The Able Ebenezer Brewing Company

 

I freaking love this place. Seriously great vibe and massive selection of their own creations. One of my favorite things to do is order a flight so I can get a taste of everything. Literally the best place in the area. The owners are super cool, welcoming, and fellow Vets. Consistently has live music even on days when you wouldn't expect it.

 

 

Cool place owned and operated by Veterans. Got there late afternoon on a Tuesday and it was very busy. Sox game on the TVs. Service was standard, good selection of beers. Got a cool t-shirt and some beer to take home.

 

 

A long, sad series of events found me by myself, taking the 4 PM tour at the Anheuser factory in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It was the weirdest and least populated brewery tour I've ever taken: along with myself, there was one tour guide, three sweaty Japanese tourists, and a large man who acted as an interpreter of some kind. The vibe was off. This is a giant production facility, and yet the tour was completely bereft of polish. That's not a bad thing. It seemed more genuine, actually. But I was't prepared to pick up any signs of sincerity within a facility owned by Inbev.

The tour was short. At its end, we were given two 6 ounce samples (the Bud wasn't even day-fresh). I downed them in about 15 minutes, but my tourmates were taking their sweet time because, hey, that's twelve whole ounces of beer, you can't go pounding that.

One of the beers I had sampled was AB's mediocre faux craft IPA--called Hop Weasel or something like that. The tour guide lady asked if I liked such beers. Sure, I said. Then she said, what you got to do is, you got to go up the road to Able Ebenezer. They got a really awesome IPA.

Okay, sure. I'll do whatever a stranger tells me to, sometimes.

Able Ebenezer is a little hard to find from GPS, but it's only like 5 minutes from the AB facility. It was the first warm-ish, rainless day in over a week, and so they had the deck open. The facility feels very much like a prefab house, replete with Ikea furniture and a needless bookshelf that was inexplicably filled with books that you might want to read.

There's a lot of Vonnegut-based branding, which I don't know how to process. Good, I guess? But still different.

The branding is very well done. Nice logos, nice beer names.

The staff was super friendly, as were the locals. It was about 5:30 on a Friday and there were maybe a dozen people wandering in an out. Two TVs played sports at a reasonable volume. All pints were five bucks (and all were pints, even the higher ABV beers).

The beers were all okay, but none were fully *there*. Like, the IPA was inexplicable: a grainy, weedy tea-like beverage that didn't taste bad but was just nowhere near what I look for in an IPA. Their smoked IPA was good, but I got the impression that the smoke was just covering up some off nodes. And their coffee porter, Kilgore, was great 80% of the way through but then ended on some cereal nodes that clashed with the rest of it.

None of these flaws were fatal, and I'm sure they're get straightened out eventually. Business seemed brisk, and as Merrimack is sort of a dead area for craft beer I wish them nothing but the best.

 

Very nice looking bar and I like the logo as well as the story behind it
Beers seem well brewed but nothing I would drink if offered a choice. NONE of the beers had any hop flavor.
Service was dissapointing at best. I walked up to the bar without a greeting and had to ask for a flight. The woman that got my flight went away and checked her phone so I asked the gentleman to cash me out because the lady was nowhere to be found. I wouldn't go back because of this. Really off putting. Someone came in looking for a growler for a birthday present for a friend who's favorite beer was Heineken. The bartender gave a confused shrug and proceeded to fill a growler with their double ipa. Again, not a big thing but there's nothing ever to bring me back

Cozy little place. Bags outside. Only 4 beers on tap - but quality brews. Only chips for snacks.

 

 

Able has great branding and excellent tap room. The staff is friendly and is a very comfortable setting. The beer has come a long way and they are getting plenty of keg contracts, so you can find them in most beer-appreciating establishments in southern NH. I am hopeful for more hoppy stuff from them and interested to see if they get into the wild/saison game in the future.

Swung by yesterday (13JUN15) for their 1st Anniversary party. Place is in a stand-alone unit on a quiet, side street off of the main route through Merrimack. It's a non-descript, white building with the main entrance on the left and two large garage doors to the right. The first of those opens up in nice weather to their tasting room, the second leads to the brewery itself. In through the main entrance gets you to their store, with shirts, hats, glasses, etc available. Head to the right to the bar/tasting room. The bar is on the back side, about 25' long, with seating for perhaps 12 or so. There are also some high tables with chairs, and a large couch near the garage door entrance. The walls had some of their beer logos, plus some patriotic artwork.

They offered five biers on this visit: Burn the Ships, Victory nor Defeat, Emma Wood, Auburn and Broad Arrow. I had pints of the first two, which were tasty and well made. Chatted a bit with Mike, one of the owner/brewers - a real nice guy. Everyone there was helpful and attendant to all the patrons needs. Prices were top-shelf, with pints at $5, a flight of 5 biers for $10, litre growler refills for $7 and 2-litres for $14. It was a rather enjoyable first visit. Prosit!!

4.24/5 rDev 0%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4 | $

284

 

 

 

 

I visited this establishment with my wife around noon on a Sunday. The place was understandably empty, which was fine by me. The bartender/brewer was very nice. Willing to talk to us about the brews, but also giving us the space to relax ourselves. The taproom was set up more like a bar, with various seating choices from stools to a leather couch next to an open garage bay door. It was all very welcoming. The bar itself was a beautiful slab of wood.
I ordered the sampler and then a 1L swingtop bottle to take home of the Broad Arrow. Not sure if they offer free samples as they allow you to consume on-site, which seems to be a trend gaining momentum around New England. Overall a great place with a quality offering of brews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stopped by this new brewery for their public open house this past Saturday. Big ceremony, lots of people and a staff seriously unprepared for a crowd. Beautiful taproom and gift shop with 2 dollar tasters and two sizes of growlers to go. Glass behind the bar shows the brewing area. I haven't heard how they plan to distribute, kegs, bottles, off premise? Beer was decent with the smoked ipa being the standout of the three that I tried. Looking forward to seeing more of these guys.