The other day Devon and I took a break from craft beer and headed down to GrandTen Distilling on South Boston's Dorchester Avenue (Dot Ave for you locals). As I type this I can already hear the gasps of horror, but never fear as we're here for beer...and gin. In the shadow of the booming craft beer industry, another younger, but potentially just as large, industry is bubbling up in the U.S. as distillers are taking a lesson from their craft brewer brethren (and sistren) and beginning the boom of craft spirits. If you look around locally, no matter where you are in the country, it's near certain that you can find some locally made quality spirits.

The German made still at GrandTen Distilling. In this picture they are making more Wire Works.

In this case, GrandTen is helmed by Matthew Nuernberger (the business mind) and Spencer McMinn (chemistry Ph.D./distiller). Spencer, or Spence for short, was around to give us the tour and tell us a bit about the operation. But, before we get into that, let me tell you why we're here.

Aside from craft beer, which is obvious, Devon and I both love good spirits. I'm particularly into tequila, we're learning more about whiskey and we both share a devotion to gin. It was a few weeks ago that I was sampling a Vermont-made version of this libation when I had a great idea...what if I paired this with a craft beer? It tasted and smelled like it could take on a big IPA so I cracked one open and was ecstatic with the results. The gin sharpened the hops. The hops accentuated the herbs in the gin. And the malt rounded off that alcohol punch you get from spirits. I thought myself to be a genius, until I took to Google. It turns out that beer with gin is a longstanding Dutch tradition called Kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-che; read more about it here) that dates back to the 1600's. Oh well, at least now I have an excuse to enjoy this delectable combination: it's traditional!

This brings us to why Devon and I are at the GrandTen Distillery in Southie. Fortuitously, soon after my Koptootje epiphany, I came across a distiller making Drink Craft Beer's favorite spirit not more than a mile from my apartment. We had to go! Local Kopstootje awaited! Lucky for us, Spence was more than happy to host these craft beer lovers with a taste for the historic.

GrandTen itself, much like most craft brewers, has a great story. Founders Matt and Spence are cousins. Matt produced the business plan as a part of his MBA project and recruited his cousin, Chemistry Ph.D. Spence, as the distiller. After raising money anywhere they could they rented some space in an old foundry in South Boston, brought in their fermenters and a still and got down to business...of course they also did several mini test batches on their micro still. Their first product is Wire Works Gin, named after a major product of the foundry they're currently housed in. With a surprising smoothness and almost no alcohol burn, the lemon and clove/pepper spiciness really comes to the forefront. As you sip more, you may note some coriander and juniper (both are a bit obvious since it's gin) in there. But the citrus and floral notes are what you'll really take away. That and the fact that this may be the most sippable gin we've ever tried.

At GrandTen, they pride themselves on using as many local Massachusetts ingredients as possible, but the recipe for Wire Works Gin is a tightly held secret since it's this blend that sets it apart. What Spence would tell us, though, is that it contains Massachusetts cranberries to give the gin some acidity.

Wire Works Gin in the foreground with other experimental liqueurs in the background.

Beyond gin, they've got a smokey, slightly spicy vodka called Fire Puncher (named after Tommy Maguire, a man who fought a fire at the foundry with his fists while awaiting firefighters), Medford Rum that is still sitting in molasses form at the distillery and a number of other things fermented and sitting around. These guys are very much into the experimentation end of distilling. Much of the more out there items stem from Spence's time living in France where he fell in love with the cordials and liqueurs of the region. These include an almond spirit, a liqueur flavored with angelica root and the fermented juice of about 12,000 apples, awaiting distillation, that they crushed one at a time and moved via five gallon buckets into the fermentation tank. The vodka is infused with chipotle and has had smoke bubbled through it, giving it a slow burn and a smokiness that creeps up on you the more you drink it. Of everything we tried, though, there was one central characteristic: smoothness. Everything we tried was totally comfortable to sip, which is rare for many of these styles.

At this point you're probably asking yourself, "Where does the beer come in?" And that's totally fair. It turns out that the guys at GrandTen love their beer almost as much as their distillate. So, when we shot them a message on Twitter, they were stoked to have us by and talk about Kopstootje. We rolled in one night with a cooler full of beer and they broke out bottles of their gin and other spirits and we set to pairing their fantastic gin with some beer...oh yeah, and we sampled a bunch of the experimental liqueur batches as well. Before we left, we came up with two great beer and gin Kopstootje pairings for Wire Works Gin.

Before we start, though, a word on process. Traditionally for Kopstootje you fill a tuliped, stemmed shot glass right to the brim next to your beer. Then you slurp the top of the gin, and sip the beer. Continue on, alternating between both, at your leisure and enjoy.

