California, Here We Come!

Smuttynose Brewing Company is delighted to announce their new California distribution partnerships with Craft Beer Guild Distributing of California (San Diego) and El Dorado Distributing (Signal Hill, CA, in the Los Angeles area) who will bring New Hampshire's leading craft brewer's beers to the West Coast starting in September, 2013.  Both distributorships are part of the L. Knife & Sons family of wholesalers.  The deal with these new L. Knife divisions makes California the 24th state where Smuttynose beers are available.

Smuttynose has successful, existing relationships with L. Knife family in Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky and Wisconsin, so the California deal includes a certain amount of
familiarity, but the newness of the situation creates an excellent opportunity for both brands brands to grow together.  "We've shown strong growth in other L. Knife markets and they certainly know our
beers," said Smuttynose Founder and President Peter Egelston, "I have faith that we will see similar results in the California market, even though it's a different landscape because we're both starting fresh."

The first Smuttynose shipment consists of bottled Big Beer Series releases; Homunculus and Rhye IPA, as well as three kegs of Cluster's Last Stand that are heading to Stone Brewing Co. Smuttynose's collaboration partner on the beer. Kegs of Finestkind IPA will also be heading to the Golden State.

Whether you're a New Englander who has moved to the West Coast or you just need a little taste of the 'Shire, please ask for Smuttynose beer wherever you shop.

We're Going To Michigan

Smuttynose Brewing Company is delighted to announce their new partnership with West Side Beer Distributing, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who will bring New Hampshire's leading craft brewer's beers to the Wolverine State starting in October, 2013. The deal with West Side makes Michigan the 23rd state (plus Washington DC) where Smuttynose beers are available. 

The relationship between West Side and Smuttynose didn't develop over night, but over several years of courtship by the largest beer distributor in Michigan. "Whether it was at big beer events like Craft Brewers Conference or just an email here and there, West Side politely and casually let us know they were interested whenever we were ready," said Peter Egelston, Smuttynose's President and Founder, "but being at capacity for the last four or five years meant entering a large, craft beer-loving state like Michigan was impossible. With our new brewery project almost ready to come online, I was excited to talk to West Side about moving forward."

Michiganders will see Smuttynose beer in four key markets; Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Romulus/Detroit. Initial shipments of Finestkind IPA and Big A IPA will be exclusively on draft for the on-premise trade, while shipments of bottle packages will begin in early 2014. Egelston cited West Side's plan for building the Smuttynose brand in Michigan as a key factor in making the decision. "We're really excited to add such a wonderful beer state to the list of places Smuttynose is sold and we can't wait to grow with West Side."

Initial roll-out events will take place October 9,10,11 when several key Smuttynose employees will make the rounds to introduce themselves and their beers to Michiganders. Details will be announced over Smuttynose social media.

Founded in 1994, Smuttynose is New Hampshire's leading craft brewery. In 2012, its 50 employees worked to brew, package and sell nearly 41,000 barrels of beer across 22 states and Washington DC.  After nearly 20 years in their original home in Portsmouth, the international award-winning brewery will move into its new, LEED Gold-registered brewery and visitors' center on the historic Towle Farm in Hampton, NH in 2014. 

Family-owned West Side Beer Distributors is the largest beer distributor in Michigan. The Klopcic Family's roots in the business began in Detroit when Don Klopcic, Sr. opened Don Lee Distributing in 1965. They expanded west to Grand Rapids in 1981, with the acquisition of West Side and have since added Romulus (2008), Kalamazoo (2009) and Lansing (2012). In addition to their beer distribution responsibilities, all branches of the business are very active in their communities and are proud to support responsible beer consumption and education efforts.

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.

Bureaucratic Purgatory and Short Batch Beers

For those of you following along at home, we've got a few Short Batch releases coming up over the next few months: Straw-Barb Short Weiss and "TBD."  Both of these beers have been delayed due to registration and approval processes at the Tax and Trade Bureau.  Here's the deal:

If a brewery makes a beer with ingredients and processes that are outside the accepted lists, that brewery has to file a "statement of process," explaining what other ingredients were used and how they've used them.  Once that's approved, the said brewery must then apply to register the label for the brand, which they have to do with all new beers.

