Spring Beer Releases
Notch Saison Six Packs. Workers unite! Our funky little farmhouse friend, Notch Saison, hits six packs in mid-March for year round consumption. This was always the intent, but the 22oz release was to test out the reception of a Saison brewed to its original, workers beer strength. I was a bit humbled with the response [...]
Černé Pivo!
There are certain beers you’ll never get a chance to brew. Either the market does not exist, or the means to brew them are out of your reach. Sometimes both. For the longest time I worked in an ale only brewery, and lagers were never on my radar. So a Czech style Černe Pivo was [...]
More Notch Press
All, or most, Notch press assembled here for your curious mind. End of Year Lists and Fun Stuff. Boston Globe – Notch Saison review (“very tasty”) in the year of Saison. Drink Craft Beer – Top beers of 2011, including Notch Saison Brewbound – 2011 Trends, including that session beer thing Brew England – Notch [...]
Valley Malt Event – GO!
Beer events in Boston happen almost daily. Every week there seems to be new beer release, brewery event, special cask, etc, etc. And it’s all good. Especially good for the Boston area beer scene that for too long has been dominated by breweries from far away places. Finally, the local scene has been stealing the [...]
Updates, including Saison news.
Some quick updates on beer releases and such. Notch Saison With little or no fanfare, as is warranted for a worker’s beer, Notch Saison has been promoted to year round status starting this week. This was always the intent, as Notch Saison is a “courante” saison (everyday saison), but I wanted to test the demand for [...]
BSA Harvest Ale
Notch’s second limited release, our new BSA Harvest Ale, was previewed at the Gulu Gulu in Salem during North Shore Beer Week last Thursday, and we’ll do the same tonight, October 7th at Clover in Harvard Square at 8PM. So it’s time for a bit of background on our first beer with an acronym in [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
Boston Globe Ink (and Vid).
A little humbled at the attention received today in the Boston Globe. First, a nice article on the emerging craft beer scene in greater Boston, including Notch and a half dozen other local start-ups. Second, a video of me and Rob Martin of Ipswich Ale Brewery talking like the old school brewers we have become. At one [...]
Time for a worker's beer.
It’s time to celebrate Summer with a beer of refreshment and nourishment – a worker’s beer. Summer is no time for a beer of kings or royalty, it’s time for a beer that slakes our thirst and reminds us that flavor is not a compromise when refreshment is required. So this week, this first week of Summer, we [...]