Craft Beer
 

Having moved last year from the NH seacoast (converting from summer people to full time) I have to say one thing I miss is how many places on the seacoast have great tap lists, especially NH beers.

Around here it seems to be mostly, "we got both kinds of beer: Bud and Bud Light". Or, maybe you can get a Sams or Harpoon if you're lucky. Forget finding that juicy NE IPA though.

I have to say I was really impressed with the taps at Union Diner. They only have a few but what they have is really great. I was surprised to see Founder's KBS on tap at Funspot of all places. Holy Grail probably had the best tap list I've seen around here but now they are closed (we lived near the one in Epping so sad to see it).

Where are the taps hiding? Who has the best tap list in the Lakes Region?

While the Rusty Moose in Alton only has 5 or 6 taps, none are wasted on Bud or Coors products.

http://www.rustymooserestaurantnh.com/index.php

Wolf's Tavern
 

Wolfe's Tavern has a large selection of beer. Flurries in Meredith advertises a good selection. There is a store in Wolfeboro called Beveridge (sp?) that has a large selection of bottled beer.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35527/

http://www.hobbstavern.com/hobbs-brewery.html

Both very good.

I'm partial to 603 pretty good beer and a number of choices for the most discriminating palate. Their IPA ice cold on a summer day is tough to beat and unlike most snobby micro brews the price is pretty reasonable.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30434/91525/

and always have to have some of their winni ale on hand just because which is also very good

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30434/91061/

Of course the one around here to supposedly beat is Heady Topper which is made in VT, difficult to get your hands on and ungodly expensive. A case will set you back nearly a c note. It's OK not sure it's all that. It's only sold locally in VT and was at the top of the list from Beer Advocate for a while. Any place that gets it usually sells out in a matter of hours.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27039/16814/

I agree stardog. I like mainly dark beers or at least deep copper color with good flavor. I find the winter more my liking. Beveridge has a few taps going that are ok. In the winter Nolans usually has a good a stout or porter. Other than I travel. I'm not an IPA guy so that makes it tough in the summer. There is supposedly a hole in wall over in Chickville by the tracks has good beer on tap.

Are there many craft distilleries in NH?

The microbrew craze got a start out this way, and now the next big thing is making legal liquor.

Frog Rock Tavern
 

They rotate their local craft beer selection. They are located on Meredith Main Street.

My son has been brewing beer in his garage for a few years now with a friend of his who is a manager at Hopsters. They have been discussing opening their own brewery. I've been telling him that the lakes region needs a brewery. Maybe he could be the first? I'm not a big craft beer fan but when it's free it's for me!

Case n keg in Meredith has a very good craft beer selection. Not on tap but nonetheless a very good selection.

I agree. The Lakes Region seems to be a wasteland of craft beer. There is Lone Wolf Brewing in Wolfeboro but I haven't really heard much positive or negative about them.


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The Laconia Local Eatery has a few taps that feature NH brew.

It was before my move here but I'm told there was a brewery in downtown Laconia that failed eight years ago or so .

That type of business is a big gamble in an area that's seasonal. I always thought the old Mames restaurant in Meredith would make a good brewery. Who owns that now? It's been empty quite some.

A brewery anywhere will work so long as you can get adequate distribution. The problem is market penetration in something that is clearly very competitive.

As long as the brewery makes good beer. Mediocre beer will not fly in today's market.


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I'll take Sip of Sunshine over Heady.

My favorite local is probably anything from Deciduous in Newmarket

https://www.facebook.com/DeciduousBrew

and Great North in Manchester.

http://www.greatnorthaleworks.com/beer_type/all-beers/

Tie Dyed Session and Tragically Hopped. Tasty!

If you get a chance and you're ever down by Boston, check out slumbrew. They have an awesome selection of beer and they are a microbrewery. As for a closer Brewery, there is one in Woodstock New Hampshire at the Woodstock Inn and Brewery.

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Lone Wolfe Brewing Co
 

I enjoy Lone Wolfe Brewing Co in Wolfeboro. It's a very small brewery and taproom, with about 8 varied styles on tap. Graham is the brewer, and he sometimes works the counter. Flights, pints, small and large growlers are available. Give it a try!

Stark Mill Brewery(Millys) in Manchester is now distilling.

If you are a fan of IPA's for NH brews give Stoneface a try. They recently moved from 16oz bottles to 12oz cans making them more user friendly in my opinion.

SoS vs. Heady, I'm going with Heady. Sip seems like more of a west coast style IPA to me, not that there is anything wrong with that.

I'll take any IPA/IIPA from Trillium or Tree House over both of them though any day of the week.


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I've been at Stoneface. I work over at Pease. Nice new pub.

Good beers.

Trillium and Tree House are great as well.

Bissell Brothers is another. Portland is full of great breweries.

From today's Weirs Times:

If you want a take a little ride or find yourself in the North Country, I highly recommend Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton. European-inspired craft beer. Flatbread pizza's, soft pretzel roll with homemade butter & beer dipping sauce, sun-dried tomato hummus were all fantastic. Looks like they will be expanding at some point in the next year. The brewery is located in an old mill building along the Ammonoosuc River. Place was packed on Sunday. Lots of families. Outdoor seating available.

www.schillingbeer.com

I just heard there is another small brewery to open in wolfeboro behind Hucks. I found a few of their beers in the cooler at Mill Street meat so I inquired as the labels on the bottles were hand written.

