Gregory Todd Williams

Kat and I went to the New England Beer Festival yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I think that overall the Belgian and Extreme Beer Festivals had better themes, with potential for better beers, yet the quality of the New England beers was high and consistent.

I sampled the following:

Brewery	Name
Portsmouth Brewing	Keg Bitch Series #2: Raspberry Lime Rickey
Berkshire Brewing Co.	Holidale
Buzzards Bay Brewing	Schwarzbier
Rock Art Brewery	Stump Jumper
Rock Bottom	Munich Gold
Sebago Brewing Co.	Slick Nick Winter Ale
Shed Restaurant & Brewery	Saison de Shed
Shipyard Brewing Co.	Tremont IPA
Portsmouth Brewery	California Common

Kat had (and I tried):

Brewery	Name
Buzzards Bay	Oktoberfest
Berkshire Brewing Co.	Coffeehouse Porter
Cambridge Brewing Co.	The Great Pumpkin Ale
Milly’s Tavern	Pumpkin Ale
Portsmouth Brewing	Keg Bitch Series #2: Raspberry Lime Rickey
Portsmouth Brewing Co.	Pumpkin Ale
The Tap	Pumpkin Patch
Watch City Brewing Co.	Clocktoberfest Lager
Watch City Brewing Co.	Pie-Eyed Pumpkin Ale

The Raspberry Lime Rickey was very sweet, and pretty weird. Good, but you probably wouldn’t want a pint of the stuff.

The Schwarzbier was a fantastic black lager. The Stump Jumper was probably my favorite of the day. Rock Art described it as a “gnarly stout [that] is a bit chewy and hefty.”

After having Rock Bottom’s Cinq de Mayo jalepeño lager at the Extreme Beer Fest, the Munich Gold really couldn’t compare. It was good, but not exceptional.

Kat had every Pumpkin Ale in the room, and there were some interesting choices. The Cambridge Brewing Co.’s Great Pumpkin Ale was exceptionally pumpkin-y. Probably too much. The Portsmouth Brewing Co.’s Pumpkin Ale was overly hoppy. The Tap’s Pumpkin Patch had an almost coffee-ish aftertaste. Overall, we both agreed that none of the pumpkin ales were as good as the Pumpkinhead we tried at the Shipyard Brewery in Portland a few weeks ago.

And during the festival, it started snowing. Lots of snow. The weather report apparently reported up to two inches. In October. This morning, it was bright and sunny, in the mid 60s. I have no idea what’s going on with the weather around here.