Portsmouth. NH

For starters, Gary's Beverage downtown has decent selection. Also right downtown in the Portsmouth Brewery, and they sell bottles in their attached retail store.

 

1 - Yes - there is a cooler in the gift shop where they sell bombers. It's pretty random, but it's usually more or less whatever is either on tap or has recently been on tap. Prices range depending on beer, most are about $6-$8.

2 - No, not in Portsmouth, but Throwback is new and only 15 minutes away. Smutty and Red Hook are also in Portsmouth, but huge.

3 - Gary's is probably the cheapest store in New England, with solid selection, but nothing crazy. Great place to pickup Smutty Big Beers and other regionals.

 

Just across the bridge in Kittery, Maine is a great little bottle shop (Carl's Meat Market) and two great restaurants for beer: When Pigs Fly & The Black Birch.

 

Smuttynose still has vintage bombers for sale at the brewery. 2007 Farmhouse Ale is amazing.

 

The 7-11 in Kittery has a nice selection of bombers now and is open much later than Carl's.

 

When is your friend travelling? There's going to be a new nano-brewery opening up downtown pretty soon that will be selling bottles.

 

Are you talking about Earth Eagle? I saw a mention of them in Portsmouth Craft Beer Week and saw their blog, but haven't been able to find much info on the brewery opening. The idea of a brewery doing gruits on the Seacoast sounds very cool, if that's accurate.

 

You are correct, and the gruits I've tried are delicious. Definitely a nice alternative for the more adventurous palate. I'm not sure about the time frame though; I stopped in yesterday and they were tearing up the cement floor installing the plumbing. I know they are definitely shooting for summer though.

 

Very cool. I just saw that they have a new post on their blog about the construction and permitting. Is the brewery in the same space as A&G Homebrew? The idea of a brewery and taproom right in downtown Portsmouth is very cool. Given how packed Throwback's taproom has been and how much it seems like a great hangout on the couple times I've visited, I expect a downtown taproom will be a welcome addition.

 

It's in the adjacent space - right now you can go in through A&G directly, but I suspect it will have it's own entrance once up and running. I was fortunate enough to try the pig's head porter...hopefully that's one that they'll bring back again!

 

Earth Eagle Brewing is Alex and his Brother in law. Alex and is Wife (Alex's partner in Earth Eagle's sister) Gretchen own A&G. its going to be at the same place but permitting and all that states there mush be a physical division between the brewery and the retail outlet, so they have to put a wall and lockable door.

They need to have all their equipment in place and pretty much ready to go to even apply for a nano-brewery license... Gotta love Government!

the Pigs Head Porter was GREAT! as was the grapple load that they aged in the Oak Barrel. The Candied Apple was pretty decent too! Looking forward to seeing this open!

 

This sounds great. I can't wait to try their beer and visit the taproom.

In other Portsmouth brewery news, there's an update about the start of construction at Smuttynose's new brewery in Hampton. I'll really miss having the brewery in Portsmouth--it's more convenient, Hampton doesn't have the same cachet as Portsmouth, and there's something charming about the ramshackle brewery on the outskirts of town--but Portsmouth blew it when Smuttynose wanted to build in the city (as Newmarket did when they wanted to go into the old mills there). And the brewery on the old farm in Hampton looks like it's going to be very cool:

 

Being in Hampton may make it more interesting for a tour, with Throwback brewery in North Hampton, then you will have Earth Eagle and Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, get some time in between to regroup and discuss each of the places.

 

Hey guys, Butch here from Earth Eagle Brewings. For the past few years we've been brewing almost weekly, alternating between hopped and non-hopped beers. We are hoping to have the EEB tasting room open late summer/early fall. At that point we'll be pouring flights, pints, growlers, and maybe send the odd log to a local bar. Our travails and triumphs are on the FB and the afore mentioned blog.
Cheers.

 

Thanks for the official word, Butch. I'm really stoked about another Seacoast brewery--or brewery-gruery, maybe. Anyway, I'm looking forward to following the developments, and even more to trying the ales and gruits. Also, I wonder how many states can claim multiple professional brewers named Butch?

 

Speaking of Hampton-area breweries, I read last night that there's a new nano brewery, Blue Lobster Brewing, opening in Hampton on Lafayette Rd. It's apparently going to be next to a new flatbread-pizza type place that's opening up (or perhaps has already opened).

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120320-BIZ-203200348

 

Hey Butch, I havent had the pleasure of meting you yet in person, but I have chatted with Alex and Gretchen a bit. Will you be at the big brew day in May?

 

Sounds cool. And a perfect reason to change the Portsmouth Beerfly Guide to a Seacoast one. As it stands, it only includes Portsmouth and Dover. I think to better capture the concentration of beer in the area, it should extend from Hampton to York, and northwest to Dover, maybe west to Exeter. The Boston guide extends to an hour's drive away from the city, so I think including the towns around Portsmouth that make up a closely linked region would better reflect the situation there and help people find places.

 

Anyone been to the brewery recently? I'll be in the area on Thursday so I was hoping to grab a few bottles.