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 We’ve known about the best brewery on Martha’s Vineyard for a while now. And, while it’s Martha’s Vineyard’s only brewery, if there were others it would still be the best. We’re of course speaking of Offshore Ale Company. We came to speak with new brewer, Joe Cleinman, who has had a short but interesting time in the industry so far. He started out with a love of beer in college at Vassar, where he started teaching a beer tasting class and home brewing classes. He also worked as a tour guide at Brewery Ommegang, the Belgian style brewery in Cooperstown, NY.
When his friends bought a complete brew structure, it seems he basically took over the operation of brewing on that. After setting it up for them, he would brew often while showing people how it worked and how to brew. As a junior in college, earning his degree in Biology, he became friendly with some of the Ommegang brewers and moved up to become an assistant brewer.
 Above: Joe Cleinman - brewer
We got to Offshore quite early for our interview so we could enjoy some of the quality beer and food that they make. While we were sitting at the bar, we struck up a conversation with a gentleman named Jürgen from Germany. He says he comes every summer and one of the big reasons is Offshore Ale Company. He was drinking the Hefeweizen and said it’s one of the best; comparable to anything in Germany. Now we’ve traveled far for beer, as many of you know. But from Germany? Most people go there for beer. We were duly impressed at the reviews he gave to Offshore, and were even more excited than ever to have this brewery just a short ferry ride away! |
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Read more... - Interview with Joe C...
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We recently discovered Gardner Ale House at a local beer festival. Having never tried any of their offerings, we were amazed at the quality of the beer. We knew then that we had stumbled upon something special and wanted to learn more. We headed out to Gardner, MA to speak with Dave Richardson, the brewmaster, to get the inside scoop on this brewpub.
As you walk in the bar is instantly inviting, with a nicely dark atmosphere that just makes you want to relax with a nice pint. A long bar runs almost the length of the brewpub along with ample seating at tables.
Dave Richardson, Gardner’s brewmaster, began his path to becoming a brewer in college. While at school at UVM Dave discovered the craft beers of Vermont such as Catamount (now defunct), Otter Creek, The Shed and others. His summer after college Dave tells us: “I was home, looking for a job. So my mom, she’s probably sick of me or something, says “You know Rick down the road? He brews beer once a week. You should go over and check that out.” Rick Walton, a family friend would later become the owner of Gardner Ale House.
Out of college and working a state job, Dave began apprenticing for free with Jeff Browning at Brü Rm. At BAR in New Haven CT. Working on a 10 gallon system he became more interested in brewing. Dave continued to brew with Rick Walton when he headed home for holidays the two often pipe dreaming about opening a brew pub. Expressing dislike for his current job Rick mentioned how he heard about some brewing schools. Two weeks later Jeff Browning mentioned the same schools. In a twist of fate Dave was laid of from his job, there were cutbacks and anyone new they got rid of. It was then that he took out loans to attend UC Davis brewing school.
After leaving brewing school he went to work for Redhook in Portsmouth for 3 years. Its here that the story of Gardner Ale House, and our interview begins.
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Read more... - Interview with Dave ...
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Hi all! It's time for our third beer tasting down at Bauer Wine and Spirits on Newbury St. Its officially summer now and its time we presented you with some good summer beers. Without giving too much away up front we can say there will be some very special surprises at this tasting. Surprises that involve us taking a car, then a bus, then a ferry to get them for you. If you've figured out what we're talking about, well then we know you're excited, if you haven't, well come by and find out why people are excited. But enough of that, on to the beer!
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Read more... - DCB July Summer Beer...
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It's no secret that we're big fans of local beer. So, when we found out Sherwood Forest was launching a new beer, Sheriff's IPA, we wanted to get the inside scoop. Sherwood Forest was one of the very first breweries to start canning craft beer with their Archer's Ale (pictured in bottle form on the right). We spoke with Dave Lambert, the owner of Sherwood Forest, about the launch of the new product. It turns out that the launch of Sheriff's IPA is just one of a few new products coming out. Read the full interview bellow:
DCB: First of all we noticed you're expanding your offerings. What made you decide to launch Sheriff's IPA and can you give us any details on this new offering?
