After a much needed stop at a Starbucks in Portland, ME, I was back on the road. This time, the oldest brewery in New Hampshire was on the agenda for lunch. The
Portsmouth Brewery opened its doors to all of us bloggers, letting us taste everything we wanted and serving us tasty morsels to boot. My favorite pint was the Ginga Ninja, a ginger IPA with lots of flavor and just the right amount of ginger to compliment the hops. Before leaving Portsmouth, I made sure to check out the
Redhook Brewery facility. Looking just like the one back home, I circled the parking lot and headed down to Boston.
On a good tip from local beer blogger
Two Girls One Beer, I headed into the Belmont area to stock up on some canned beers from the
Craft Beer Cellar. Over the years, I have realized that stashing cans in my luggage, in lieu of bottles, decreased the likelihood that my cargo would turn everything I owned into beer soup. I picked up a dozen or so cans of East Coast brews and then was off to fight some downtown Boston traffic.
With the tour bus full of all my Pre Conference friends stuck in traffic, I perused the trade show in the hotel lobby. Lots of samples kept me entertained until 150 beer bloggers boarded three tour buses to head on out to the
Boston Beer Company. Greeted with a can of Boston Lager, we all gathered in the brewhouse to hear some words from Julia Herz of the Brewers Association and Jim Koch from the Boston Beer Company. Small group barrel room tasting of the ever sought after Utopia, buffet style small plates made with Samuel Adams beer, and lots of great conversation made this evening a hit. It was hard to believe that once we got on the bus there was yet another event to attend at Stoddards.
Pyrates, pints, and poets...oh my! Arriving at
Stoddard's Fine Food and Ale we were met with tasting glasses, eyepatches, and limericks to solve, courtesy of
Heavy Seas. When it didn't seem like we could taste yet another beer, we rallyed and enjoyed them all. My standout favorite was Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels. I eagerly passed around my tasting glass for others to try, which left me with an empty glass. Good thing unlimited tastes were the theme of the night. A couple more brews down the hatch and then we all called it a night.
