Smuttynose Short Batch #17: Herbaceous

Her • ba • ceous [hur-bey-shuhs, ur-] adj  1: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an herb

It’s that time of year again, hop harvest time.  And what could be better than a wet hopped beer?  Since the East Coast is about 3,000 miles from the hop fields, our access to these beers can be a tad limited.  Thirst no more beer drinkers; Smuttynose is ready to fill your pints with Herbaceous, our new Short Batch, wet-hopped beer!  

We’ve been talking about brewing a wet hop beer for several years, but the freshly-picked hops need to either be dried and baled or, in the case of wet-hopped beers, used in a brew within hours.  Getting hops from Yakima Valley was a daunting expense for two reasons.  One, we needed 150 lbs and two, they had to travel 3,000 miles as quickly as possible.  Well, the stars aligned this year, which means we snuck the overnight shipping charges past Peter while he was busy with the construction of our new facility at Towle Farm in Hampton.

His oversight is your gain, because the beer came out beautifully.  We decided to go with a very simple malt bill using nothing but Vienna and CaraMunich II, from Weyermann Malt, to brew an amber ale as the base beer.  Bittering was done with Magnum and we used Willamette and Sterling for the flavoring additions.  The 150 lbs of freshly-picked Citra were used exclusively for the wet hop-as- dry hop component that we felt was the best way to showcase the pungent essence of hops right off the vine.  The best way for you to showcase these ethereal hop flavors it to drink the beer as soon as possible, just not on your way from Smuttynose.

We've got 46 cases of bottles going on sale on Thursday, October 11 from 5-7pm.  There will be a two bottle limit and as always, we'll have Herbaceous on tap for you taste.  If you haven't been to Smuttynose for a Short Batch bottle release, please enter through our tour entrance located in the back corner of our building at 225 Heritage Avenue in Portsmouth, NH.

 

 Stat Box

4.35% ABV 50 IBU

Starting Extract: 11.6° Plato Terminal Extract:  3.5° Plato

Malts: Weyermann Vienna and Weyermann CaraMunich

Hops: Bittering: Magnum, Flavor: Willamette and Sterling, Wet: Citra from BT Loftus Ranch

Yeast: WLP-001 California Ale

Batch size: 30 barrels (46 cases for sale)

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.

Towle Farm Update 9/17/12

Here's a brief update on Towle Farm construction, but we should have more (visually) exciting stuff later in the week.

As of Friday, September 14, most of the work that has gone is site prep or behind the hill from what our webcam can record.

One of the first significant projects to be completed is the construction of two "ponds" on the backside of the property.  Unfortunately, these won't be for fishing, but they do serve a significant purpose toward minimizing the environmental impact on the surrounding land. 

In the above photo, you can see a trench with a concrete barrier at the end of it. This simple system is designed to collect rain and other surface water which will then be slowly dispersed through the slot in the concrete barrier.  Another pond is being built on the back side of the apple orchard.  According to the site supervisor, grass and other vegetation will be planted along the banks soon, which will be very attractive and give an early hint of completion.

If you've been checking the webcam, you've seen lots of dump trucks and excavators, prepping the site so it's stable, flat and ready for the building.  This stage isn't the most visually stimulating part of building a brewery, but it's obviously a vital step.  Geotechnically speaking, the back side of the land has been a bit easier to level out and prepare than areas near the front of the property, which have turned up lots and lots of giant rocks. The flattened land you see to the left is the future home of our warehouse and loading docks, so just imagine a sea of Smuttynose cases and kegs just waiting to ship out all over the East Coast!

 This gaping hole is right next to the barn.  There are still plenty of rocks to be pulled out of this space and plenty of digging left before reinforcing the ground.  Our visitor's center and offices will be on top of this hole.  Every member of the construction crew was excited to get all the rocks off the site, saying that it'll look much better and more like the final version.

This final picture is a draft rendering of what our water treatment plant will might look like.  The plans are still being tweaked, but hopefully the sci-fi look won't disappear.











That's it for now, but please stay tuned for more updates.

Cheers,

JT

Looking For Towle Farm Updates? Look No Further!

As many of you know, on August 16, we officially broke ground on our new brewery at Towle Farm after four years of hard work and planning. Over those four years, we've had a large number of inquiries about our new brewery but, until recently, we didn't have much to say.

Now that Smuttynose mark II is underway, we thought we'd let you all check in at your own leisure, through the magic of a webcam; just click on this link.

The cam is mounted on a pole just south of the historic barn and points directly at the front of what will become the main entrance to the brewery.  The silver tank you see on the back of the site is the collection vessel of our waste water treatment system.  If the camera were able to turn to the right, you would see the farmhouse, which will be transformed into a 95-seat restaurant pub.  You can see the house in its current location, as well its original basement in the photo below.  The basement has been filled in and leveled out so that we can build our fermentation cellar in its place.

