Kate the Great Day!

A bit more information and an audio interview with Tod Mott in this link:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/03/06/nh-brewery-sells-out-of-kate-the-great-stout-beer-in-7-hours/

 

I'm in that photo - freezing my arse off in the black jacket and black hat. Sweet.

 

Bottle Rocket hardly ever seems to be on tap anymore.

 

QFT

Some other beers have gone missing too. I didn't care for when they started putting on guest beers either.

 

was hoping for the Flanders Sour, the Imperial Porter or the Cream Stout...darn!

 

Agreed. I still love the Portsmouth Brewery, but I really hope there will be a chance to expand the brewhouse someday. When I'm at the Brewery, I'm looking for a Portsmouth beer and I'd like to see more of them on-tap.

 

The issue is that they don't have the space to keep up with production. Keeping an IPA at all times was too difficult because people drink them so quickly. Towards the end of "the good ol' days" when there was alwys an IPA on, they only had 5 P-Brew beers on at times. The other issue with expanansion, is that there isn't any space to do so. As an example, around Christmas this year, a double batch of 5 C's kicked in under 2 weeks. If anyone has been there in the summer, you see how busy it is and how quickly the beer gets drank. They have to keep Blonde on at all times, which is the most popular beer volume-wise, to have an option for the domestic-seeking crowd, and that bites into the ability to keep an IPA on at all times.

 

I got in line as well at 8:03 must of been right behind ya somewhat.Too bad we didn't get a chance to say hello.My buddy seplo and I made it in with the 1st wave as well.Just missed sitting upstairs,so we had to go down to the LaPanza lounge and I'm glad it turned out that way.We had such a blast,my 1st kate day was a memorable one to say the least.Yes gary the accordian player was awesome,lol.Met a lotta cool people,everyone was in a fabulous mood and the service and food were excellent.Did a IP trade w/Joepais,(thanks for the Kate! you seem like a really cool cat)Cheers to the P-Brew and Smuttynose staff,always fun talking beer w/ them.
Cheers All.....

 

I hear all that, and I understand. It's a drag, but I'm glad if it means there are more P-Brew beers on-tap at one time. I'd love it if they somehow found more space next door or stumbled upon a long-abandoned subbasement or something, but that's wishful thinking.

 

You missed 5 C's by a couple weeks; that's a great IPA.

Brian from Seacoast Beverage Labs does a great job keeping the draft list updated on Taplister, if you were so inclined.

 

I understand the capacity issues, but saying the IPA gets drunk too quickly, yet they have to keep their best seller on tap at all times, seems like an incongruent concept by itself. If the IPA gets drunk so fast, wouldn't that be their best seller that they would want to keep on tap? I think you also have to consider the costs too - that blonde (and others that seem to be on tap a lot) probably costs a lot less to make than an IPA loaded with hops.

I can see not making an ipa in the summer months in favor of other tourist appealing beers, but odd to me that a brewpub doesn't/can't/unwilling to keep an IPA on tap, yet willing to tie up space for months for a beer that's popular one day a year.

 

Because then they would only have 5 beers on tap, and people would piss and moan in forums like this about there only being 5 beers on. You cannot make everyone happy, as is always evident on this site, you can only do the best with the space that you have. I am just telling you that the reason they no longer have an IPA on at all times is that it was hurting production and they do not have the capacity to keep blonde, a stout, and an ipa on tap year round. A positive outcome of removing the IPA's is that they have the ability to keep 6-7 P-Brew beers on tap and do a huge variety of seasonals. If it were about money, they would just charge more for an IPA and keep it on tap at all times, which I would gladly pay extra for. And if you think they should retire KTG because it ties up too much space throughout the year, I strongly disagree with your opinion.

 

and the reason they keep their "best seller" on tap, is that most people that come into the brew pub are used to drinking domestics. you cannot alienate the average patron because beer geeks and hop heads, like myself, want an IPA on tap at all times.

 

Im more interested in their IPA than a variety of seasonals.

 

I love the Bottle Rocket, but I also love the Gose (and Dunkel Gose), Ginga Ninja, Whipper Snapper, Thaizenheimer and so many other seasonals and one-offs. Bottle Rocket is a great IPA, but if space constraints force me to choose, I'd go with the greater variety (which sometimes includes Bottle Rocket) of rotating beers than a dedicated IPA and less beers on-tap overall.

 

I'm surprised that the most recent review of the Brewery is from 2/25. Seems many a Kate drinker would be in a position to post a review of the pub.

 

Fully agree with this. BR is a solid IPA but there's a million IPA's out there. I love seeing PB doing more obscure styles and taking advantage of the fact they are a brewpub and have way more flexibility than a production brewery. Seems to me whenever BR isn't on tap there is a guest IPA of some sort anyways.

 

I had a great time in line. Arrived in the garage around 5:45, gaffed off for a little bit and got in line around 6, right between two shop doors. I'm fairly sure people to the left and right of me were prominant BAers but I didnt know their names. I had two friends show up around 6:15 and the people between us and them didn't mind my friends moving up to join us. Pretzel rolls were great, as was the big pop over fresh from the over (really the only time to eat a pop over). Shot the shit with JLindros and crew who were at the corner (cmon guys, you got a hotel for cryin out loud and we beat you to line?!). The four of us were the second table seated and as luck would have it Lindros and his group were sat two tables away (a table buffer between us to prevent riff raffing).

Kate Day is an experience. Is the stout overhyped, sure. Is it worth getting in line that early? Probably not. That being said, the experience itself is worth it. Also, $2 for a glass?? Incredible.

 

I got there late, will someone post a pic of the $2 glasses?

 

Here's my question on Portsmouth taps - why don't they put the really interesting Smuttynose stuff on tap? I swear every time I go it's like Star Island, Shoal's, and Brown Dog. Maybe Finest. Why not the small batch stuff, or at least a consistent rotation of a Smutty Big Beer on tap? You'd think it would be no problem to always keep a tap with something from Smutty that would make it "worth the trip". As it stands I see better Smutty taps in Boston all the time.

Otherwise I hear you guys on the volume thing. Sucks, but it is what it is I suppose.