New HOPShire

My wife, Ashlee, and I took a trip recently up north to New Hampshire to visit our friends, Amy and Jeremy, who live in Portsmouth.  Happily, Amy and Jeremy share my love of good beer and a few beer stops were on the agenda.

Our first stop right off the plane was the Red Hook Brewery of New England outside Portsmouth.  This west-coast-founded  pioneer  in craft brewing (1981) set up shop in the northeast in 1996.  Pictured above is the largest beer cooler in the eastern United States.  They have a beautiful brewpub attached to the brewery with tasty food and all their beers on tap.  Ashlee and I both had their sampler paddle.  After lunch, we went on an entertaining (and generously-poured) tour of the brewery for $2.

Tiny Portsmouth Brewery is located in the charming downtown district near the famous seaport.  Their beer was good and their food wasn't bad either.  We ate there for lunch on our second day of the visit.  I had the Rye Not Pale Ale.  They have been doing it right here since 1991.

We found this place quite literally by accident on our way back from visiting The White Mountains on our last full day in New Hampshire.  Moat Mountain Brewing is a small brewpub located in the touristy town of North Conway.  We stopped for lunch and I was impressed with their beer selections.  I tried their pale ale and their IPA.  Moat Mountain, by the way, is one of the nearby peaks that make up The White Mountains.

A few other new-to-me beers I had on the trip were a bottle of Long Trail Ale (Vermont), a bottle of Hooksett Ale from White Birch Brewing in Hooksett, NH, and a bottle of Octoberfest Hex from Magic Hat Brewing over in Vermont.  Thanks to Amy and Jeremy for finding these great beers for us to try during our visit.

Speaking of travelin' and beer....

On our second music cruise of the year (and our second visit to Mexico), we docked in Cozumel (we were on  the smaller dingy to the left) and I got to try my first Victoria Cerveza in a bottle.  Not bad, just your basic light Caribbean-style lager beer.  But the day was hot and it was cold...can't ask for much more.