Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [45]
We need to be in Portsmouth this evening. Taking a wrong turn, we end up driving the scenic route along the coast. It’s nice to see the ocean, even in all of its grayness. It continues to be cold and raining. We check in at the local inn at 5:55 P.M. With no time to change, we walk down the cold and windy streets of Portsmouth to Don Wagoner’s Stout Billy homebrew shop. Some good beer, cider and lots of great customers are there to greet us before Don whisks us away to the nearby Redhook Brewery, perhaps America’s most state-of-the-art brewhouse and craft brewery. At this point I make the very accurate observation that 99 percent of all of the craft breweries in America are run by former homebrewers, including the good folks at Redhook. Now that’s something special. It says a lot about why craft microbrewed beer is so special.
After a few good beers, including Red Hook Ale and Black Hook Ale, in their hospitality and restaurant area, there’s no time to waste. It’s onward to a 7 P.M. appearance at Peter Egelston’s Portsmouth Brewery for food, drink and addressing homebrewers gathered for the evening. It’s a fun place with great beer and a homebrew-friendly management.
Rolling out Samuel Adams Triple Bock Barrel in Boston
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SAM ADAMS TRIPLE BOCK HOMEBREW RECIPE
Truly the most complex and alcoholic bock beer in the world, this is the beer that began Boston Beer Company’s expedition to strive for extreme achievement. It’s the beer that put the brewing world on alert: nothing is impossible. Many brewers have since embarked on their own tangential brewing endeavors, but Sam Adams Triple Bock is the beer that turned the beer world. It is not an easy beer to make. Your success will require all of your brewing skills in order to manage the complex fermentation. Brewing a beer to 18 percent alcohol will be a challenge. Aging and cellaring in wooden casks to impart the unique characters of this beer will push your skills and patience to the limit. They said Triple Bock couldn’t be done. Likewise, you may believe you are not worthy to succeed. But that won’t stop you, will it? This recipe can be found in About the Recipes.
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Sandra and I duck out later in the evening with Peter and his partner JoAnne for a quiet late-night meal of delicious spicy-hot Thai food downed with—of course—local microbrewed ale. The food burns, and it feels good to chase it with a cold one.
Day 12: A snowstorm is impending. We move on to the Boston area, staying with my brother Rich’s family in Lexington. That evening they join us and 50 others at the Cambridge Hyatt Hotel for a beer tasting organized by local homebrewers and a gourmet dinner arranged by Jim Koch and his Boston Beer Company. There is always more to say, but let it suffice to tell you: good food, good company and the small oak keg of Sam Adams Triple Bock is something special for all of us. It goes well with the crème brûlée.
Day 13: A day off. We chill out and watch the snowstorm arrive.
Day 14: With eight inches of snow and still falling, we drive the last leg slowly to Boston’s Logan airport, return the car and know that we will soon be back home in Colorado. Sandra and I are both a bit worn, but energized. As she put it, “The people we met gave us a lot of energy all along the way.”
Beer in America’s Heartland
Fargo to Cleveland
AS SANDRA AND I slowly descend the airport escalator I’m staring downward, wondering what the small group of crazy, fanatical people are cheering and waving about. Sandra whispers in a worried tone, “Are these your friends?” I shrug, unknowingly. As we approach, I begin to make out the signs: “Welcome Charlie.”
Day 1: This is the beginning of an eight-day journey though America’s homebrewing heartland, from Fargo to Cleveland, in 2002. First stop—Fargo.
It doesn’t take long to figure it out: this small group of folks is representing the legendary Prairie Homebrewing Companions beer and homebrew club. It’s Monday, April 1, 2002, and they are not fooling around! There are already five inches of snow on