USA, NH: Blue Lobster Brewing Company opens in Hampton

It's been a busy year for the owners and brewer at Blue Lobster Brewing Company. While their tasting room opens for the first time this week, they've already made quite an impression on the Seacoast "brewerati" and just folks who like great local beer, Seacostonline.com reported on November, 8.

When their "Excess Is Not Rebellion" Double IPA made its debut on October, 20 at the Powderkeg Beer and Chili Fest in Exeter, the lines were long and the brew, as well as a "single" IPA, ran out within two hours. Brewery owners Michael and Roberta Benoit, along with brewer David Sakolsky, were happily surprised.

The Gold Claw, along with Black Claw Stout, are the two flagship brews for Blue Lobster, the brews that will be on draft in restaurants. While the Gold Claw will not be available until about November, 15, the tasting room will open with the stout and their specialty "Excess is Not Rebellion." Beer lovers can purchase growlers of the brews as well as sample in the tasting room attached to the brewery.

Still reeling from the overwhelming response to the brews, Sakolsky explained the way they'll create and release their beers.

"We felt the area needed a hop forward pale ale and this is a good one to start with from a consumer education standpoint. We'll get people aware of our base beers and then they'll come into the tasting room to try the more specialty beers. If you see a brew with an odd name like the Excess is not Rebellion you know that's a special beer that won't be around long — we won't make it again until we get the hops during harvest in January. We put the first batch of Gold Claw in on September, 28 and the base recipe is similar to one I've been working on for a long time."

In the works is a Wheat IPA and a Citrus Porter and Benoit says he'd like to try a Scotch Ale. For now, they just want to keep up with demand, but make sure the brews are absolutely the freshest they can be.

09 November, 2012