Jack's Abby Hoponius Union India Pale Lager & Wire Works Gin

When we said that Wire Works had a low apparent alcohol heat, we meant that in relation to other gins. When paired with Hoponius Union, though, it became downright dangerous as any burn was erased! The citrus notes from both liquids blend magnificently, accentuated the lemony taste in each. The gin really serves to bring out the hops while, when you take a second sip of beer, it re-emphasizes the gin somehow. At the very end, the flavors from both really blend into one experience which is delicious and quite different that either alone.

Peak Organic Summer Session & Wire Works Gin

This pairing was very distinct from how the Jack's Abby and Wire Works went together. In this case, the combination provided two very distinct flavors that never melded, just worked wonderfully together. The gin really showcased the brightness of this beer, while everything kept that gin kick at the end. Again, the citrus in both were delightful together, but these two pairings were really studies in how things can pair differently. With the Summer Session, you knew you were drinking gin!

After we left GrandTen, we have an even greater appreciation for fine spirits. Also, we love the idea of Kopstootje and think it can go beyond just gin into other combinations (tradition be damned, isn't that what craft beer is about? Bucking tradition in the name of innovation...while always keeping an eye on the what made the styles great originally). So keep an eye out for more great spirits from Spence and Matt at GrandTen and for more Kopstootje-style pairings from Drink Craft Beer.

What craft beers and spirits do you think would make some good Kopstootje pairings? Let us know in the comments below!

Nearly six years ago Devon and I launched a website called DrinkCraftBeer.com. While we had big dreams, we never thought that years later we’d be releasing a beer we brewed in collaboration with one of our favorite brewers, Chris Lohring, Owner/Founder/Brewer of Notch Brewing, maker of Notch Session Beers. So come join us on April 28th at The Lower Depths to find out what happens when Drink Craft Beer starts to make craft beer!

Drink Craft Beer & Notch Brewing Coffee Milk Stout Release Party

Where: The Lower Depths (476 Commonwealth Ave, Kenmore Square, Boston, MA 02115)
When: 11:30am - 3pm
What: Hang out with Devon & Jeff from Drink Craft Beer and Chris Lohring from Notch Brewing to drink our collaboration beer, DCB & Notch Coffee Milk Stout. We’ll be buying a round for some of the early comers and we’ll be giving away a free commemorative Drink Craft Beer / Notch Brewing 20 oz mugs to the first 40 people to order the beer.

RSVP on Facebook and then check out the complete photo album from our days at Kennebunkport Brewing Company!

Want to find out how this beer happened? Read on!

April 5th, 2012 - 3:45am

It’s 3:45am and not even the cup of strong coffee I’m holding is going to wake me up at this hour. We haven’t quite reached early morning, in fact this is still the middle of the night. The sky is black and sunrise is hours away. From craft beer people like us you might expect that this is the end of a crazy story. Far from it! This is actually the beginning of a very early Thursday...and I have to pick up Devon by 4:30am to stay on schedule!

Backstory

You may be asking, “Why are Devon and Jeff torturing themselves in this way?” and, to be honest, at this moment I’m thinking the same thing. We’ve got a good reason, though. It all started a couple of months ago when Devon and I came to the realization that we didn’t want to simply write about craft beer; we wanted to be a part of making it. The problem? While we homebrew, and have created more than a few delicious beers, we aren’t brewers on a professional level. Also, we didn’t want to compete with all the great people that we write about (that’s some stiff competition!). This brought us to a very intriguing idea: let’s work with brewers whose lineups we enjoy to put out beers that they otherwise wouldn’t make. A true collaboration beer! We’d stay true to their core style but put the Drink Craft Beer twist on it. It was genius!

If you’ve followed us on DrinkCraftBeer.com, our Twitter or our Facebook over the past year or so then you know that we’ve become quite friendly with Chris Lohring. Chris is a veteran of the New England brewing scene and a very talented brewer (for background, read our interview with Chris Lohring). Over beers at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge, MA (a couple rounds of Notch Cerne Pivo)  we made the case for a Drink Craft Beer / Notch Brewing collaboration beer, the idea being a coffee milk session stout. Notch brews only session beer (beer under 4.5% abv) and often draws on historical European styles for inspiration. Our thought was to take the Milk Stout, a traditional English beer right up Chris’ alley, and add some coffee. A true breakfast stout! Coming in at slightly under 4% abv, this would be a brew that you can have one or two of with breakfast and still have a productive day. Maybe it was the Cerne Pivo speaking, but Chris agreed to the plan and we had ourselves a concept! With further refinement, we finalized that we’d do this as a part of the Notch Brewing Cask Series, to be served in and around Boston, MA.

