Merry Trip to Merrimack

On the road again for work, and this time close to one of my old stomping grounds, Manchester, NH. My buddy Mike and I were off to Merrimack, and we were passing by some good brewpubs along the way. So since I volunteered to drive, Mike let me choose where we went for dinner. So with the help of Mike’s Garmin, we were off to eat and drink.

So on the way out, we stopped at the Lowell Beer Works (http://www.beerworks.net/home/index.html). I love the Boston Beer Works across from Fenway, and was excited to find out that they had open a branch off of I495. The beers were similar to those at the Boston location (Mike got the Bluebeery Ale with floating blueberries in every glass, Jenn’s favorite), and they offered samplers in groups of 4. Since they had 16 beers on tap, Mike got a kick out our waitress’ reaction to me asking to sample them all. So I enjoyed my Red Snapper sandwich with a taste of each of the beers. They were highlighting their Irish beers for the month of March, so I got enjoyed both their Irish Cream Stout and their Crimson Clover Irish Red ale. Of their other beers, their Shasheen Light (I normally don’t recommend light beers but this had a really good mouthfeel to it) and their Belgian Quadruple (at 13% ABV it definitely was at the other end of the spectrum). Mike was amazed, and we called it an evening.

The next day we had our meeting, and as we expected the meeting ran long. No worry, since right down the road in Nashua was Martha’s Exchange (http://www.marthas-exchange.com/). I love this pub; white table cloths, homemade chocolates, excellent food and even better beer. I ordered the Spankopita (the owner must be Greek) which is a spinach pie with phyllo crust, and to wash it down I had the Revolution Red on cask. I have to say that the beer was delicious, but it was served too warm. The waitress said it was at room temperature, but it should be at cellar temperature. I then had the D.R.A.K.E. on draft (Divinely Righteous All Kentish Extravaganza), which was served just right. It was a nice break (still had a 3 hour drive to get home), and I was able to get some chocolate for Easter (I recommend the chili pepper truffles).

And once again I was able to do some of my favorite things, such as sharing good beer with a friend. Cheers! - 5446

"Work is the curse of the drinking class." – Oscar Wilde