E-Malt.com News article: USA, NH: Earth Eagle Brewings opens in Portsmouth

Earth Eagle Brewings, New Hampshire's newest nano brewery, opened its tasting room doors in downtown Portsmouth, seacoastonline.com reported on November, 15.

Founded by A&G's Alex McDonald of Portsmouth, and Butch Heilshorn of Kittery, Maine, the brewery's "empyreal ales and wonder gruits" will be poured from six revolving taps in their tasting room — the only beer tasting room in Portsmouth.

Among the brews on tap will be their Puca, a pumpkin porter with curry, Exhilaration, an old-world gruit made with yarrow and their "New England Gangsta".

"Making gruits gives you a much bigger palette of ingredients than you'd get with a basic beer," says Heilshorn. "These are experimental. We get to take the lid off the brewing process. All the herbs have different properties and tastes and effects on the beer."

On tap will also be William Wallace, a Scottish gruit make with juniper berries and Red Ryder made with 30 percent rye malt.

Plans for the future include Obsidian, a chocolate raspberry cream stout, and their Jack Wagon Double IPA, as well as a brew made with chaga, a tree fungus.

"It's a superfruit with an antioxidant content 10 times that of blueberries. It's used in Siberian shaman rituals," says Heilshorn. "We're going to use it at some point, we're just experimenting where it goes in the boil. We're determined to make it work."

Unlike a brew pub, a tasting room is a space to sample beer in 4-ounce portions (per state law) and food is not served. Growlers (glass jugs) can be filled for take-out purposes and Earth Eagle Brewings will have 1- and 2-liter growlers available. With the exception of an occasional area bar event, the tasting room will be the only place to purchase their brewings.


23 November, 2012