Once the exterior of the building is complete, we plan to move the camera inside and aim it one of our production areas, to keep the content dynamic.  Until then, we hope you enjoy watching our progress!

*We'd like to send a special thanks to Mike McCormack of Sebectec, who installed and maintains the camera.

Smuttynose Short Batch #7, Redux: Strawberry Short Weiss

Smuttynose Strawberry Short Weiss, our take on a Berliner Weisse, is lightly tart, refreshing and incredibly drinkable.  It's also one of our staff's most beloved beers.

We'll be releasing bottles exclusively at Smuttynose on Thursday, August 9 between 5pm and 7pm in our tour nook.  Bottles are $15 each and we've chosen a four bottle limit to try and spread the beer around a little better.  Kegs begin shipping on August 20.

As the name implies, this style is indigenous to the German capitol and serves as a sharp contrast to traditional Bavarian weizen beers.  Traditional Berliner Weisse are highly carbonated, served in special wide-mouthed, bowl-shaped glasses and are packaged without flavoring.  The beer's light body and tart flavors are the result of a partial lactic fermentation.  The lactobacilli consume a portion of the wort sugars, creating lactic acid.  This accounts for the tartness and lightness of body, since the bacteria can consume sugars that brewers yeast can't.  We've chosen to add strawberries to our beer as a nod to the Berliner custom of offering a shot (mit Schuss) of either raspberry or woodruff syrup to the glass of beer.

So, why are we calling this a redux?

Our first Berliner Weiss was brewed in the winter of 2008 just as the "ice storm of the century" glazed a very large portion of the Northeast.  New Hampshire was hit particularly hard, with 400,000 customers losing power, including Smuttynose.  Our plan for the beer was to divide the batch in two, a small lactic fermentation and a large, traditional yeast fermentation that would then be blended back together.  Thanks to poor timing, we lost power right as the yeast batch was at the peak of fermentation, causing a massive temperature spike which filled the beer with headache-inducing fusel alcohols.  The large yeast portion had to be dumped, leaving only seven or so barrels of bacterial ferment.  Running a clever bootleg, our brewers added a healthy slug of ale yeast to complete the fermentation while bags and bags of organic strawberries followed a few weeks later.  The batch was kegged off and distributed with little fanfare. 

When our packaging manager asked about revisiting this for his wedding beer (Congratulations, Chris and Emily!), everyone who remembered the first batch got really excited.  We hope you'll get to try it and see why.

Cheers,

The Smuttynose Team


Strawberry Short Weiss Vital Stats

Starting Extract: 8˚ Plato
Finishing Extract: 1˚ Plato
5 IBU   3.7% ABV

Malts: North American 2-Row, Wheat
Hops: Saaz (for both First Wort and Whirlpool additions)
Yeast: WLP-300 Hefeweizen Ale
Other Ingredients: Natural Strawberry Puree, Lactobacillus

Batch Size: 27 barrels  (30 cases of 750 ml bottles, 121 5.2 gallon kegs)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Welcome, Tank 28!

Tomorrow, we'll be filling our newest fermenter, "Tank 28" for the first time. 
 

Tank 28 is the last tank in a third expansion of our fermentation cellar.  This most recent expansion cannibalized warehouse space to install a total of four 200 barrel fermenters and one 200 barrel bright tank.

Previous expansions took place in 2008/2009 (three 200 barrel fermenters) and again in 2010 (two 200 barrel fermenters and a 200 barrel bright beer tank).

The Craft Beer industry is growing by leaps and bounds. According to the Brewers Association, craft beer production volumes grew by 13% industry-wide in 2011.  Contextually, 2011 Smuttynose production volumes increased by a staggering 28.6%.  In short, we need more places to put beer.  But with ground breaking on our new home at Towle Farm on the verge of being scheduled, we’re not sure that this will be the end of expansions at Heritage Avenue.

Tank 28 traveled 3,183 miles from Canby, Oregon to Portsmouth, NH. It was built by JV Northwest with whom Smuttynose Founder and President Peter Egelston has worked with since they built the brewing system for The Northampton Brewery in 1986.  The fabricators opened in 1981 and they build equipment for food, beverage, and pharmaceutical companies.  

Here's a clip of the tank being removed from between two stacks of hottubs and rotated in mid-air:

 

New Hampshire's own WMUR-TV shared this nice photo montage, as well as a short video piece, which we weren't able to track down. 

Seacoast newspapers Foster's Daily Democrat and The Portsmouth Herald each ran articles as well.  We thank all three of them for their support.

Tank 28 Stat Box:

Height: 22.5’

Diameter: 9’ 10”

Weight: 7,200 pounds

Total volume: 8024 US gallons or 259 US barrels.

Working volume: ~200 US barrels of beer, or four batches of Smuttynose beer

If our working volume is 200 barrels and the cycle through the tank takes three weeks, then our new tank will produce about 3,500 barrels (108,500 gallons) of beer in a year. 

