This weekend I took my family out to New Hampshire to see my in-laws. Jenn was born and raised out there, and we hadn’t been home in a while. It’s a really nice area with a mixture of just about everything. Our plans were to go to Short Sands beach in York, ME one day and then have a bar-b-que at my sister-in-laws place on the next. It was a short visit, just enough to touch base with family.
On Saturday we spent the day at the beach. The day was hot, but the water was cold (about 55F). It is amazing that the kids don’t seem to be bothered by it. I get in and my legs get numb and then I need to get out. I did dive in one time just to say that I went “swimming”. On the way home we stopped by the Shipyard Brewpub (http://www.shipyard.com/) in Eliott, ME. This place is only about 2 years old, and they serve Shipyard beers that were brewed up in Portland. I had their Old Thumper and their Summer Ale, along with a quesadilla, out on their deck. I now have another place to stop when I come into town.
On Sunday, Jenn let me go exploring on my own. I entertained the kids in the morning while her and her mom ran errands. The afternoon was my turn to take a break. I went to downtown Portsmouth, and first visited the Coat of Arms (http://www.coatofarmspub.com/). This is a really nice English bar that traditionally has a small selection of casks to go along with some standard English drafts. I had the Shipyard Fuggles IPA on cask, and was tempted to try one of their pickled eggs. The coolest part of the bar was that there was already about 30 people there. They were all in kilts, and had their bagpipes lined up against the wall.
I then went to my favorite brewpub in the world, the Portsmouth Brewery (http://www.portsmouthbrewery.com/). In my single days, I would stop there after work at least twice a week to get a beer and some nachos. I went back for more of the same. I had my beer book out and was very discerning over what to order. My waitress, Autumn, was friendly and knew all of their beer styles, something that you can expect from their staff. She was from Rochester, NY, her husband was from Saratoga, I let her know that I had really enjoyed the Really Old Brown Dog and her recent favorite was the Hanami Ale. I had their Short Fuse on draft and on cask (comparison purposes you know), and then finished up with their Hefe-Weizen. The Short Fuse is an American Mild, and was very drinkable. The Hefe-Weizen went perfectly with the nachos. It came with the lemon on the side for as Autumn explained that most beer drinkers have come to expect it that way, but the brewer boasted that it didn’t need the lemon. I couldn’t have agreed more, it was excellent.
It was definitely a successful trip. - 4179
"What I like about beer is you basically drink it and order more. You don’t sniff at it, or hold it up to the light and slosh it around, or drone on and on about it, the way people do with wine." – Dave Barry
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