April 5th, 2012 - 4:00am

This brings us to where I left off...it’s the middle of the night and I’m driving to pick up Devon. Chris brews the Notch Cask Series at Kennebunkport Brewing Company (KBC) in Kennebunk, ME, where he apprenticed in the early days of his career. Devon and I live in Boston and we have a 7am brew time, which means we have to be on the road early if we’re going to be on time!

April 5th, 2012 - 6:45am

Well we made it to Kennebunk and run into Chris at H. B. Provisions while we’re grabbing a coffee (triple espresso, please) and an epic breakfast sandwich. Our brewmaster is here! Together we head over to the brewery and meet up with Mike Haley, Head Brewer at KBC and the guy who is so graciously allowing us to take over his place of work for the day.

Shortly after 7am we’re mashing in, with a little help from Mike who is an expert on this sometimes-quirky brewing system, and the day has begun. Shortly after, the grain and hot water is in the mash tun and we have some time before the next step. For those who homebrew, you probably think we have a little time right now to rest...wrong! At this point we have to measure out hops, lactose sugar (this is what makes it a milk stout) and yeast (by the pound!). Also, the unenviable task of cleaning casks falls to Chris, as they are his casks and he has told us multiple times about his rule: whoever dry hops a cask should have to clean it out. We watched him for a few minutes and, after smelling what came out, have to agree! Folks, when you get to drink a dry hopped cask beer say a word of appreciation to the guy or girl that has to clean it out afterwards! That is a gross job!

After an hour or so of the grain and hot water doing their thing, we get to move the wort (this is what you call unfermented beer) to the kettle to be boiled. Chris tells us that KBC’s mash tun is especially tricky to deal with because its dimensions make it prone to sticking if you’re not careful...so we make sure Mike is on hand to help, just in case, as we sparge and run the hot, sugary, viscous liquid over to the kettle.

April 5th, 2012 - about 11am

From here on out the process is very similar to homebrewing, to be totally honest. It’s just on a much bigger scale as we’re brewing 5 barrels of beer (FYI: a barrel is 31 gallons). The wort is in the kettle and it’s coming up to a boil. Also, we have to dispose of the grain...just like in homebrewing. Except today we used 280 lbs of grain, and now it’s soaking wet. I was the lucky one who got to scoop it out. Like I said, it’s just like homebrewing. Just way bigger!

During the boil, we add the hops, both bittering and flavor additions, as well as the lactose sugar. Aside from giving this style of beer its name, the lactose is there for another very important reason. The yeast that ferments sugar into alcohol (turning wort into beer) can’t consume lactose. At the same time, it has a very low sweetness to it. The purpose it has in beer is to give some extra body and a smooth mouthfeel. With this being a session beer, we thought it would be the perfect complement and offset the bitterness from the coffee. Once the boil is done, we whirlpool the beer for about an hour and, while that’s going on, run upstairs to the restaurant and grab a quick lunch. After that, it’s just a quick chilling of the wort and we run it into the fermenter where we’ll add yeast and let them do their thing for about a week. Then we call it a day.

April 11, 2012 - 6:00pm

Making a cup of coffee isn’t hard. Many of us do it every day. I do it several times per day, in fact. Making fifteen gallons of really good coffee? Now that’s a challenge that neither Drink Craft Beer nor Notch Brewing was up to! Luckily, just down the street from where I live is a fantastic coffee shop, called Wired Puppy, that makes delicious coffee. Earlier this week I’d talked to Wired Puppy owners Donna Vaillancourt and Robin Reid about sourcing our coffee from them. They were eager to get involved and I soon found myself in the Wired Puppy cafe on Newbury Street in Boston trying several different roasts and beans that they had available. For the Drink Craft Beer & Notch Brewing Coffee Milk Stout, we settled on a light roast Colombian bean. It had just enough roast and acidity that it would stand out against the beer, but a great dark fruit character that would help it meld with the lactose sweetness of the brew.

[Full tasting notes for our coffee from Wired Puppy: Our current lot of Colombian is from the La Esperanza farm; located in Trujillo of the Valle del Cauca.  Trujillo is part of Colombia's Central Cordillero (Range).  The coffee is grown at elevations of 1450 to 1650 meters (where top qualities are found).  Here temperate equatorial climates and moisture produce high density, aromatic and flavorful beans.

The coffee comes to us Certified Organic of course but also Rainforest Alliance certified.  This helps ensure the biodiversity of the coffee ecosystems as well as social fiber of the farm. The area is the meeting place of many rivers which in turn flow to the Cauca River; which winds North into the Caribbean Sea. The plentiful water sources make the area ideal for sugar cane farming also.

