It’s Saturday morning in Portsmouth. You sip your coffee and wonder what you could do this weekend that would be fun and inexpensive. I’ve got the solution! It’s time to go check out New Hampshire’s largest brewery: Red Hook!
A couple weekends ago my boyfriend and I went over towards Pease to see this local brewery. They have tours every hour, on the hour from 12-4pm on Friday and Saturday, and 1-4pm on Sunday. We decided on the 1:00 tour and guess what? It was only $1! That’s right, you could blow a dollar on a pack of gum, or you could go see how beer is made! So, we started the tour with this lively fellow, complete with a long beard, great sense of humor, and, of course, a healthy appetite for beer! His love for the brewing process transferred right to us, as we walked through the halls of Red Hook. Once we saw all the tanks and bottling areas, and learned the science of it all, we went on to the tasting room.
Yes my friends, this is when you get to sample the beer! I advise you to get close to the tap, so you get a very healthy serving of each kind!! We each received a Red Hook tasting glass, (like a wide mouth shot glass), and our tour guide started pouring pitchers of the lightest brew- Copper Hook. This is their spring beer, and it had a refreshing citrus flavor, with a light maltiness and hop aroma. Then we tasted the Hefe-Weizen, which is a medium bodied, unfiltered ale that has a wheat flavor. Next was the E.S.B, “Extra Special Beer”, which is a very popular variety. This one is amber-colored, with a bright hoppiness, balanced with a sweet toasted maltiness. And lastly, we tried a limited release Double Black Stout. This craft brew has a great roasted flavor, due to the addition of dark malts and rich coffee!
So, that was the end of the free tasting and the tour, and let me tell you, it was a great way to start a weekend! In the span of one hour we learned how beer is made, probably sampled about 32 oz. of beer a piece, (giving us a nice buzz by the way) and got to keep our tasting glasses—all for $1.00!
If you are feeling hungry at this time, and don’t want to get pulled over for a DWI, then I suggest you stay for lunch at the Cataqua Pub. We surely did, and it was fantastic! Both of us ordered the Prime Rib sandwich with Au Jus, also known as a “French Dip”. I got a Blonde Ale, and my boyfriend got an IPA, just so we had tried almost all of their beers in one day! (I recommend the Blonde Ale, since it’s so easy to drink, and the IPA is for hop-lovers.) We sat in the sunshine, chatted & smiled with the liveliness that alcohol brings, and ate our delicious meals. It was a truly great time!
