Windy City Whistlestop

We've been in the Chicago market for over a year and Windy City Distribution has done a great job representing us, but we'll occasionally dispatch one of our Field Sales Managers for some key events.

For American Craft Beer Week, which starts today, Smuttynose's two bass-playing beer salesmen, Joe Grotto and Pat Fondiller are hitting the streets at these great events:

Thursday, May 17th- Beer Under Glass at Garfield Conservatory
Friday, May 18th- Smuttynose Tasting at the Clark Street Binny's from 5pm-7pm
Saturday, May 19th- Smuttynose Tasting at the Marcey Street Binney's from 5pm-7pm (it's right near Goose Island's Brewpub and the Siebel Institute)
Saturday, May 19th- Smuttynose Tap Takeover at Jak's Tap, starting at 8pm.
Sunday, May 20th- Smuttynose Tasting at the Willowbrook Binny's, starting at 8pm
Tuesday, May 22th- Smuttynose Tap Takeover at the legendary Map Room, featuring Brett & I, Oak-     Aged Belgian Stout, Finestkind IPA, Old Brown Dog, Star Island Single and our award-winning Robust Porter.  Taps start flowing at 7pm!
Wednesday, May 23rd- Smuttynose Tap Takeover at Bigby's Pour House starting at 7pm.

Remember, you can see our full slate of events on our Events Calendar.

2012 Big Beer Series Release #2: Really Old Brown Dog

Shipments Begin March 12!!!

Really Old Brown Dog returns to the beer market beginning on March 12.  This malty, wood-aged take on an old ale is our tribute to Olive, our ball-chaser, squirrel-wrangler, and loyal companion of Peter Egelston, our Founder and President.  

Really Old Brown Dog was first brewed in 2007 and has become one of our fastest-selling and beloved Big Beers.  In addition to our two dog-themed beers, we also host a Brown Dog Pinup Page, to which you should feel free to submit pictures of your favorite pets or simply browse candid shots of other people's.

The beer itself is complex.  You'll taste malty character that's reminiscent of whole-wheat, digestive biscuits while tannin and vanillin notes add depth and complexity to the malt.  A final wash of dried fruits and port adds a lively third dimension of enjoyment for your taste buds.


Food Pairings:  If you're looking for a cheese pairing, blue cheese almost has to be the best option, due to the port character in the beer.  Roasted root vegetables or anything heavy on tomatoes are nice options for the non-meat eaters, while the carnivores on this list should try lamb or venison.

The Stat Box   

10.1% abv
20 IBU

Starting Extract: 20.5° Plato 
Finishing Extract: 2.5° Plato

Malts: North American 2-Row, Aromatic, Crisp Pale Ale, Carafa II DH, C-15, Carared
Hops: Sterling
Mojo: Port-soaked oak chips
Yeast: WLP-001 California Ale Yeast
Production Size: 200 barrels (6200 gallons)

Portsmouth Beer Week Rare Kegs

We've got a number of special beers being tapped during Portsmouth Beer Week.  To help you plan better, here's a short list:

Tuesday, February 28 at the TJ's IPA Tap Takeover, we'll be pouring Finestkind IPA and Big A IPA.  The hops start flowing at 8pm.

Wednesday, February 29 (Leap Day) brings around the annual J. Lohr vs. Smuttynose Beer vs. Wine Dinner at The Blue Mermaid.  Our line-up features rarities like Satchmo, Bourbon Barrel-aged Robust Porter, and the newest batch of Vunderbar Pils.  You will need reservations for this seated, pairing dinner.

Thursday, March 1 will see the new batch of Brett and I, on tap at The Press Room along with 2006 Wheat Wine and Vunderbar Pils.  The show starts at 8 and your cover charge goes entirely to (H)Eat.

On Friday, March 2, The Flatbread Company will be tapping a log of 2007 Farmhouse Ale at 8pm. 

There isn't anything rare on tap for Saturday's Pub Tour, but you won't want to miss it.  The gathering begins at 1pm at The Press Room and the groups depart at 2.

The River House's Brunchfest on Sunday morning will feature another log of Brett and I, in case you miss the Battle of the Bands.

The full details can be found on the official Portsmouth Beer Week website, run by the 2BeerGuys.

We'll see you out and about in town!



 

Devizes, Day 1

After getting into the UK, Dave and I took two trains to get from Heathrow Airport to Swindon, where we would meet Brian Yorston, Head Brewer at Wadworth.  Brian is both the man who'll get our beer ('Murrican Mild) into firkins and also our de facto host.