Love this place. Stop here after a day of skiing at Cannon!

Great place and you must really like it to head 10 minutes the "wrong" way after skiing.:laugh:

10 mins is nothing in North country.

Kettlehead Brewery Company Tilton
 

Big article in today's Weirs Times new Brewery/Brewpub opening up in Tilton this summer. Kettle Head Brewing Company on 407 West Main Street.

Especially for good brew and food! I think I am in love with the barmaid!

Brew pubs
 

While not Lakes Region, in my opinion the best brew pub in NH is Moat Mountain Brewing in North Conway. They brew all their own beer, they have good food and good atmosphere. There is always a good crowd. They sell growlers on site. You can find some of their brews at local supermarkets in 16 oz cans in 4 packs. Their Blueberry is the best Blueberry ever, blows away Seadog Blueberry. Check it out.

Moat is great. In addition to their beers the nachos are great.


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Updates
 

Lone Wolfe in Wolfeboro just opened their new spot at 36 Mill St. last Friday. It's a full-service restaurant now in addition to serving their own beer. I haven't been yet but I am going to try to hit it this week (they are closed Mondays).

Burnt Timber is trying to open a full-service place adjacent to Mise en Place. It's all TBD right now.

Kettlehead in Tilton is brewing pilot batches.

Be interesting to see how long the craft beer fad will last--do y'all think it's here to stay?

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I think it's here to stay. The big beer companies are nervous about losing market share so they are out there trying to buy up some of these big craft brewers. They don't want to put them out of business they just want to keep control of the overall beer market.
The big beer companies, just like the big soda companies, put pressure on these smaller establishments to buy their high priced products. By brewing your own beer you can call the shots on who you want to let in for bottled beers. A lot of breweries have shut out the bottle beer companies all together and many food establishments can't be strong armed into buying from a certain popular bottling company because they have so many more choices at better pricing.

I guess what I'm most interested in is what you identify here: Big Alcohol buying them up and losing the "craft" reality.

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For what it's worth, I've never tasted a "craft" beer that I thought would replace the few commercial, beers I tend to like...and let me be perfectly, clear...none of those few is a Budweiser product. :D

I think so, but it will go through some changes. For a while everyone who made more than two batches at home could open a brewery but with all choices available it's got to be really good and special to make a go of it as a business. That on top of all the other challenges to opening and operating any business these day

I think they they will keep the big profitable ones up and running under the same names. The smaller ones that get bought out will get merged into the larger craft brewing companies. The old saying goes, if you cant beat em join em, or buy them.

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Beveridge in Wolfeboro (Main Street)
 

Another little gem is Beveridge Craft Beer & Soap on Main Street in Wolfeboro.
Not a huge selection (8 or 10 taps, I think) but a good selection that rotates alot. Small, intimate, nice people.

https://www.beveridgecraftbeerandsoap.com/

FWIW, The biggest privately owned brewer in the US started out as a "craft brewery". Sam Adams was the first local brewer that became huge and is now the largest brewer in the US privately owned. At least I think they still are.:D

Craft Brew Takeover Done 'Right'
 

Blue Point Brewery (Patchogue, Long Island, NY) was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev back in 2014. I think that they may have learned their lesson when it comes to purchasing a craft brewery. The brewery remains in Patchogue and the owner/brewers are still in charge of production. In return, they have access to InBev's massive distribution network and deep pockets for expansion. Though I'm not happy about them being bought out, if it's got to be done then this is the way to do it.

I live 10 miles from Blue Point Brewery and they took a huge hit this season using In-Bev for distribution. They exclusively use Clare Rose for distribution on LI, NY and NYC and there drivers were out on strike for nearly 4 months and sales took a huge hit. They had been out since March and just went back to work

Sam Adams is still independent in that they are not owned by a foreign company like Anheuser-Bush and Miller/Coors, but they are not privately owned (i.e. they are a public company--Boston Beer Company (ticker SAM)). Yuengling in Pennsylvania is the largest of the independents.

https://www.brewersassociation.org/p...eries-of-2016/

The sandy point has 18 beers on tap 16 of them local plus Guinness and leini summer Shandy.

Thanks for the clearification.

A worthwhile drive for great beer is When Pigs Fly in Kittery, ME
Wonderful food and a fun atmosphere.

White Mountain Brewing in Ashland is a great spot. Same with Shackett's. Hobbs up in West Ossipee, too. This might help - Lakes Region, NH Breweries

Also, Stardog Champion was a great tune. That and the one in the Singles soundtrack.

Good taps/beer:

Ellacoya has Stoneface IPA, Fiddlehead IPA, and sone others.

Frog Rock Tavern has a good selection. Fiddlehead, Be Hoppy.

Canoe has Sip of Sunshine and a few others.


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Beveridge Craft Brew Fest - 2021 version
 

For a superb selection of craft NH beers, plan on attending the Beveridge Craft Beer Fest. We went last year and had a most excellent time. This year's event will be virtual but delivers a wide range of beers. From the website:

"Pre-order your case of beer now for pick up January 26-29. Your case will include one beer from the 24 breweries joining in on our virtual (ish) Ice Fest. You will get a raffle ticket for each case ordered for a chance to win some swag from the breweries. We will also be putting together a video from each brewery for you to watch and enjoy while sipping. Enjoy your beer in the comfort of your own home or find a spot on your favorite bay January 30th and sip away!!"

https://www.facebook.com/BeveridgeCraftBeerFest/