packs of 12 ounce bottles. If you want a preview of it, stop by Smuttynose for a little beer shopping or a brewery tour.

Straw-Barb Short Weisse (3.5% abv), our strawberry rhubarb Berliner Weiss, has made it through the TTB approval process! Bottles will be available starting at Smuttynose on September 20 and the rest of the batch will begin shipping on September 23. The bottle conditioned 750ml bottles will retail for $12 at Smuttynose. Still no word on how the Jamie Bissonette collaboration beer is working its way through the system; we'll share updates when we have them.

Smuttynose Scotch Ale (8.2% abv) begins shipping October 7. Rich, malty and slightly smoky, this year's batch has a percentage of red wine barrel-aged Scotch Ale blended in. Shipments begin October 7, but if you have trouble finding our Big Beers, you can always subscribe to the series.

Other news:  We've been hosting casual keg socials at our new home in Hampton. They're nothing fancy; have a beer, take a look around and enjoy a civilized transition into the weekend. We announce each social over Facebook and Twitter a day or two before they happen. In fact, there's one tomorrow (September 6) at 4pm.

Raise the Haggis! Scotch Ale is back!

Exactly one week from today (on September 24),  Smuttynose Scotch Ale will begin shipping for the first time in four years.  Since 2008, we've heard a constant, yet subtle, din of voices trying to resurrect its thistled visage (I'm looking at you specifically, Martha).

If you're not familiar with Scotch Ales as a beer style, they're all about malt sweetness and smoke (at least in the US).  This has lead to a common misconception that all ales brewed in Scotland fit this description, though a closer examination of brewing history shows that Scottish brewers have always brewed a range of styles, including IPA as well as other lighter and more subtle styles.  History is interesting, but some details will always be forgotten; as such, you'd be hard pressed to find a traditional American-style Scotch Ale that doesn't use some portion of smoked malt. 

Smuttynose Scotch Ale is still smoky, though we've substituted beechwood-smoked malt for malt smoked with peat, the "traditional" American choice.  The change results in a softer smoke character that we prefer. 

Another non-traditional aspect of 2012's Scotch Ale, is that it's a blend of non-barrel-aged and barrel-aged beer.  Many moons ago, (all the way back in March), we brewed a small 30 barrel batch of Scotch Ale, which was then aged in red wine barrels for about six months, before being transferred into the main batch just before bottling.


As always, each wholesaler's Scotch Ale allotment will ship with their first order after the 24th.  We will also have bottles for sale at Smuttynose, in addition to a small number of brewery-aged 2008 Scotch Ale bottles recently released from our stash.  Feel free to stop by between 9am-4pm, Monday through Friday as well as during our tour hours which are Friday from 5:30-6:30 and Saturdays at 11am and 1pm.

The Stat Box  
8.2% abv
28 IBU

Starting Extract: 18.05° Plato 
Finishing Extract: 3.1° Plato

Malts: North American 2-Row, Munich, Carastan, Chocolate, Smoked Malt
Hops: Willamette
Mojo: Red Wine Barrel Magic
Yeast: WLP-001 California Ale Yeast
Batch Size: 200 barrels (6200 gallons)

Suggested Food Pairings:  Mutton, smoked fish, empanadas and, of course, haggis.  The malt character in this beer gives it the ability to stand up to spicy foods while the smoke character will pair well with other smoked flavors or with creamy desserts like flan.

2008 Scotch Ale & Really Old Brown Dog

Well, it looks like we’ve made it through the Summer of Sans Hops. We received our first shipment of 2008 harvested Cascades last week and it was almost enough to make this old brewer cry. The initial reports are of a bumper crop and it looks like we’ve turned the corner on the hop shortage. Of course the prices haven’t come down yet, but I guess expensive hops are better than no hops. Even though new hops are slowly arriving we’re still have a few malt forward beers lined up in the Big Beer Series.

Right now we have our Scotch Ale bottled and in the stores. This is a classic Scottish style ale which we’ve brewed with a touch of smoked grain. Last year we tried peat smoked malt, but returned this year to a beech wood smoked malt as we felt it added a smoother character.

Next up will be the long awaited return of the Really Old Brown Dog Ale. This beer was initially brewed in honor of our friend and mascot, the late Olive Francis Egelston. The original batch was more in the vein of a brown porter / old ale. We’ve revised the recipe to be more like an old ale / English barleywine. It’s fermenting away right now and smells amazing. We’re planning on finishing the beer with a few weeks on some port soaked oak chips. I have really high hopes for this beer and can’t wait to check out the blend of big malt notes with the port wood. As we head into winter here in New England I can only imagine how great this beer will be on a cold evening. You should be able to see this beer in stores by mid-December.

Cheers,

David