German sour beers and lagers are making a comeback, popular NEIPAs like Cone Zone and LL Cool Haze are back on stage, and you can’t go wrong with barrel-aged beers and barleywines.
And don’t miss a week’s worth of events marking the 5th anniversary of Rockingham Brewing!
WHAT’S ON TAP?
Rockingham Brewing Company
Rockingham Brewing in Derry is celebrating their 5th anniversary this weekend with a string of new beers and events.
On Wednesday (Feb. 19) they released the 2020 batch of Three Little Pigs (9.2 percent), their Belgian Tripel.
Then, on Saturday (Feb. 22), they will release their 5th anniversary beer No Sleep Since Brooklyn (11.5 percent), an imperial rye ale aged on vermouth oak chips in rye whiskey barrels with orange peel and maraschino cherries.
See the events section below for more details about special events the brewery is hosting this week to mark the anniversary.
Backyard Brewery
Backyard Brewery in Manchester is coming out with three new beers this week.
First is a traditional German-style doppelstucke called What the Hell is a Doppelstucke (12 percent). This doppelstucke has been aged in red wine barrels for two years.
The brewery is also releasing Casperita (4.3 percent), a gose that was aged in tequila barrels. The taste is described as part sour, part agave, part oak and salty with a citrus finish.
The third beer is an imperial stout called Merit Badge (12 percent). It’s made with maple syrup and coffee and aged in brandy barrels.
Stark Brewing Company
Stark Brewing in Manchester will have the following beers on tap at the brewpub: Beermisu Stout (5.3 percent) is a sessionable, sweet stout flavored with cold-brewed coffee, dark sugar and chocolate. It will be available until March. Raspberry Lime Sour (3.5 percent) is a flavored version of Stark’s house Berliner Weisse that features raspberry puree and key lime juice for a crisp and refreshingly tart brew available until April.
A couple new releases include Bison IDA (8 percent), an Indian dark ale, hoppy and brown with a British malty mouthfeel and a blend of citrus and pine hop notes; and Chocolate Pumpkin Porter (5.3 percent), a drinkable dark ale that incorporates pumpkins, some subtle spicing and cocoa in the finish. Both are available until May.
Candia Road Brewing
Candia Road in Manchester just released their Czech-style pilsner You Proppin? (4.9 percent) over the weekend. It’s described as a crispy yellow lagerbier with slight breadyness and a crisp, smooth finish.
They also re-launched their staple New England-style IPA Cone Zone (6.5 percent), which is made with citra and mosaic hops with massive citrus flavors and ripe candied fruit.
Odd Fellows Brewing Company
Odd Fellows in Nashua just re-released their DIPA Tropical Thunder (8.3 percent) on Valentine’s Day. It’s packed full of mango and habanero on top of a massive dry-hop.
Long Blue Cat Brewing
Last Saturday (Feb. 15), Long Blue Cat Brewing in Londonderry re-released its Klementine Kolsch (4.2 percent), a crisp, German-style beer with a hint of real clementines and clementine zest. It’s described as a very approachable, easy-drinking beer.
Lithermans Limited
Lithermans in Concord is dropping Big Truck (9.6 percent), a barrel-aged barleywine, and re-releasing LL Cool Haze (8 percent), their New England-style double IPA, both on Thursday (Feb. 20).
They’re also going to be re-launching Cherry Bomb (4.8 percent) on Friday (Feb. 21). It’s a sour Berliner Weisse.
EVENTS
Rockingham Brewing in Derry is putting on a series of events all week long to celebrate five years in business.
Three Little Pigs’ latest batch release at Rockingham was celebrated with a ticketed event on Feb. 19 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. during which a six-year vertical of Three Little Pigs from 2015 to 2020 and a four-year vertical of Cloven Hoof (7.1 percent) was on tap.
On Thursday (Feb. 20), from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Rockingham is hosting an event called Collaboration Nation, which will highlight 10 beers they’ve made over the years in partnership with companies like Tuckaway Tavern, Renegade’s Pub, The Hidden Pig, Dockside Restaurant, The Grid Rail Trail Cafe, Cask & Vine, Lazy Dog Beer Shoppe, Apollo Vineyards and From the Barrel.
On Friday (Feb. 21), from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Rockingham will holding an event called 2018 & Today, during which they will be tapping a combination of limited barrel-aged beers from 2018 like Red Dragon, their Belgian Quad aged in chianti barrels — and Bourbon Barrel Aged Beardsley, their white chocolate macadamia nut blonde stout, along with some of the freshest beers of today, like a new batch of Guinea Pig, their experimental NEIPA and Habanero Javelina IPA.
Along with the aforementioned 5th-anniversary beer coming out Saturday (Feb. 22), Rockingham will also have some fan favorites and limited releases on tap, like their first-ever batch of Belly of the Beast (8.6 percent), their bacon imperial stout from 2015.
Finally, on Sunday (Feb. 23), Rockingham will have Messy Mike’s BBQ in the house and they’ll be tapping a fresh batch of Mixed Berry Curly’s Gold (5.1 percent), an American wheat ale made with fresh berries, and rotating the taps for the limited beers released in the prior four days.
Got Brew News? Contact Ryan Lessard at ryanmlessard@gmail.com