Dave Lambert: We decided to come out with this due to a lot of feedback from our loyal fans and distributors. We have had only one style since we started back in1997, at that time we focused on getting the archer ale right and making a quality consistent English Ale. Once we felt we had been able to do that successfully we then decided to branch out to another style. With the IPA there is much more acceptance of this style and more and more are discovering that a well balanced hoppy IPA is a wonderful experience. Sheriff's uses Centennial, Cascade and Nugget with domestic 2 row pale malt and English Caramalt the result is an ABV of 6.0% and produces an American India Pale Ale, a bitterness, flavor and aroma dominated by these hops yet balanced with premium English specialty malts. A deep golden copper, clear and precise is the result and one that fits into our theme with the Sheriff! DCB: Who/what inspired you to own a brewery? For Jon (Sherwood Forest's Brewer) or you, who/what inspired you to start brewing?
Dave Lambert: We just loved beer and both of us home brewed before we got into the business. We knew nothing about distribution or selling or anything else that goes into building a successful brewery. We just knew that we enjoyed beer and the process of making it! DCB: Do you or have you homebrewed? If so, what was your most recent batch?
Dave Lambert: Yes we both have homebrewed; I have not done it now in over 3 years as Jon is in charge now of all of the test batch brews. I still have my homebrew system but have been to busy lately with building the business! DCB: One trend that seems to be growing right now is the double/imperialization of almost every style. What's your take on this trend? Is this just a brewing fad or something you think will stick around?
Dave Lambert: I think that you stick with the basics when it comes to brewing; we have been probably too conservative in what we do; but we know what our customers look for from us. I think that this is more of a luxury to those that do doubles etc...we try to run a tight ship and we watch everything that we do and this does not fit into who we are.
DCB: Back in April 2006 you spoke with the Boston Globe about cannedbeer. At the time it was a tough sell for some accounts. Is that still the case, or have you seen a change in the market now that more breweries are moving to cans?
Dave Lambert: We were the 2nd company to do the canning in all of the U.S.; there was us and Dale's and that was it. When I spoke back then many did not understand why you would take a craft brewed ale and put it into a can! Fast forward to today there are now many small craft breweries canning and it is becoming much more accepted here in the U.S. as a unique way to package great craft brewed ales and lagers. We just loved the idea of drinking our product from a can while still realizing that the taste profile and flavor are not affected by the can at all. We have many customers who drink only the can which is great to see! So when I mentioned that it was a tough sell this was because we were the only ones out here on the East Coast out there all alone. Now we have many more who have come to see this as a great craft package!
DCB: Do you see yourself expanding your market? If so, where to?
Dave Lambert: Yes; currently we are in MA,CT,RI and NH so this is a lot to handle as is, but we have gotten many request to expand this distribution footprint but are just not in a position right now to produce enough product, this may change in the next year or two but right now we are pretty busy with what we have.
DCB: Coming back to your new beer offerings, how do you decide on which beer to bring to market? Is it driven by a desire to bring out a certain style? How many tests do you go through before the right beer is made?
Dave Lambert: This is a decision that our board makes! Jon and I!!! We both love IPA's and always wanted to bring our own to the market. Many of our loyal fans asked us for another style and we wanted to have one that even if it did not do well we could have a hefty supply for our own consumption!!
DCB: Adding a new brand is always a big move, but is there anything else other than the IPA in the near horizon?
Dave Lambert: Yes, Friar's Belgian White and Maiden's Blueberry
DCB: Anything else we should know about?
Dave Lambert: We are just a couple of guys getting up every day and loving what we do while trying to make sure we keep the Sheriff at Bay!!! So there you have it! We've tried the Archer's Ale, in fact we drank a couple over the 4th of July and it's quite tasty, so give it a shot next time you see it. We haven't tried the IPA yet as it wasn't yet out at the time of this interview, but keep a look out for it at your favorite store. |
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 We wanted to start something new with this feature; we’re picking a more expensive beer and letting you know what we really think about it. Spending $15+ on a beer can be tough, so we’re spending our hard earned cash and letting you know if it’s worth yours. We’ll tell you who will probably like this beer, instead of giving it a number, and will go much more in-depth than we normally do. With that out of the way, on to the beer!
Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter
Price: $16.99
Volume: 750ml
ABV: 9.5%
(for anyone trying to do that math the alcohol to volume comes out to the equivalent of about 5 regular beers)
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Read more... - Flying Dog Barrel Ag...
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Do you remember us telling you about Mayflower Brewing Company? In Plymouth, MA?
http://drinkcraftbeer.com/forum/beer/new_massachusetts_craft_brewery.html
Well, have we got news for you!!! Matthew Steinberg, the storied brewer for Offshore Ale Company, and the creator of such beers as Hop Goddess, Rye Hop, Inkwell Double Stout, Fogcutter Breakfast Porter, Laughing Laird Scotch Ale, Stonewall Double IPA and more is leaving Offshore for Mayflower! As their head brewer! They will take delivery of their 20bbl brew system at the beginning of September 2007, and we should start seeing batches soon after that.
Can you wait? Because we sure can't!!! This means two things: 1. Get out to offshore before the end of the summer just to say hi to Matt and have some of his last Offshore brews. 2. Get ready for a whole lot of great new stuff from Mayflower brewing! More news to come. |
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Rob Leonard started making beer in his kitchen. 1992 saw him land a home brewers dream job at New Haven Brewing… cleaning kegs and packing cases. But his obvious passion for the brewing craft led him to the title assistant brewer and eventually head brewer in a short three years. Fast forward a few years: Rob has become the brewmaster and operations manager for New England Brewing. In 2001, when the owners wanted to get out of the brewery business, Rob immediately took the opportunity to acquire the name of the company and re-locate the whole business to Selden Street in Woodbridge, CT… just down the street from the kitchen where he first started making beer. It’s this location where he makes his assortment of canned beers, including Atlantic Amber, Sea Hag IPA, and Elm City Lager as well as his limited bottled offerings such as Imperial Stout Trooper. And now he talks to DrinkCraftBeer.com… |
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Read more... - Interview with Rob L...
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Hey all! Some exciting news from the DCB team. We now offer a selection of shirts! To check out our new offerings simply click the "DCB Store" tab on the top menu. Please let us know if you'd like to see other products as well and we'll do our best to accommodate. Here are a few samples of the new offerings:
    Cheers! Devon and Jeff
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Hi all! As some of you may know, we embarked on a journey down the east coast visiting as many breweries as we could in 10 days. It started out as a list of 10, but quickly became bigger. Many hours and many miles (3000) later we made it home, safe, sound and very tired! But, we had the time of our lives, met some great people, drank some delicious beer and learned a ton! Plus we saw a lot of the east coast, found out about local beer scenes all over and saw how beer truly does bring people together. We started out with 10 breweries on our itinerary. Everywhere we went, though, people would recommend more places and offer to put in phone calls or help us in whatever way we needed. While we couldn’t go everywhere (time just didn’t allow it), we went everywhere we could. We hit 16 breweries and 4 great restaurants/bars for a total of 20 destinations. We could have done this for a month and still had more places to go based solely on recommendations. Huge thanks to everyone who helped us out on this trip, family and friends, new and old!
We've chronicled our trip for you to experience now. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventure and viewing the pictures we got. We've took some of the first pictures out there of DFH's new 100 barrel brew house!
Click on any of the breweries below for our full write up! Let us know what you think in the forum as well. Click here after you check out the tour!
Thomas Hooker Brewery
Sixpoint Brewery
Brooklyn Brewery
River Horse Brewing CO.
Bethlehem Brewing Co.
Triumph Brewing Co.
Flying Fish
Sly Fox
Dogfish Head Brew Pub
Dogfish Head Brewery
Sweetwater Brewing
Iron Hill
Victory Brewing
Stoudt's Brewing
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