The cup is well balanced, with aromatic fruit tones, underlying milk chocolate, and the richness that Colombia is famous for.]

Tonight, the night before we put the beer into casks, I find myself picking up three buckets each full of five gallons of coffee. Now, if you’ve ever tried to drive with several buckets of coffee, you’ll know that the one thing they want to do more than anything else is tip over. I rig up my seat belts in ways that they were never meant to be used and prepare for a stressful drive to Maine tomorrow.

April 12, 2012 - 8:15am

Well, we’re back in Kennebunk, ME. It’s a week from when we were last here and the beer is now fermented and has been transferred by Mike and his team to a conditioning tank. It’s time to figure out the final blend ratio of coffee and beer, then we’ll put it all into casks. Today is the last day we’ll see our beer before it’s served at bars around Boston.

We carefully combine measured amounts of coffee and stout to taste. We want to get the blend just right so that neither coffee nor beer overwhelms the other. After getting the ratio perfect, we line up the casks and get ready to fill each one assembly line style. For each cask, we need to add a precisely measured amount of coffee, priming sugar (to carbonate the beer), extra lactose (a traditional English move we’re told) and, of course, beer.

Over the next hour we each take turns adding the ingredients. To make sure everything is evenly blended in the cask, we do something else traditional...we play soccer with each cask. You may ask what I mean by this? Well, with the kegs on their sides, two of us roll the cask back and forth using our feet. It may not be high tech, but it works...as long as you don’t knock over any of the buckets of sanitizing solution or accidentally bend a low-hanging pipe in the brewery!

After the last cask is topped off with beer, Chris hammers in the final plug and we’re good to go! We add labels to the casks, stack up all thirteen in the conditioning room and head back to Boston. Next stop for our beer? The distributor and then bars all over the Boston area, including the first tapping at Lower Depths in Boston, MA on Saturday, April 28th for brunch!

Are we going to do this again? You better believe it! I wonder who we’ll brew with next? Do you have any suggestions?

Where Can You Try the Drink Craft Beer & Notch Brewing Coffee Milk Stout?

On Saturday, April 28th both Devon and myself from Drink Craft Beer will be with Chris from Notch Brewing at The Lower Depths in Boston, MA for a brunch release event! Like we said, this is a beer that you can have a couple of with breakfast and still be ready for the day. So why not come have some beer for breakfast with us?!

From 11:30am to 3pm we’ll be at The Lower Depths while they tap the initial cask of the Drink Craft Beer & Notch Brewing Coffee Milk Stout. Pours will be only $5 and the first 40 people to order will get their beer in a commemorative 20oz Drink Craft Beer / Notch Session mug! Also, get there early as we’ll be buying a round for some of the early birds!

Where: The Lower Depths (476 Commonwealth Ave, Kenmore Square, Boston, MA 02115)
When: 11:30am - 3pm
What: Hang out with Devon & Jeff from Drink Craft Beer and Chris Lohring from Notch Brewing to drink our collaboration beer, DCB & Notch Coffee Milk Stout. We’ll be buying a round for some of the early comers and we’ll be giving away a free commemorative Drink Craft Beer / Notch Brewing 20 oz mugs to the first 40 people to order the beer.

RSVP on Facebook and then check out the complete photo album from our days at Kennebunkport Brewing Company!

To get the story from Notch Brewing, read Chris' blog post!

With St. Patrick's Day on Saturday, we're curious how you all plan to celebrate. For a long time, Guinness has been the unquestioned beer of choice for this day of revelry. But now, with the rise of craft beer, Guinness' position may be a bit more precarious...at least among a certain swatch of people.

We want to know, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, do you plan on drinking Guinness or do you plan on drinking some craft beer equivalents? Or, for a third option, will you have some of both? We know what we're doing...but we want to hear what you're planning on!

Vote below then let us know which way you went on Twitter, on Facebook or in the comments below the poll. Sláinte!

Yesterday for the first time this Winter we actually had some snow in the Northeast. There's been a couple flurries here and there but for the most part we've had an extremely warm Winter. When I got home yesterday and went to my fridge I grabbed a bottle of Mayflower Oatmeal Stout. The choice was almost Pavlovian, the mere image of snow makes me crave a nice, rich, malty beer. The fact is I've been favoring pales ales, lagers and even saisons this Winter far more than I have in past Winters. The warmer days just put me in the mood for different beer. So how about you, has this unussually warm Winter changed your drinking habits? Vote below in our poll and then sound off on Twitter, Facebook or the comments section below to let us know your thoughts.