I'm going to be heading to Manchester, NH from Boston this weekend. Looks like I should check Strange Brew and Milly's and maybe try to make it to White Birch to pick up a few bottles. Any other suggestions in Manchester or close by? How about on the drive up?
Candia Road Brewing Company, http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28070/ http://www.candiaroad.com/brewery.html 603 Brewery off Exit 5 on 93 http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30434/ http://www.603brewery.com/ Kelsen Brewing in Derry http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33959/ http://kelsenbrewing.com/
Go to Bert's Better Beers. It's on the Hooksett/Manchester line. Strange Brew has the best lineup in Manchester but the food is pretty meh. If you're going to White Birch, you'll drive past the New England Tap House Grill. The food here is much better and they have a very solid regular lineup and usually have a couple of very good rotating taps. In Bedford (<10 minutes), there's the River Road Tavern. This has the best food of these three and a very solid selection, though rarely anything that will knock your socks off. Bonus for usually being able to be seated quickly and a nice patio. ~25 minutes away in Derry is the Cask and Vine. The tap selection is the best in NH and the food is the best of this group.
Thanks. Cask and Vine looks great, stinks they're not open Sunday's. Maybe I'll make it there Saturday.
The beer selection isn't mindblowing by any means, but I'd recommend a meal at Republic in Manchester. The food is excellent and very (almost embarrassingly) reasonably priced, and it works well for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and they always have a few solid locals on-tap and in bottles. Another spot worth considering is El Rinco Zacatano Taqueria, which has killer (again insanely cheap) Mexican food and is BYOB, if you pick up any bottles at White Birch, Candia Road, 603 or Kelsen. I haven't made it to Kelsen yet, but I've heard good things. While I agree that the food at the Strange Brew isn't anything special, it is a fun place to hang out and the best spot to find an interesting local beer in town. Especially now that they have outdoor seating in the alley out front, I'd recommend stopping by for a beer, and then getting dinner elsewhere. I'd also recommend the River Road and Cask & Vine, both a bit outside the city. Cask & Vine is just down the road from Kelsen and a little further down from 603, as well. Bert's is still the granddaddy of bottle shops in New Hampshire, and still my favorite store, and I'd recommend checking them out on the way to White Birch and/or New England Tap House Grill, which I haven't eaten at yet. Enjoy your visit.
Republic is the best food in Manchester. Their wine selection is mighty fine and the prices are incredibly reasonable. Go there. Eat and have a quartino of wine. Get one of the day's specials.
Lazy dog beer shoppe in Londonderry is pretty good too and depending on which way you're coming from, the Nashua beer store has a very good selection as well but probably nothing you can't get in the city. Strange brews food is average but you get an eclectic crowd and a bunch of beers on tap. One of my personal favorites in manch!
I may be a simple guy, but I find the food at Strange Brew just fine. Pub food for drinking beer. And with $3 pints and half price apps on Friday and Saturday evenings it is a steal. You can have a bunch of great beers, get a bunch of food and get out of there for cheap. Works in my book just fine. Bert's is a great place to find beers, although you pay a bit of a premium in my experience.
Went to White Birch 2 weeks ago. They had their Double IPA available as well as a Sour Brown and a Sour Red. Not sure if those are all still there but if so I'd make a stop to at least do a free tasting since it's so close to Manchester.
