Archive for April, 2010

Anchor Brewing Sold

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The news of Anchor Brewing leaked earlier this week, and I remembered my great fortune in having dinner with Fritz Maytag at a brewers’ conference about 10 years ago. I can’t remember the conference, or the city, but I remember the dinner with Fritz. Our brewery was about six years old at the time, his [...]

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Notch Interview with WAAF

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Video interviews with Mike Hsu from WAAF and the brewers at SlowFest last week . Some funny stuff. The Notch funny stuff was edited out, really.

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Bigger… Stronger… Louder… Better?

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An excellent piece by Mark Dredge on the trend in craft beer ABV. It hits many of the themes critical to Session beer resurgence in the US, including the fight for Session beer to get back in to the conversation of what makes “great” beer.
Check this quote:
“The thing with stronger beers is that they evoke a bigger reaction, [...]

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Final thoughts on SlowFest

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What struck me the most over the weekend at SlowFest was that Session beer has a place, a purpose, and a reason to be. When exposed to Session beer’s flavor, variety, and reasonable ABV, the craft beer consumer gets it. Anything that craft beer enhances, session beer extends. It’s just that simple.
I was also amazed [...]

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Notch Photos & Video from SlowFest

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Great time at SlowFest. People get it. They get the concept of Session beer, and even better, they loved Notch, and want more. Photos below, and a link here to WAAF’s brewers’ interviews.
Photos include the Notch bar, and the ceremonial (we’ll call it that anyway) tapping of the first cask. And in tapping of a cask [...]

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Love or hate, he made it happen.

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25 years ago the craft beer landscape was pretty barren. The few guys making small batches at the time were thought of as the lunatic fringe. And then appeared this guy in a suit, and he changed the game. And even if you thought he was a snake oil salesman back in the day, you [...]

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Boston Herald Love…

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SlowFest and Notch Session Ale mention in the Boston Herald. However, the SlowFest dates are wrong (they are actually the 23rd & 24th), and my Dad thinks this may be the worst photo ever taken of me.  Well, they spelled Notch correctly, and that’s all that matters.

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Notch Session brew day

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Some photos from the first brew day of Notch Session Ale. Not many action shots, as things get busy and you forget the documentation part. Priorities get in the way, brewing then photos.

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SlowFest Friday… Notch Cask

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Not only will Notch American Session Ale debut this week, two casks of Notch will be poured at the SlowFest’s Friday VIP session. Cask is the ultimate expression of session ale in England, and we would be amiss not to have this special treat for SlowFest. For those unfamiliar with cask-conditioning, it is the process [...]

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Back to the beginning…

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Early last week, I drove up to Kennebunkport Maine to brew the two styles of session ale that will debut at SlowFest. The Kennebunkport Brewing Company (KBC) is part of the Shipyard Brewing family, and since the brew length is smaller, it is perfect for my initial session ale test brews. Additionally, the KBC brewery [...]

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