Raspberries, blueberries and grapefruit, OH MY! A rising tide of sours is crashing down with a Tiki-inspired sour, a sour IPA, another with iced tea and lemonade, a sour with sea-salt and coffee and more sours with all the blueberries and raspberries you can dream of.
603 Brewery
On May 21, 603 Brewery in Londonderry will be releasing a new beer under its experimental E09 label called E09 Lono (9 percent) at the Beer Hall. It’s a Tiki-inspired sour ale with notes of fresh-cut pineapple, Meyer lemon, toasted coconut and a hint of orange. The brewery is offering online presale, and a custom tiki glass made alongside it.
It will be available marketwide the following week.
Then, on Thursday, June 3, the brewery will unveil its 9th Anniversary NH DIPA Collaboration Brew (9 percent). For this year’s anniversary brew, they decided to collaborate with 14 different breweries in the state, who came together on May 3 to brew.
The beer is a double-dry-hopped double IPA with Galaxy, Strada, Ella and NZ-107 hops. It’s brewed with orange and blossom honey. It will be served on tap exclusively at the 603 Beer Hall and at some of the partner breweries.
The breweries that collaborated on the beer are Able Ebenezer, Ancient Fire, Backyard, Daydreaming, Deciduous, Smuttynose, From the Barrel, Kelsen, Long Blue Cat, Martha’s Exchange, Moonlight Meadery, Rockingham, To Share and Henniker.
Stark
Stark Brewing Company in Manchester released Creamsicle Pilsner (5 percent). It’s described as an ice cream mix of blood orange and marshmallow.
Also out is Ghost Sour IPA (5.2 percent), made with passion fruit and pineapple; Drunken French Toast (5.3 percent), a dark lager that tastes like French toast; Dark Maple Porter (5.4 percent), made with New Hampshire maple syrup; Merlinweizen (5.5 percent), a traditional hefeweizen made with German yeast that offers notes of banana and clove; and Zeus Belgian Wit (5.4 percent), which has notes of clove and orange.
Pipe Dream
On May 14, Pipe Dream Brewing Company in Londonderry released Berrylicious Sour Ale (5.7 percent), a wild sour ale rich with berry flavor. It’s aged on 900 pounds of blackberries and blueberries.
Next, on May 25, the brewery will drop Straight Trippin’ Triple IPA (10.5 percent). This triple IPA is hazy orange in color and presents notes of floral peaches and stone fruit. It’s triple-dry-hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops to provide a juicy brew with a dry finish.
Kelsen
On May 22, Kelsen Brewing Company in Derry will release two new Cryptic beers, which is its experimental sour label.
Revel (5 percent) is a sour ale made with blueberries and raspberries. Seascape (4.8 percent) is a sour ale made with grapefruit, sea salt and Peruvian coffee roasted at Flight Coffee Co.
Ancient Fire
Ancient Fire Mead & Cider in Manchester is coming out with Mango Tea-some (7 percent), on May 19. It’s made with apple, mango and green tea, with some blueberry blossom honey. It’s described as semi-sweet but tart and refreshing. Available on tap or in growlers to go.
Also on May 19, the meadery is releasing Fuzzier Still (7 percent), peach-made version of Cruising Elm, a Concord grape draft mead. This mead is described as peachy, juicy, sweet and “super crushable.” It will be available on tap or in growlers to go.
On May 26, Ancient Fire will bring back The Hibster (7 percent) after a two-year absence. It’s a combo of Jamaican hibiscus and short-boiled Enigma hops with orange blossom honey. Brewers say Enigma hops are a relatively new variety, which lend the brew aromas of raspberries and red currants. It will be available on tap or in growlers to go.
Daydreaming
Daydreaming Brewing Company in Derry has released its BRB Belgian Pale Ale (5.2 percent). Brewers say it’s their take on a classic style, using the French Barbe Rouge hop to complement the Belgian esters with a bouquet of bright berry flavors, followed by a rich, malty backbone. It will be available in the Daydreaming taproom and at the XO Bistro on Elm in Manchester.
Lithermans
Lithermans Limited Brewery in Concord will be re-releasing I Will Survive (5 percent) sour ale in cans on May 21. It’s an iced tea and lemonade sour ale, with tea from Revelstoke Cafe in Concord. The beer is already available on tap in the taproom and some restaurants.
A portion of the proceeds from all can sales at the brewery and all keg sales to restaurants will be donated to the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence.
