The Bitter Truth – #2 in the cask series
Not everything falls into place every time. Notch Bitter was one of those experiences. So rather than writing an informational post with a few ramblings that ends with something innocuous, here’s the hard reality of brewing in too many places with too many variables and not enough time, resources or money.
After a summer vacation, Notch [...]
Name the casks.
And the winners are…
This is only the first 12, and the remaining 8 will be shown at the next cask filling. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell it when I release the next Notch cask beer series in about 3 weeks. Writing on a cone shape in a circle pattern proved harder than I [...]
Notch Cask Series – #1: Dark Mild
May kicks off Notch’s cask only series, where a one-off batch is brewed for cask only. May is also CAMRA’s Mild Month, and while this is a British thing, Notch will be participating stateside by releasing the Notch Dark Mild. This is something I’ve wanted to brew for a while, but would never release in [...]
UK Cask Ale reinvents itself
This story is making the rounds in the beer blog and social media world, and it’s encouraging to see a younger set in the UK make its way towards cask ale. If you have not been looking across the Atlantic and tracking UK beer trends, cask ale has been long suffering from an old-man’s image.
I [...]
Notch Cask at Deep Ellum
Notch Hop Session cask will be tapped this MONDAY (new date) at 6:00pm at Deep Ellum in Allston. Which is really cool, and you should discover why. If you’ve yet to make it to Deep Ellum in Allston, you are missing out. I love this place for a number of reasons, particularly how it navigates [...]
Hop Session and the Dustbin of History
When we sold Tremont Ale, I didn’t hang onto much memorabilia. I try to live lean, and packing away a bunch of crap for nostalgia value was not on my mind at the time. Most items were sent to the dustbin. However, I did keep two medals from the 1997 Chicago Real Ale Festival, and their place on a [...]
Notch Hop Session Cask!
Look for Notch Hop Session Cask tappings in the next few weeks at the Haven, Deep Ellum, Redbones and American Craft. The cask conditioned version of Hop Session is a little different from what you will find on draft taps. The Hop Session Cask is a true presentation of session ale – naturally carbonated and served at [...]
Back to the blog
More brewing than blogging in the past week, as would be expected of a brewer. Casking and kegging finishes later this week on the next two Notch Session Ales, and more details soon on draft locations, first tappings, and a cask here or there.
I’ve also been fielding quite a few calls for interviews related to [...]
Notch Photos & Video from SlowFest
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 [...]
SlowFest Friday… Notch Cask
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 [...]