Monday February 9th, 2009 saw well over 1,000 beer enthusiasts converge on the small city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Now, this is a town used to its share of tourists but that’s usually during the summer. What could have brought this many people out on a cold February Monday? The answer is Portsmouth Brewery’s Kate the Great Imperial Russian Stout. Brewed only once or twice per year, depending on their ability to brew it, this brew has seen a huge surge in popularity lately. A few years ago, Kate the Great would go on tap and last for a few months. Now, you’re lucky to get a glass after a few days… and if you want to get a bottle you’d better get it in the first few hours.
Imperial Russian Stout is a style that, just as the name implies, was originally brewed for the Russian Czarist court, specifically that of Katherine the Great (does the Portsmouth Brewery’s beer name make sense now?). It had to be brewed extra strong because it was made in England and then shipped across the Baltic Sea to Russia. Had English brewers concocted these beers to be of the regular session strength, they would have spoiled and/or frozen on the way to the Russian royalty. To give you a number, as an example, Kate the Great clocks in at over 10% alcohol by volume.
More of the upstairs bar crowd.
The crowd in the upstairs bar.
So what happened in last couple years to cause this beer to reach such cult status? Well, a few things. First, as the popularity of craft beer grows there are more and more people who are willing to drink and even seek our Imperial Russian Stouts. Second, the idea of a special release day for limited quantity beers has been drawing more and more people to breweries all over the country. It seems that now all you have to do to draw some attention to your brewery is brew a high octane beer and tell people there’s not much of it and you can only get it on one day. Third, and lastly, Kate the Great was rated the best beer in the country by BeerAdvocate magazine in 2007, fueling the hype.
Obviously, we at DrinkCraftBeer.com had to be there for this event. It’s right outside of Boston, after all… and we do love Imperial Russian Stout!
Manager Brennen Rumble
900 bottles of this beer was slated to be released at 1:14pm with each person receiving an allotment of two bottles. In total, 450 people would get bottled Kate the Great. To organize the event, the Portsmouth Brewery staff was going to hand out tickets in the order people arrived in so that there wasn’t chaos at 1:15. This meant we had to get there early to stake out claim.
We got there promptly at 9:30am only to be handed number 342 out of 450… and were needless to say a little bit shocked. Did they mean to tell us that 341 people had assembled in downtown Portsmouth before 9:30am for a beer release that was happening at 1:14pm in a brewpub that didn’t open until 11:30am? Yes… yes they did mean to tell us just that we soon discovered. The first people had been there since at least 7am. To put it in perspective, the last time this beer was released we showed up around 10:30am and received a number well below 100. And the last release was in June… this is February in New England!
Brewmaster Tod Mott
While waiting for the brewery to open, this mass of people all decided food was in order, promptly overwhelming most of the local eateries that serve breakfast who were not prepared for an onslaught that probably reached about 1,000 people. Remember, this is a summer seasonal city and we’re here on a Monday morning in February. We went over to the Friendly Toast, a delicious 24 hour diner, only to find every table packed and the wait staff wondering what was happening. After fighting for a table at the seat-yourself establishment, we gobbled a quick breakfast of eggs, toast and hash then headed back to the brewery for their 11:30 opening time. Unfortunately, this is when hundreds of other beer lovers had the same idea, and we walked right into the back of a 3-block long line (see image at top, Portsmouth Brewery is the building to the far right).
After almost an hour, we were finally inside Portsmouth Brewery, specifically the downstairs Jimmy LaPanza Lounge as the top had already completely filled up. We grabbed a Flanders Red and a Bottle Rocket IPA to kill some time, both unbelievably delicious. (Side note: It really is hard to believe how well they make their sour ales with only a sour mash and no barrel time! The Flanders Red is definitely world class, and produced in a matter of weeks rather than years.)
Bartenders trying to keep up.
After almost four hours, the time was almost upon us. Manager Brennen Rumble explained the process to get your bottles of Kate the Great and those with the first 30 tickets lined up.
At 1:14pm on the dot, head brewer and the man responsible for Kate the Great, Tod Mott, tapped Kate the Great. The crowd went wild as the bartenders began the Herculean task of pouring the beer for every single person in the bar. The demand was never-ending as they quickly ran out of tulip glasses and resorted to serving the Imperial Russian Stout in pint glasses. We got our pours, and slipped away from the bar to enjoy our brew.
Empties & Kate the Great
So, would it live up to the hype? It sure looked black as hell with almost no head on it. We smelled it… chocolate and dark fruits like fig and cherry with some alcohol creeping in. And finally, after all that time, we tasted this masterful concoction… Delicious! Smooth, creamy and a little sweet. Chocolate overwhelms your mouth as it slides down your throat. One taste of this beer and you can see why so many people came out just to get a little bit of it.
While we drank, the staff quickly and efficiently sold each person their two bottle allotment and kept the line moving. Before we knew it, empty glasses were littering every surface and it was our turn. We added our vacant vessels to the growing clutter, paid for our 44 ounces of Kate the Great ($20) and quickly made our way outside, only to be replaced by others just as eagerly seeking a taste of this brew. It was now 3pm and we were just leaving. We rolled into Boston a bit after 4pm, nearly eight hours after leaving for Portsmouth with our two bottles. Eight hours for two bottles of beer? Was is worth it? Yeah, we can see why people do this!
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Quick update: It turns out that the popularity of Kate the Great this time was greatly underestimated. Portsmouth Brewery blew through 10 barrels (that's 310 gallons) of Imperial Stout in one day. It was gone by close of business Monday night! Wow!