The difference in these two volume measurements is a necessary part of fermenter design.  Fermentation is a very turbulent process that causes large amounts of carbon dioxide to be produced and then released through the volume of beer. This violent gas production causes the beer to foam, kind of like what happens when you shake a bottle of beer before your friend opens it.  The extra head space allows that foam to form, while minimizing or preventing foam-overs, which are messy and cause beer loss.

We’ve had to make significant modifications to our building for each expansion.  For this most recent expansion, we had to lease off-site warehousing to make space for the tanks, as well as extend the roof height and install a portal, through which the tanks were inserted and will later be removed when we move to our new home.

July 16: Homunculus Returns!

The second release of our hoppy, Belgian golden ale, Homunculus, will begin leaving our warehouse on Monday, July 16.  Just a reminder that joining our Big Beer Series Subscription ensures you'll get bottles of each release before we begin shipping it to our wholesalers.  Here's all the information on this year's release. 

Smuttynose’s Homunculus returns to the Big Beer Series after a wildly successful 2011 debut.  Inspired by hoppy, golden Belgian ales, Homunculus’ prototype was a 2007 Short Batch Series release called “The Gnome.”  It was a nice tribute, but we needed a new name for the bottled version.  Not only is “homunculus” a memorable name, but it’s also synonymous with “gnome.”

So what is a Homunculus?  The term, Latin for "little human,” shows up in disciplines as diverse as psychology, alchemy, and biology.  As you can see from the label art, we were captivated by the biological roots of the term.  Before the creation of ground lenses and microscopes (circa 1600), medieval scientists had many theories that explained the origin of human life.  “Preformationism,” widely accepted at the time, proposed that each new child grew from invisible, miniature versions of themselves (homunculi). 

Enough genetics, let’s talk about the beer!  Like the label says, Homunculus is a hoppy, Belgian-style golden ale. A special yeast strain creates an array of fruity esters which complement the hop aromatics.  The simple grain bill of 2-Row base malt, German Carahell, and some cane sugar lends a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, a lightness of body.  Magnum hops are used exclusively at the beginning of the boil for a clean bitterness, while late boil additions of Sterling contribute a subtly spicy hop flavor.  We’ve already got the makings of one tasty beverage, but Homunculus' real moxie comes from its pungently aromatic dry-hopping.  Our brewing team selected Saphir, a newer German noble hop variety, as this year’s dry-hop.  Saphir contributes a clean, subtle aroma reminiscent of tangerines.

We'll begin shipping Homunculus the week of July 16 and it should begin appearing in beer stores, bars and restaurants not long after that, depending on when each order goes out.  

Stat Box

9.37% ABV

45 IBU

Starting Extract: 20˚ Plato   Finishing Extract: 2.5˚ Plato

Malt: North American 2-Row, Weyermann Carahell

Hops: Bittering-Magnum, Flavor-Sterling, Dry-Saphir

Yeast: White Labs Trappist Ale Yeast, WLP-500

Special Guests: Cane Sugar, to lighten the body.

Production Size: 200 barrels (6200 gallons)  

Homunculus pairs well with a wide range of dishes.  Its fruity notes will accentuate earthy foods like terrines and pâtés, sausages or hearty stews.  Homunculus also has enough acidity to stand up to white, creamy pasta sauces and grilled salmon.  For cheese courses, we suggest any variety except blue cheeses.

Short Batch Series #15: Rye IPA

We're pleased to announce the release of our new Rye IPA! 

Bottles will go on sale exclusively at Smuttynose on Thursday, June 28 at 5pm in celebration of New Hampshire Craft Beer Week.  We've only got 20 cases of 750ml bottles (see Tyler's excellent modeling job below).  Bottles are $15 each and come with their own brown bag.  We don't know how sales will be during the release, but if there are any bottles left, they'll be for sale in our retail nook, while supplies last.

The beer uses our best-selling Finest Kind IPA as template, but a few key changes make this beer quite different.

1) We tweaked the grain bill adding 30% rye malt and swapped Aromatic malt for C-60.  Rye adds a spicy note while Aromatic malt adds a more subtle flavor than C-60 but increases malt aroma.

2) We lowered the mash rest temperature a few degrees, giving the final beer less body and more drinkability.

3) We jacked up the dry hopping to four times the level of Finest Kind. You know what that means, big aroma in your olfactory.

See you Thursday, and yes, we will be pouring samples so you can try before you buy.

Cheers!

The Stat Box
7.0% abv
65 IBU
Malts: North American 2-Row, Rye Malt, Crisp Pale Ale, Aromatic
Hops: Bittering-Magnum, Flavor-Amarillo and Simcoe, Dry Hop: Simcoe and Amarillo
Yeast: WLP-001 White Labs American Ale Yeast 
Batch size: 25 barrels