Pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests continue to take up tap lines as summer comes to a close. Derry After Dark is officially cancelled, but don’t worry, we can commiserate over a commemorative beer and pint glass and pour one out for the festival year that was not to be.
Pipe Dream
Pipe Dream Brewing Company in Londonderry released their newest IPA What’s Up Beaches?! (7.5 percent) in the last couple of weeks or so. It’s brewed with Ella, Topaz and El Dorado hops to make a refreshing and tropical brew.
They also recently dropped Maltzah Blueberry (4.5 percent), a freshly-brewed Malt-based beverage aged on 100 pounds of fresh blueberries. It’s light and fruity and reminiscent of hard seltzer.
On Sept. 4, they re-released Straight Outta Quarantine NEIPA (6.5 percent), a delicious tropical blend meant to be sipped and enjoyed in the sun. You won’t want to stay six feet apart from this well-balanced beer, made with a 7 C’s hop blend.
Rockingham
Rockingham Brewing Company in Derry released its annual pumpkin spice ale this weekend, called Gourdy (5.8 percent). It’s an amber ale made with pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg.
Daydreaming
So, Derry After Dark, the popular brewfest that was slated for Sept. 19, isn’t happening this year. What are we to do?!
Fear not. Festival organizers and owners of Daydreaming Brewing Company in Derry are brewing up a batch of I Waited In Line and All I Got Was This Damn Beer (11 percent), a Belgian strong dark ale, to take the edge off your grief.
It is expected out in about three weeks with a commemorative DAD 2020 glass (limited supply). Ticket holders can hold onto them for next year or mail them in for a refund. (Be cool, and hang onto them.)
Organizer and brewer Andy Day had this message to share:
“We know. You were looking forward to the Derry After Dark Brewfest this year… you waited in line, got tickets and then this stupid virus comes along and messes it up. We made this beer to be shared with friends, to both commiserate, and commemorate, after dark (socially distanced, of course).
We look forward to next year, but in the meantime raise a glass to you fine people who stood in line for tickets to our little brewfest!”
The beer is described as having rich, bold and fruity esters with a strong malty backbone and notes of dark chocolate, plums and figs.
Martha’s Exchange
A bunch of fall-themed beers are available on tap right now at Martha’s Exchange brewpub in Nashua.
Firstly, their Oktoberfest Lager (6.3 percent) is a class German autumn lager with rich toasted maltiness and a crisp noble hop finish.
Check out The Hoplar Effect DIPA (7.6 percent), a juicier double IPA with aromas and flavors of pineapple, citrus fruits and a soft bitterness. It also has a clean hoppy finish.
Celebrate the return of stout season with Inspiration Stout (5.4 percent), with a chocolate-covered coffee bean nose, rich toasted malt and a hint of earthy hop underneath.
If you’re looking for something more tart, try the Fruiticopia Kiwi Sour (3.8 percent), a refreshing kettle sour with hints of lemon and the “righteous tartness of kiwi.”
And finally, a twist on the pumpkin ale, the Pumpkinweizen (5.9 percent). It’s made with roasted pumpkin added to a creamy German wheat beer with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg.
They also have to-go options of 16-oz. cans, 32-oz. crowlers and 64-oz. growlers from the brewpub for all of their draft beers.
Moonlight/ Hidden Moon
Moonlight Meadery and Hidden Moon Brewing in Londonderry is working on brewing their next Hidden Moon beer/braggot, a Russian Imperial Stout. It’s being brewed on Monday and will be out in about a week, available in growlers only.
The owners also wanted to share that their Kurt’s Apple Pie (14 percent) mead placed at No. 15 in the National Honey Board Honey20, a list of made-with-honey beverages that judges say have impacted our drinking experiences for the last 200 years.
Lithermans
Last Wednesday, Lithermans Limited Brewery dropped Little Miss Strange (8.2 percent), a West Coast double IPA available in the taproom and through wholesale.
Also, keep an eye out for their fifth-annual pumpkin (no spice) beer Quadracalabasia, made with local pumpkins and graham crackers roasted by local community college students.
It is being brewed now, and will be ready for release in about three weeks or so.
Got Brew News? Send it to ryanlessard@gmail.com
