Blue Lobster Brewing experiences?

Several growlers showed up at a tasting on Sat. Mostly hoppy offerings - I enjoyed the Hampton Weisse Berliner. Could've been more tart for my tastes.

 

I've been there a few times and haven't met the beer I didn't like. The Stalkhome Syndrome Wheat IPA and Gold Claw Pale are both top notch. It's my understanding that the brewer used to work at Hill Farmstead.

 

I just grabbed a round of tasters on Friday. The wee heavy(a life of Sundays) was my favorite. The peated rye porter(ragged neck rye) was a nice surprise for me. All were well crafted beers.

 

Berliner was all tart and not enough flavor, but A Town Called Earth and Love On A Farm Boys Wages were great beers, i'm most excited for the Biere De Garde aging in the port barrel though.

 

Yes! I've been a few times and am pretty impressed with what I've had. The brewer (David) seems to be a really cool guy and took the time to answer some homebrewer questions. I don't know if the owner is a bit prickly or not a big beer conversation guy, but he was OK enough (and he put up some serious money in stainless in the back room - it's friggin gorgeous.)

A Town Called Earth is good and Gold Claw is excellent (and could be considered a dead ringer for HF Edward, though they use a blend of hops which is very similar to Edward.) The big standouts for me were Stalkholm Syndrome (pale wheat ale) and Excess is not Rebellion/Double Galaxy.

The yeast profile is very similar to HF - I'd not be terribly surprised if it wasn't from the same bank.

To me this is HF quality ales right off Route 95 - I'm a fan for sure and have sent a few folks out there.

 

Just to clarify, Edward lists the hops on the RB entry. Columbus, chinook, centennial, warrior, and simcoe. Gold claw lists the hops as Ahtanum and Falconers Flight.
Cheers!

 

Stalkholm Syndrome was amazing. The rest I've had (Gold Claw, Ragged Neck Rye Porter, Excess is Not Rebellion, Red Door (Paint it Black), Red Sky At Night) have been good as well. The only one I didn't really care for was the Wee Heavy, but I heard that went into a barrel, so... yum.

 

I will be there this Saturday, can anyone recommend a place for lunch that is near the brewery? I am coming from the south.

 

If you want to stay within a few feet of the Brewery you'll be parked in front of the Community Oven, pretty good pizza and decent taplist - which will usually include a Blue Lobster offering. If you want to stay in the beer exploration mode you can head North on Rte 1 about 5 miles and check out WHYM craft beer cafe.
If you do that, you can pop in to Throwback brewery which is half way between the two.

 

This place is right next door: http://www.thecommunityoven.com/

You can sit outside and bring your own beer to Brown's Lobster Pound in Seabrook.

 

Every beer I have tried from them has been solid or excellent. I loved the Berliner weisse they just put out, and Gold Claw is a can't-miss hop-forward pale ale that is great any time of year. Rumor has it they will be bottling the current barrel beers (Wee Heavy and Biere de Garde) this fall.

 

Thanks guys! In return if you ever go to Treehouse in Brimfield, MA you can bring beer to BT Smokehouse after getting your growlers. http://btsmokehouse.com/

 

Personally I've been impressed by all their offerings. Dave, the brewer, is not only super knowledgable, but also a really nice guy. I don't get the comparison to HF Edward outside of the fact that they are both very well crafted PA's. I'm very excited for their future.

 

Yep. Falconer's Flight isn't a hop variety but a blend of some of the more popular aroma and flavor hops that are found in American IPAs today. Aside from Warrior I think FF has most of them covered.

To me this is all a good thing - beer the level of HF right off Route 95.

 

FF also has Citra and Sorachi Ace, so I don't think it's necessarily a similar profile, even if FF does have the three Cs.

 

Yes its a blend, but the profiles are very different to me on those two beers. Can you cite your information for the blend makeup? Theres two propietary OSU hops in the blend as well. Trust me when i say if you throw centennial, simcoe, and chinook together you wont get a falconers flight profile.
Cheers!
David

 

Dave apprenticed with Shaun Hill for awhile before he started Blue Lobster - that may account for some similiarities in style?

 

I remember seeing some posts on HBT with conjecture of which of the C hops plus some 800 lb hops like Simcoe and Soriachi Ace, but I definitely don't have a list of the confirmed varieties and how much of each is used in he mix. What I do know is that when using it in home brewing it makes for a damn tasty and great smelling IPA.

I'm sure if I had the two beers side by side I'd be able to (or at least should be able to tell) significant differences between the two - unfortunately the closest I've had the two were the better part of a month. I guess the bottom line for me is that it struck me a reminding me a lot of a really highly regarded/world class beer - maybe I'm a bit of a homer and am giving it undue praise, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

 

No worries, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm a touch biased, but I do really love them both. Although I do find their hop profiles dramatically different.

