It’s almost time for the big NERAX festival in Somerville, Massachusetts. We’ve taken to calling that festival NERAX Classic to distinguish it from other satellite festivals NERAX runs or in which we participate.
March 24-27 are the dates and tickets are on sale now. If you know you plan to go, getting advanced sale tickets is an obvious choice to avoid the lines.
Last week I returned from the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester, England (I’ll comment on that trip in coming posts) and found to my pleasure that it was time for another Cask Night at Sebago Brewing Company.
Kai Adams has developed a pretty reliable and effective formula for this series, and it seems to be working. The house has been packed every time I attended. Sebago simply chocks up five Pins (about 5 gallons) behind the bar and serves with a gravity tap in each. They put one of their own beers on the hand pump. With about 30 gallons of beer in play the beer generally sells out in the one night, so spoilage is not a problem.
The concept is to run a Cask Night every month, on the night of the full moon. That’s easy enough to remember!
January’s event featured New Hampshire brewers. The lineup included an IPA from Smuttynose (6.9%) and another from Portsmouth Brewing (6.5%), a stout from Red Hook 5.6%), a German Rauchfest from Moat Mountain (6.2%), and from Sebago the Full Throttle Double IPA (8.2%)and the Runabout Red Ale (5.0%).
All the beers were in great shape and showed well, with just a bit of cloudiness here and there. My favorite was the Bottle Rocket IPA from Portsmouth, a real treat in the cask version.
Watch for Cask at Sebago!
For those looking for an alternative to the Maine Brewers Festival, NERAX North is just down the road in Haverhill, Ma.
Our opening last night was a great success, with attendance up 50% over the same night last year. More important, the beers are terrific – just two of the 30 cask ales on the stillage needed another day to settle, and we expect them to be ready today.
We have fifteen British beers presenting the range of traditional cask ale styles, and we have fifteen American interpretations of the same styles. Comparisons are fascinating. One cool trend to watch is the way British brewers are picking up American hopping styles and adapting them to their own beers.
I’ll get back tomorrow with some tasting notes…
Anyone who came by to NERAX at Novare Res last weekend knows that the first ever Cask Ale festival in Maine was a spectacular success. The 42 cask beers were in superb condition, and Novare Res turned out to be a wonderful venue. People left very happy… In the words of big Arnie, “We’ll be back…”
The cask fun goes on. Tomorrow, 2 November Sebago Brewing is launching their Cask Ale program with a mini-festival at their Old Port pub. There will be five cask ales in Pins on the bar. I’ll be there!
Finally, NERAX North opens up next Thursday in Haverhill Mass. All the beers are there, we set them up yesterday. 30 cask ales, 15 Brit and 15 American. Who could ask for more?
This is a very good time for Cask Ale lovers in Portland. Next weekend, beginning on Friday, Oct 23, Novare Res in conjunction with NERAX is presenting a cask ale festival in the Old Port.
This is the first NERAX festival in Maine, and quite possibly the first cask ale festival ever in Maine. We will have 30 cask ales, 10 British, 10 German, and 10 American. Well, maybe a few more American…
We’ve been a long time putting this together, not without challenges, but we think this will be a spectacular experience and perhaps the beginning of a long term relationship between cask ale and beer lovers in Maine. Sorry for the pomposity, but we’re really excited about this event.
Novare Res opens at 3:00pm on Friday. Entry is $10 which buys a festival pint glass and your first pint.
The bounty of cask ale doesn’t end there. Sebago Brewing is launching a cask program at their Portland pub on November 2. They plan to offer 5 cask ales. Their intent is to offer cask ale on an ongoing basis at their pubs. This is good news indeed!
The other day I stopped by RSVP to pick up some provisions for the ‘western outpost’.
The first news is they are blowing out Winter beers. $7.99 for twelve packs of Geary’s Winter or Shipyard Brewers Choice Brown Ale. These are respectable beers. The prices are unbeatable. I hauled off several cases.
I also came away with three beers to try, the Guiness 250 Anniversary, the Sierra Nevada Harvest 2009, and the Geary Imperial IPA, which I’ve never had in bottle.
The Guiness was a big downer. Apparently it’s a special brew to celebrate their anniversary, so I was expecting a blow-out stout. This beer is very, very smooth, with a warm mouthfeel. There is not much finish, and not much roasted burn. It is very smooth, very soft. It’s actually a very pleasant dark beer.
The Sierra Nevada Harvest 2009 also surprised me, but quite pleasantly. They advertise their use of New Zealand hops, which reminded me of a pleasant drive through the hop growing region of Tasmania. Having said that, I have no idea whether the terroir matters in Hop viticulture.
The Harvest 2009 is a very pleasing drink, soft and flavorful. Yes it’s hoppy, but this is another comfy beer.
Finally, the Geary’s Imperial IPA. I’ve had this before, but not in bottle. This is a good beer. It’s smooth up front and quite malty. It’s 8.2%, another of those beers that pat you on the head while you’re drinking them, then come back and whack you on the head with a cask mallet.
Last Thursday in Portland was a good day for fans of David Carlson and Marshall Wharf Brewing Company.
The Great Lost Bear featured Marshall Wharf in the weekly Microbrew Showcase. On offer were the Cant Dog IPA, the Brown Ale, Illegal Ale-ien, and the Hefeweizen, all at the usual bargain prices. This was a wonderful line-up of beers – on this evening I thought the Hefeweizen got the special nod. Kudos to The Great Lost Bear… after all these years The Bear remains the place to be on Thursday night.
At the close of festivities a small party adjourned to Novare Res where Eric Michaud tapped a keg of the Marshall Wharf Barley Wine, T2R9. The beer is named after a territory near Belfast… There is a reason for that, but after drinking Marshall Wharf beers all night, who remembers?
The T2R9 is a very special beer. At 11.5% one expects a monster; it is anything but that. Like all of the Marshall Wharf beers this one is beautifully balanced, and drinks well below the alcohol level. The malt and hops are present for sure, but there is no aggressive flavor attack, no awkwardness at all.The impact is huge, smooth mouth feel and soft, luscious flavors. There are no elbows to this beer, it’s all curved and rounded.
There won’t be much of this beer around, so try it any chance you get. I doubt there is any left at Novare Res, but it’s worth inquiring after. This beer alone would justify a trip to Three Tides Inn in Belfast.