Wiltshire, the county where Devizes is, has a very old and very rich history going back to the Druids.  Brian has been an excellent host and tour guide, driving us all around the county.  Our first stop after the Swindon rail station was a cruise through Avebury which has larger, less-known stone circles that are older than Stonehenge.  Right after the center of town is this immense earthen mass, Silbury Hill, the largest man made hill in Europe.  It's 131 feet tall and covers 5 acres of space.  Like a number of things in this area, it's mysterious.

 

Our car trip ended at a Wadworth pub (there are about 250 of them and they are literally everywhere) called the Waggon and Horses, where we had our first pints of Wadworth beer and a traditional Sunday roast of British beef, carrots and parsnips, green beans, roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding.  It was delicious after a long trip.

The Waggon and Horses from the A4

Sunday roast, unchanged for centuries

After lunch, we arrived in Devizes and checked into or hotel, called The Bear (the name made Dave a little nervous).  It's only from the 15th Century but has a great pub full of Wadworth beer.  We strolled around town, had a few pints (all at Wadworth pubs) and then went to a local chippy for dinner.  It was greasylicious and it felt like we'd gone to the Gilly's of Devizes.  Then we slept.

 We met Brian at the brewery at 10am after a tasty breakfast that included delicious pork products and Marmite.  What began as a simple look around the place turned into a nearly 4 hour tour of the entire Wadworth facility.  We saw everything from their old coolship room and their massive cask racking plant to their lab, visitors center and 125 year old steam engine-powered brewhouse that will be used to brew 'Murrican Mild."  We'll share more info about it in another post, but the two most striking features are the open kettle (it's called a copper in the UK) and a tank that sits between the mash/lauter tun and the kettle.  Brian told us this odd vessel is largely pointless these days, but was used for adding sugars to the wort when brewers were taxed on the malt they used rather than volume or beer strength.  

The rest of the brewery was a complex of additions of buildings.  There were so many more incredible things we saw, a master cooper's work space, 100 year old brewing logs, new ideas for our tour at Smuttynose, that I can't possibly describe them all.  Fortunately, this won't be the last blog post, so stay tuned readers, the fun's just beginning!

Dave and Brian check out a square, open fermenter full of beer

This is the top of the historic hopback which will be full of leaf hops and orange peel tomorrow.

The steam coil of the historic open kettle

Wadworth's main mill is from 1932.  It's looks like an antique typewriter and is apparently built to last and last and last.

A small portion of dirty firkins waiting to be cleaned and refilled.

Two operations heads in their natural habitat, the tasting room.

Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty!!

This evening, Dave Yarrington (Smuttynose's Director of Brewing Operations) and I will shuffle down to Logan Airport to depart for a week-long business trip/beer geek dream adventure.

We've got a number of destinations, but our core destination is the town, Devizes (Deh-vi-zis), "Wiltshire's Hidden Gem."  This small town of 11,000 people is home to the Wadworth Brewery where Dave is brewing a single batch of a new beer called " 'Murrican Mild" that will be sold exclusively in JD Wetherspoon's pubs around the UK.  We'll tell you more about the beer in another post (here's hoping for abundant, free wi-fi), so for now,  I'll explain a little more about this trip. 

The Wetherspoon's pub chain has over 835 outlets around the UK and is known for low prices, long opening hours and for its strong support of British craft beer, a.k.a. "real ale."  In an effort to bring something unique to their chain-wide real ale festivals, Wetherspoon's began flying in brewers from around the world to brew guest beers in the UK for sale exclusively in their own pubs.  This is a pretty remarkable way to get a delicious, international array of craft beers that aren't imported into the UK and Smuttynose is very proud and excited to be part of the 2012 festival.  You certainly wouldn't say "no" either. 

I'm not sure how many years they've been doing this program, but I do recall some of the other brewers who've gone over in the past.  Tonya Cornette (Bend Brewing Company and only female winner of Brewmaster of the year at the World Beer Cup), Matt Brynildson (Firestone Walker), Toshi Ishii (ex-Stone and current Ishii) and last but not least, our friend Mitch Steele (Stone).  As you can see, we're joining a pretty great list of brewers and rightfully so (thanks Mitch). 

All conceits aside, this is great opportunity to represent not only US craft beer, but New England and New Hampshire as well. 

We'll be joined by a few other international brewers participating in the fest.  Kjetil Jikiun from Nøgne Ø (seriously, can anyone tell us how to pronounce that?), a brewer from Russia and Richard Chennells from Zululand in South Africa, with whom I graduated the American Brewers Guild Program.  While not everyone will be brewing at Wadworth, our paths will be crossing at some point and I'm sure that'll involve pints and pictures. 