 

Absolutely - no offense taken (or intended on my part!) - Happy Independence Day to all!

 

I went to Blue Lobster the day after they first opened back in November and I've been going down there periodically ever since. I think I've had everything they've made available for growler fills so far and I haven't been disappointed yet. If they were closer than an hour away from me I'd be going there every weekend.

 

No doubt that that's the case--Shaun Hill was apparently a very good teacher, but I'd also say that the quality coming out of Blue Lobster shows that Dave is a very good brewer in his own right. I'm not sure how much of the style is a result of time spent at HF, but there's no doubt that there's an influence, and if that means that there's a Greensboro school of brewing or something, and that it's now more easily accessible, well, I'm all for it!

I don't think it's undue. I'll admit that I'm very glad to see a brewery in New Hampshire making the sorts of beers that Blue Lobster is making, but I don't think it's a homer thing--I genuinely think they're making some wonderfully crisp, aromatic pale ales and IPAs that are on par with some of the fabled New England breweries, not to mention the Ragged Neck being a particularly stellar porter. I've also really enjoyed the Berliner weisse and some of the others, and really look forward to trying more of their beers. Like Edward at HF though, one of my favorite beers at Blue Lobster is the "flagship" pale ale, Gold Claw. From my two in-person visits, I also can't say enough nice things about how friendly both Mike and David (not to mention some of the other folks whose names I didn't catch) were. A great addition to the beer scene in New Hampshire and New England.

 

Just keep driving up Rt 1 for like 10 minutes past Blue Lobster and WHYM will be on your left. GET THE PRETZELS.

 

Dave is a madman and a perfectionist and Blue Lobster beer is the result. Only one beer they have put out that hasn't wow'ed me and that was the Love on a Farmboys Wages which was still better than 75% of New England beer being put on the market. The Hamptonweisse is the beer I have been hoping someone would brew around here for years and on a day like this Im so glad to have it available in a 2L growler ! Blue Lobster to the WORLD !

 

Stopped in yesterday for the first time. Picked up the berliner, gold claw and stalkholm. I do like the "re-branding" of the growlers, keeps the cost down on trying new places. I got there right around 2pm and you could tell it was going to be a busy day in there. I will be making the trip here more often.

 

I was there later in the day and it was still pretty busy but relaxed. I picked up a 2L of Stackholm for me and some Gold Claw for some friends. Love that place.

 

I love this brewery for two reasons. One the beer is really good. Two they don't immediate send it all to the "hip" bars in Boston to make sure they are talked about enough.

 

We stop by whenever we're in the area and I always bring my growler. The brewer is formally from Hill Farmstead and does a great job. Owner is friendly and always willing to answer any questions.

 

I would love to try some of these beers anyone want to work something out let me know. have had crickets in the ISO forums

 

Does anyone know what the hours are? My grandparents camp about a mile away, so it would be easy for me to get there next month if the hours work out for me.

 

Hours
Thu: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Fri: 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Sat: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sun: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

 

If you go stop into Throwback which is only 4 minutes North on Lafayette (same road) for some great beers. I'll be hitting up both later this month before the Southern NH Brewers Festival.

 

Yep - the ladies there are great.

 

Agreed. Different approaches, different beers and different spaces, but both are run by great folks and both are brewing some very good beer. As has been mentioned elsewhere, further up the road in downtown Portsmouth are the Portsmouth Brewery and Earth Eagle, but if you're just sticking to Hampton/North Hampton, you shouldn't miss visiting Throwback and Blue Lobster.

 

Been several times, loved it. Very fresh hoppy taste, Gold Claw is an amazing beer and everything else is great. Blue Lobster, Earth Eagle, Throwback, and the Portsmouth Brewery make that general area an excellent/the best place in New Hampshire for beer.

 

I've been a few times and feel the same way about the beer, Good to Great stuff being brewed here. Both the owners and Dave are very nice and more than willing to talk about the beers.

My one issue is the high prices for Fills:

On tap for beer to go and tasters (750ml fill price / 2L fill price):
-Gold Claw, 4.5% Table American Pale Ale ($7/$15)
-Stalkholm Syndrome, 5.7% Wheat IPA ($8/$17)
-Ragged Neck, 7.4% Peat Smoked Rye Porter ($8/$17)
-Hamptonweisse, 2.9% Apricot & Kiwi Berlinerweisse ($7/$15)
-Red Door (Paint It Black), 7% VT Black IPA ($8/$17)
-Excess:Columbus, 7.8% Single Hopped Double IPA ($9/$19)

Add $12 if you need glass...

 

Those fill prices don't seem out of bounds in any way whatsoever.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Can you tell us what prices you are comparing them to for a better understanding?

 

Not at all. $12 - $18 is pretty good and of course you are going to pay a little more for Double IPAs or other higher ABV fills.