Exploring the Emerging, Community-Oriented Craft Beer Scene in New Hampshire

In the actually Sunapee area there is literally nothing. There is Henniker brewing nearby but they aren't anything special. Sounds like you won't be there long enough to make a little out of the way trek. If so I'd say the ride to either River Roost or Kettlehead is worth it.

Could check out Spyglass in Nashua on the way through. Haven't been there but have heard good things. There are 3 decent breweries as well real close to each other in Derry. Rockingham, Kelsen and From the Barrel.

There is a ton of breweries in Concord and Manchester just no blow your doors off. My favorite's in that area would be Litherman's Limited and Concord Craft (about 3 miles from one another)

Good luck

 

Flying Goose is right there. They have been improving recently beer wise. Decent pub food.

 

Agreed on From the Barrel mentioned above, really enjoyed the little I have had from them. Not sure if they have a variety or stick to mainly hoppy beers, though. Throwback definitely follows that "neighborhood taproom model" to a tee. Just a fantastic atmosphere to kick back with some decent not great beer and order some snacks to go with it.

 

Forgot about Flying Gloose haven't been there in a long time. Maybe the beer has improved since I've been.

 

Yeah. Used to be standard at best brew pub stuff, but recently they’ve been putting out some better stuff

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1788/105095/

decent rating example

 

One thing I've always noticed is the lack of identity of many NH breweries. Clip-art looking labels, no definitive style or niche, one or two good beers but overall meh. I don't really understand it. I've been more excited by expanded distro into NH from out of state breweries. That article mentions State legislation becoming more brewer friendly recently so hopefully things will continue to get better overall. Until then, ME and MA have plenty of great options.

 

I was all about Deciduous until after Dave left. If only making DDH IPA's and lactose kettle sours is making them $$$, good for them, but I'd love some variety of styles as well.

 

Some of my favorites from them have changed over the years, otherwise I'd agree.

 

100% used to be a big fan now I hardly drink them.

 

Thats already stared, vacationland is bringing some good Maine brewers in. But yes I run a Brewfest and can verify the NH liqour commission and laws dont make it easy. There is a lot on the books to change that.

 

I feel like Garrison City is pretty underrated personally. I've not had a bad beer from them yet.

 

Deciduous made one of my favorite beers I've had this year. Every Little Thing is Gonna be Alright, which was a collab with a brewery in Maryland I believe.

Pretty much agree with the Stoneface takes here. They have been super inconsistent lately. Their most recent collab with Garrison City was a pretty poor effort imo, and while I've had some great beers (1st batch of DDH Full Clip and 1st batch of DDH IPA), I've also had poor batches of both of those beers, as well as some of their other standards.

I have a friend who has been talking up Loaded Question to me lately, but I've not been there yet. Really want to try more Spyglass. Had one of their lactose fruited sours on tap and enjoyed it.

 

Reading through this thread, I had no idea there were so many breweries in NH.

My question is then, why don't they get more recognition? You can't argue it's because they're hard to get to. Tree House isn't exactly near anything, and Hill Farmstead both isn't near anything, and is not easy to get to.

I do feel as if NH has improved, but at the end of the day, the quality of the breweries haven't caught up with ME and MA.

For example, this past summer my family and I stayed in Portsmouth one night, then went up to Portland for two nights. The general consensus was that we should have done what we usually do, stay three nights in Portland. We even had dinner in Kittery the night we stayed in Portsmouth.

I feel like Dover in general is underrated as a nice little beer town.

 

One reason is that they are pretty spread out. I have often thought of doing a NH brewery tour day (when friends come into town) but always change our mind because VT is a much easier drive for the DD. For example, Schilling and Stoneface are 130 miles or so apart. Any loop I try and make in NH is like 300 miles of driving for someone and VT can be done much easier. HF, Alchemist and Foam (with about a dozen options in between) is about 75 miles.
Tree House and Hill Farmstead are destination type breweries at this point, so that gets them by their remoteness.
New Hampshire doesn't have a destination type brewery yet like Tree House, Hill Farmstead/Alchemist or Allagash.

At this point I would never suggest someone take a 2-3 night "beercation" in NH, but there are definitely a good amount of options if you are driving through or in the area for other reasons. A beer and White Mountain National Park combo is an excellent all around trip.

 

I’ll say that Spyglass deserves the early praise. Not a great spot as a destination but worth grabbing beer to go for sure. You can hit Whole Foods on your way by too for a good pint and a bite. One of the better taplists around and very inexpensive.

 

Yup, I get that. My main point (without being insulting to NH or their breweries) is just what you and @jhavs have said.

The state is striving to be as good brewery/beer-wise as those states, and has greatly improved, and sounds like it will keep improving.

And rather than a point, it was more of a question, as to why they aren't mentioned in the same breath as breweries like Tree House and Hill Farmstead (to be fair I don't think any other breweries are).

Regarding the "neighborhood tap room" model, I don't think that's really unique to NH. I think that's happening in many areas of the country that need more breweries. Open a tap room in a remote location as a local tap room-only and just sell beer from your tap room.

@jhavs summed it up well in the middle of his post...

People rate beers from all breweries, and even by word of mouth a new "must-see" brewery gets recognition fairly quickly. We're in the age of social media.

For example, look how fast a place like Foam gained traction.

But I don't want to make this a negative thread, I think NH is making great strides. I've particularly enjoyed beers from Schilling lately. And as I said, I think Dover has some nice spots as well.

Solid article Matt, I had no idea there were so many new (well new to me) spots in NH.

 

I visited Loaded Question the first week they were open. The beers were ok, nothing stood out too much, but I've been meaning to swing back in since to see how they're doing. I've heard they're playing around with different yeast by splitting batches and having customer's pick their favorites.

 

I'd be curious to see some blind taste test between what we typically view as exceptional Mass, Maine and Vermont beers compared to NH offerings. I don't think they'd be as wide a gap as we think, but there is definitely that perception that NH is the little brother of New England beer.

I second the, what's the right word here.....disappointment at what Deciduous has become. You wanna become a canned hop factory, cool, but don't lose sight of the sours that put you on the map to begin with.

I have some personal bias, but I think Litherman's has some of the best offerings and more importantly variety, in the state.

Kind of surprised there was no mention of Pipe Dream in the article.

 

If anyone has the chance to check out the October NH Magazine edition, it is the annual craft beer issue.