In and of itself, this is nothing new; we've been following this procedure for years, but two changes outside of our control are really putting the brakes on the paperwork flow.

1) There are now over 2500 breweries in the country and lots of them are making beers with atypical ingredients and processes, so that means paper work queues and quoted wait times of 45 business days.

2) The federal budget situation has led to staff cuts and retirements at the TTB.

So with more work and less people to do it, these two beers (see below) are sitting in limbo.  Going forward, we'll adjust our schedule to accommodate the uncertainty.  We're sorry for the delays; we're really excited about these beers.

Beer #1: Straw-Barb Short Weiss;  Light, tart, refreshing, brewed with real lactobacilus, strawberries and rhubarb.  We expect this to be the first release and we've pledged to send this to the Great American Beer Festival, so our fingers are crossed.

Beer #2: A still-unnamed collaboration with Chef Jamie Bissonette (of Boston's Coppa and Toro) , which would have been the first "TBD" on the schedule.  A riff on a Belgian witbier, Chef brought up spruce tips, kaffir lime leaves and 25 pounds of grapefruit zest to add to a traditional grain bill and yeast situation.  You should have smelled the brewhouse that day...

So we'll keep you posted on the release dates as the evolve.  In the meantime, we're looking forward to Rhye IPA, which drops on August 19. 

Cluster's Last Stand Events in Western MA and New Hampshire

The Cluster's train rolls on! You can find our Stone Brewing Co. collaboration beer at the following places; all of which are wonderful spots that you should visit again...

July 25: Cluster's Last Crawl-Seacoast, visit some of our Short Batch accounts, pay as you go and join or bail as you please. Smuttynose folks will be out and about to drink and schmooze at some of our favorite ale vendors.
              5pm The Black Birch
              6:30pm The Portsmouth Brewery
              8pm the Press Room at 8pm. 

July 31: Cluster's Last Crawl- Portland, ME; Just like the one in Portsmouth, we'll stop in some of Short Batch accounts for a night of old school, hoppy goodness.
              5pm The Great Lost Bear 
              6:30pm Novare Res 
              8:00pm LFK 
              9:30pm Nosh Kitchen Bar

Aug 1: Julio's Liquors, Westborough, MA; 4pm-6pm, Smutty/ Stone Tasting and Cluster's bottle Release
Aug 1: Dive Bar, Worcester, MA; 8pm-11pm, Smutty/ Stone Collaboration night at the Dive (3 beers each on tap plus Cluster's)
Aug 7: Provisions, Northampton, MA; 4pm-6pm, Smutty/ Stone Tasting and Bottle Release
Aug 7: Northampton Brewery, Northampton, MA;  6pm-8pm, Cluster's Last Stand Cheese Pairing
Aug 7: Sierra Grille, Northampton, MA; 8pm-10pm, Cluster's Last Stand Tapping
Aug 12: Plan B, Springfield, MA; 5pm Cluster's Last Stand Tapping

We'll have more information about events in other places coming soon.  Please stay tuned...

Cluster's Last Stand releases at Smuttynose July 19 and goes to other places too...

So last month, Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Company joined us to brew 30 barrels of Cluster's Last Stand, a beer that recreates the original, right-after-Prohibition Ballantine IPA recipe, as found in Mitch Steele's, epic book on India Pale Ales.  You can see from the ingredient list below that Cluster's Last Stand truly isn't your everyday IPA, but we just drank some during the bottling run and it's just as delicious as anything out there on the market today.

Smuttynose DoBrO David Yarrington (L) and Stone CEO and Founder Greg Koch (R) mashing in Cluster's Last Stand

                             
We are releasing our small allotment of bottles at Smuttynose on Friday, July 19 in conjunction with our brewery tours.  We'll sell them until they're gone....  $9 a bottle.  We do take reservations for tours and bottles will be available for folks that don't take the tour, starting at 5:30.  That being said you really should see this place before we shut the doors later this fall.

If you can't make it to Heritage Avenue on Friday, there are other options. Boston's take place on the 23rd at Craft Beer Cellar from 5pm-7pm where bottles will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and then on to Lord Hobo for a keg tapping.  We're curious to see how long it will take to kick.  Smuttynose's DoBrO David Yarrington will be on hand for both events with Stone's Jeff Nelson and Smutty's Joe Grotto. 