Stay tuned for updates both here and on our Facebook page.  We'll be posting throughout our journey if you'd like to follow along.  Wadworth is one of the finest examples of Victorian tower breweries in the UK, so that'll be a particularly photo heavy post.

Until next time, Cheers!

Heritage Ave. Expansion Update 2/8/12

Though it's not the greatest picture in the world, you can see the completed roof extension for our newest expansion to our Heritage Avenue brewery.  Though you can't tell from this picture, we'll be craning in a total of five new tanks under this steel canopy.  The initial drop will be three 200 barrel fermenters and a 200 barrel bright tank while a fourth 200 barrel fermenter is on order and should be online for a busy summer season. 

We've installed some process piping underneath our horizontal bright beer tanks as well, so we're just really waiting on the tanks, which should be here in a few weeks from JV Northwest.

The next update will be the tank delivery and install which will be taking place right around Portsmouth Beer Week.  We'll look forward to sharing some cool pictures and videos when we've got 'em...

Robust Porter Recognized Again As Good Food!

We're pleased to announce that Robust Porter has won its second consecutive Good Food Award at the 2012 awards ceremony on January 13 at San Francisco's historic Ferry Building.  The ceremony was hosted by Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse and pioneer of farm-to-table cuisine.  The Good Food Awards recognize tasty, authentic and responsibly-produced American foods across eight categories; beer, spirits, charcuterie,cheese, pickles, chocolate, coffee and preserves.


This brings Robust Porter's medal count to six winning medals: two Good Food Awards, two gold medals from the Mondial de la Biere, one gold medal from the Cleveland International Beer Festival and one gold medal from the Great American Beer Festival.

Peter's sister Diane, Smuttynose's Left Coast Emmisary, accepted our medal and reported back that a beef brisket braised with Robust Porter, made by Wise Sons Delicatessen, was among the most delicious dishes at the Awards reception.  Diane was very gracious to represent us this year and we certainly appreciate it.


Smuttynose happily sends a big "Thank You" to Emily, Jen and the rest of the Seedling Projects staff for organizing and growing this great event.

2012 Big Beer Series Release #1: Baltic Porter

Shipments Begin January 9!!!

           It's finally Baltic Porter time.  Sure, it's a few months late, but this was the best we could do with a surprisingly busy production schedule.  How busy?  Here are a few numbers for you.  With the same amount of tank space as in 2010, we sold and shipped 37,556 barrels of Smuttynose beer this year, which reflects 28.6% growth from last year.  This figure includes both our FX Matt production (4500 barrels total), as well as the two or so weeks we weren't able to bottle beer during the installation of our new-to-us bottle filler.  

          In fact, the difficulties of the filler install were one of the causes of the delay in packaging 2011's Imperial Stout release.  The other portion of the Big Beer Series delays were the result of increased demand of year round and seasonal beers preventing us from over-lapping Big Beer production.

          Since Baltic Porter and Really Old Brown Dog are two of our best-loved Big Beers, the decision to push them into 2012 was very easy to make.  So without further ado, here is some information on the style of beer and this year's release.

           Baltic porters came into the world almost exactly like imperial stouts; 18^th Century British brewers found a lucrative trade selling strong dark beers to states along the Baltic Sea.  It didn’t take too long for local breweries in Sweden, Poland and Finland to learn to make their own versions of these strong, imported ales.  Following continental Europe’s mid 19^th Century explosion in lager brewing, Baltic brewers sought to streamline their production and began using these new, in-vogue yeasts in their dark beers as well and a new style was born!

            We’ve brewed Smuttynose Baltic Porter in a nod to the more recent versions utilizing the same lager yeast that we’ve always used.  One taste of its smooth roastiness and you’ll see why this black beauty is one of our best-loved Big Beers.

           

Food Pairings:  While Baltic porters, like many dark ales, don’t offer the pairing versatility of other beer styles, pairings that do work well are pretty spot on.  Write your shopping list to include oysters, ham, aged cheddar cheese and any sort of creamy dessert from your favorite vanilla ice cream to crème brulee or tiramisu.  You might even add a small pour to a molé sauce.

Stat Box

9.24% abv

35 IBU

Starting Extract: 20.8° Plato  Finishing Extract: 4.9° Plato

Malts: North American 2-Row, Munich 10L, Caramunich, Carahell, Carafa II DH

Hops: Sterling

Yeast: White Labs WLP-920 Old Bavarian Lager

Production size: 150 barrels (4650 gallons)

Just remember that your local wholesaler may not have the Baltic Porter during the week of January 9, since we simply include their allocation on their next order.  

Next up, Really Old Brown Dog in March!