Mott the Lesser (b.11 - Curbside)

I saw that yesterday.
I like their plans. Gonna have to figure out logistics, since I'd need to cross state lines. I'm hoping to get online and get one of the deferred pickup slots.
They didn't mention timing for the online sales to start- but I presume that will come out on Saturday.

 

Damn. Sad to miss this. MTL is such an unapologetically strong beer. I opened one from 2015 or so(b1 or 2 I think?) Back in december and could not believe how good it became.

 

Whenever I see Mott the Lesser mentioned I get super confused. Nobody ever talks about Tributary for anything else except this beer. It is far and away their best beer and it could be argued it is their only great beer. What is the deal? Are they a one hit wonder brewery? Are there other breweries like that? I can't think of a single one.

 

Todd Mott is at least a 3 hit wonder: Harpoon IPA, Kate the Great, and Mott the Lesser (though Kate and Mott are based on the same recipe). I think there are lots of breweries out there making very solid but not hype worthy beer. Some of it is timing, if he opened his brewery 20 years ago then people would probably be talking about all of his beers. On the flip side if Mott wasn't running this brewery or Kate the Great hadn't been a phenomenon then would anyone be talking about Mott the Lesser? There's just too much competition today for well made beers to easily make a mark without having something else to make them standout.

 

Their beers are all very, very solid, across a wide range of styles. They don't make NEIPA's, so people don't really pay much attention to them. On the website now, they have a Braggot, Belgian IPA, Brut IPA, California Common, Pale Ale, Amber Lager, Tmavy Lezak (Czech dark lager?), Porter, and a Wheat IPA. They aren't really trying to appeal to the Beer Advocate crowd, and they have a really nice niche in Southern Maine.

 

Safe to say that Tod is not trendy and doesn’t try to be. I wish he was a bit more than he is. Notch is a good example of a brewery that has certainly adapted to the market and done well with their non-lager beers, while still putting out classic styles in their wheelhouse. I’d love to see Tod do a collab IPA with Bissell or some brewery up that way, and expand his range a bit from there.

 

Do they can and distribute? If not, that could play a part in them not being as widely known.

For example we see Lone Pine, Battery Steele, Austin Street, Definitive, Allagash...etc. all in MA. In fact, I just ordered from Fort Point Market and saw beer available from all of them.

 

Notch pivoted, but they're also known for their niche, and do it arguably better than anyone else.

Tributary doesn't really have a niche. I always try a beer or two on tap from them when I'm in Maine, but there's nothing I feel I HAVE to have from them.

There's no real commonality between these styles (copied below), and half of them don't really get me that excited. And I'm FAR from an IPA fan boy, as most of you likely know by my Notch love.

Braggot, Belgian IPA, Brut IPA, California Common, Pale Ale, Amber Lager, Tmavy Lezak (Czech dark lager?), Porter, and a Wheat IPA.

It almost looks like something you'd see on Cambridge Brewing Co.'s tap list. But CBC has an entire restaurant going for them, a much better location (recent construction aside), a long term reputation, and an entire sour program that's killer that people adore. Not to mention beer festivals multiple times a year.

 

They do but only to ME and maybe NH.

 

Tod seems to me to be your favorite brewer's favorite brewer. He's an icon in New England beer. On top of that, him and Galen (his wife) are super nice people. If you're looking for trendy styles or gimmicks, you won't get them at Tributary. What you will get is a variety of styles, all of them technically-proficient. I'm happy to support them every time I'm in the area.

As for MtL ... damn, I don't know. I love this beer and it's subtle barrel changes every batch. I just hate to do the drive to Kittery thing, crossing over two border lines. Kind of the same frustrations I have with Portland, too. It's just far enough away to really question, "Is it worth it for beer?" I see peeps in the Tree House thread from like Pennsylvania willing to drive six hours each way for a case and --- man, do what you want with your money and time -- but it's just beer.

 

Tod has had a pretty prestigious brewing career in New England. It seems a lot of their success is based around his merit and versatility to brew practically every style of beer. I think that having his son Woody on board brewing, as well as Ian, you'll start to see the occasional hazy/modern interpretation show up. They released a NE Rye IPA awhile back that was hazy and marketed as their first foray into the style. I never got to try it but it looked delicious.

You're never going to see them pump out Lactose TIPA's or double fruited berliner's, but I'm 100% cool with that. They'll probably stick around longer by not riding the hype train.

 

What do you mean by pivoted?

 

Yeah, taplist of a brewer that spent a decade-plus brewing in the basement of the Portsmouth Brewery.

 

A handful of their canned offerings (brut, common, Pale, and porter) made it into Mass this week. Not sure if they are everywhere, but CBC Belmont got them.

 

Probably semantics, but their niche is all about location. They're on route 1 in Kittery and get a ton of people "driving through" and a lot of locals from the old Portsmouth scene.

I worked at the Brewery for a few years and Tod got extremely burnt out from keeping up with the production demands, like keeping Dirty Blonde on tap. He wants to hang out with his family, and brew a lot of different styles of beer because he enjoys it. They aren't trying to cater to the BA crowd and the haze bro crowd. I applaud him for it.

 

Tod used to knock out some phenomenal beers during his many years at The Portsmouth Brewery - the high-gravity offerings and German styles were always my faves. I agree with what others have said about Tributary being off-the-radar on BA because they don't brew one NEIPA after another. But I think that's a good thing. Most of Tributary's offerings appeal to those who loved all of Tod's Portsmouth Brewery recipes. They have a nice, low-key location away from the crowds in Portsmouth and Route 1 in southern Maine. The staff is super friendly, and the live music was good too. Now I will say this, MtL is no KtG, but MtL is still a very good beer. I think the younger beer drinkers don't realize how incredible Kate the Great was.

 

They won't ever (likely) be the

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Tributary is a great brewery, they make a lot of styles, all of them extremely well.
From the pils and such through to Dubbels, Tripels, and MTL, everything is right to style.
they likely won't ever be the most in-demand brewery out there, but Tod likes it that way.
He does what he does, and does it extremely well.

 

Not at all, I’m as big a Tod fan as there is. I recognize the tap list because I used to drink my way through it back in the day. Doesn’t mean that I can’t wish he would broaden his range and get a bit more on trend at the margins. Brut IPA was an attempt at that but it’s not a style that endured.