So, now you know the reason why I held off on my review of Portsmouth Brewery. I extended my vacation by a day and went up to Portsmouth for Kate the Great on Monday with a bunch of other beer geeks from RI. In fact, I was the designated driver of a 12 passenger van. I’m sure the question on anyone’s mind who hasn’t tried Kate the Great is “How is it?” Well… it’s awesome, but I’ll get to more on that later.
The final day of the Maine trip, we drove back from the Olde Saco Inn. Since we had a huge breakfast, none of us were hungry for a while. We decided it’d be a good idea to stop for lunch in Portsmouth, since it was already 2:00. We figured the Portsmouth Brewery would be the best place… and it was. We had to wait a little bit for a table, but it was worth the wait. Our hunger had crept up to us by then. We had a great waitress. The food was excellent. I had a chicken pesto sandwich with tortillas and salsa rather than fries. I was all fried out by then. I tried their Flanders Red with my lunch. The beer was great (though some disliked it on Monday, I still thought it was excellent). It was a bit tart and a little musty. Apparently, it’s not infected, but rather utilizes a sour mash to get that flavor. I still thought it was really good. Everyone else got their Oatmeal Stout, which is also excellent.
Anyway, back to Kate the Great Day… We got up bright and early and met at 6:00 to head up to Portsmouth that morning. We arrived around 8:30 to find that they had already started handing out calendar dates. They use page-a-day calendars as their numbers for the beer and call everyone up a month at a time. It actually worked out really smoothly and there weren’t any problems. By the time we had arrived, they were up to the beginning of July. We knew we would get our bottles because they released 900 bottles and there was a 2 bottle limit per person. After we got our bottles, we headed to the Friendly Toast for some breakfast. The place had no idea what was coming. They had 1 waiter on and a line of people out the door. They ended up calling in more and things started to calm down a bit. I had french toast, which was huge, and pretty good, but nothing overly special (the breakfast at Julian’s is much better).
Once we were nicely stuffed with food, which many of us failed to finish due to the sheer quantity, we headed out and wandered around Portsmouth while we waited for the brewery to open at 11:30. Around 11, we got in line outside the brewery and waited for the doors to open. As soon as we made it to the door, we headed to the downstairs bar, which I had no idea existed, and sat ourselves down right at the bar. It worked out great as a bunch of people we knew who had heckled us for waiting in line were without seats.
We hung out, chatted with various people, drank some beer, and killed some time before 1:14 when they tapped Kate. They had some great beers on, including their Oatmeal Stout dry-hopped with Columbus hops on cask, which we killed and was followed by their Dubbled dry-hopped with Saaz hops on cask. Both were excellent. Being the designated driver, I drank mostly water throughout the day.
As 1:14 arrived, the place went nuts, the bartenders went crazy filling glasses, and we were the first to get to try Kate the Great. The beer is a very thick black imperial stout. It has a lot of chocolate flavor to it, similar to, but not quite the same as, Southern Tier Choklat. There are some roasted undertones, a little coffee bitterness, some fruitiness, and a slight alcoholic warming. The beer, according to the bartender, is about 12.5% ABV. It drank like it had 9%. It was very heavy and I’m not sure I could have drunk more than one of them if I wanted to. While the party was going on, we all eventually got up and bought our 2 bottles and kept chatting with other beer geeks from RI and CT and all over New England and some from around the country.
By 3:30, it was time for more food. I ordered the steak and cheese, which was phenomenal. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a steak and cheese sub that was this good. It was juicy, full of flavor, and completely hit the spot. I washed it down with their Dirty Blonde Ale, as I was looking for something a bit lighter. The beer was an excellent blonde ale with a nice flavor and finish, but not heavy. The others ended up getting food and as things started to wind down, we decided it was time to head out. We made it back to RI around 7:00, but decided to head to Julian’s because they had Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien on tap, an expensive beer and supposedly the most expensive keg ever purchased in RI. That beer was also excellent, though in quite a different manner. It had a nice vinous quality to it and tasted like a cross between a gueuze, a Flanders red, and a biere de garde. At 15% ABV, it was strong, but the alcohol stayed hidden. The beer also changed quite a bit as it warmed up. It was a nice finish to a great day.
If you’re in New England and driving along 95, stop by the Portsmouth Brewery. It’s easy to find and the food and beer make it worth a stop. Portsmouth is a cool little town. It reminded me quite a bit of a smaller version of Burlington, VT. If you were at Kate the Great Day and got your 2 bottles, here’s a little tip. One of the guys in our group was chatting with Tod Mott, the brewer. He suggested you set the beer down for a year before opening it. That’s likely what I’ll do, though it will be very tempting to open. It’s a really good stout, deserving of the hype, and, in my opinion, the #1 spot on BA. Westvleteren 12 isn’t quite as deserving.
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