Attendees at the Southern New Hampshire Brew Fest will also be able to sample Cluster's Last Stand at one of New Hampshire's best beer fests, put on by the good folks at White Birch Brewing.  It's on July 26-27.

More events are being planned and we'll keep you updated here on our blog.

8.3% abv  62 IBU's
Malts: North American 2-Row, Flaked Maize, Munich 10L, C-60
Hops: Bittering-Cluster, Flavor- Brewers Gold and East Kent, Dry Hop- Bullion
Yeast: White Labs WLP-001 American Ale (widely rumored to be the original Ballantine strain)

Rolling Out Indiana

Smuttynose Indiana Rollout Events

Cavalier Distributing of Indiana are kicking off their distribution of Smuttynose beer over the next few weeks with this brilliant slate of events.  It's a heck of welcome for us; these events are all over the state!  If you've got friends in the Hoosier State, please spread the word; Smuttynose is coming in a few days.

Wednesday, June 26th

The Liquor Locker

300 N Weinbach Ave

Evansville, IN

Bottle Tasting  4pm-6pm 

The Gerst Haus

2100 W Franklin St

Evansville, IN  

Tap Assault/Pint Night  6pm-??  

Franklin House

58 Campbell St.

Valparaiso, IN

Tasting  7:30pm-9:30

Thursday, June 27th

Keg Liquors

617 E Lewis & Clark Parkway

Clarksville, IN

Promo  5pm-7:30pm

Rocky's Restaurant

715 W Riverside Drive

Jeffersonville, IN 

Tap Assault/Pint Night  5pm-?? 

Pat’s Liquors

1 W US Highway 30

Porter, IN

Tasting  3pm-5pm

Constant Spring

219 S. Main St.

Goshen, IN

Tap Assault  6pm-??

Friday, June 28th

Bridge Liquors

110 Knable Lane

New Albany, IN

Bottle Tasting  5pm-7pm 

Diamond Jim’s

210 S. Main

Crown Point, IN

Tasting  7pm-9pm

New Albanian Pub & Pizzeria

3312 Plaza Drive

New Albany, IN

Smuttynose IPA, and Robust Porter will be draft feature all day.

Saturday June 29

Trion Tavern

503 Broadway

New Haven, IN

Tap Assault  5pm-?? 

Saturday, July 6

Beer Geeks

3030 45^th St

Highland, IN

Tap Assault  8pm

Friday, July 12

Nick’s Liquors

8103 Taft St.

Merrillville, IN

Tasting  3pm

  

Durty is back!

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2013 Smuttynose Short Batch Redux: Durty

At Smuttynose, we’re sensitive folk and we listen to our customers.  A lot of people really liked Durty when it was first released in December of 2012, so we brewed it again. Durty is a big, hoppy, brown ale that’s got caramel and biscuit flavors from malt and a counterpoint of piney, resinous hop flavor and fruity hop aroma. We did our best to repeat the first release, but due to hop availability (or lack thereof) this batch is a little bit different. That’s ok though, we’re still really damn happy with the beer and we hope you will be too.

Durty has been packaged in kegs and also a limited run of 22-ounce bottles. The bottles will retail for $9 each and distribution will be very limited. We’ll debut the beer at Smuttynose on Friday, June 14, during brewery tours. Shipments to wholesalers will begin on June 17, 2013. 

After Durty hits the streets, there won’t be another Short Batch until July, when we’ll release our first collaboration brew, Cluster’s Last Stand, an IPA brewed in the classic style of the  early to mid 20^th Century with Greg Koch, from Stone Brewing Company. More details on that soon, on this very blog...

           

Vital Stats

8.5% abv   55 IBU

Malts: North American 2-Row, Munich 10L, Chocolate, C-60, Brown

Hops: Bittering- Magnum, Flavor- Nugget, Dry Hop- Simcoe

Yeast: White Labs WLP-001 California Ale

Production size:  17.3 barrels (78 cases, 66 1/6 bbl kegs)