The Beer Nut

Cambridge Brewing Company has been named the Best Brewpub in America by Chow.

The honor came after Cambridge Brewing Company was one of 16 brewpubs put into a bracket, with fans voting online for their favorite.

Cambridge advanced past the Southampton Publick House, Wrecking Bar and Revolution Brewing before reaching the finals against North by Northwest of Texas. In the final voting, Cambridge Brewing Company got 54 percent of the fans vote.

I’ve never been to the brewpubs that the Cambridge Brewing Company beat out, but I know they brew some incredible beers, and I can’t help but think they deserved this honor. I’ve been to dozens of brewpubs and it is my favorite, so I’m glad to see they won.

I hate writing recipes, but I made a beer recently from scratch, and found myself having to write one. Here’s my take on a Belgian Style Wheat Ale. I used the Chinook Hops I grew last year for this beer. Not a typical hop for a wheat ale, but it came out good. Play around with the recipe, and see what happens.

8lbs Liquid Wheat Extract

1lb Dry Wheat Extract

1lb Malted Dry Wheat Grain

5 ounces whole leaf Chinook Hops

4ounces or there abouts Coriander

4ounces or around that of dried Orange Peel

Liquid Belgian Wheat Ale Yeast

5 Gallons of Spring Water

Chill all 5 gallons of water in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Don’t go all fancy with the spring water. Just get some cheap stuff from the grocery store.

The day of the beer making crush the coriander, so that it looks like cracked pepper. Add that, and the orange peel into a tea strainer. Yup they’re just going to chill together before the boil. You know, get to know each other, and stuff.

Steep the grain for about 15 minutes in 1 to 1.5 gallons of 160 degree water. Remove grain, and then add the extract. Note: Be sure to put the liquid extract into some hot water before pouring into the boil. It’ll slide out for you better that way. Stir all the extract until its melted. Add about 2.5 ounces of hops, along with the coriander, and orange peel. Let that steep for 15 minutes, and then add the last amount of hops for about 5 to 10 minutes. Take off the burner. Remove the tea strainer with the coriander, and orange peel in it.

In a fermenting bucket pour the wort into it, and be sure to use some kind of strainer so all the hops don’t go diving into in the bucket. Take the remaining cold water, and dump into into the fermenting bucket. Take a temp reading, and if its 75 degrees or below then you can pitch your yeast.

Shake the fermenting bucket so all the yeast go for a swim among all those awesome sugars that will become alcohol.

Hide your fermentor in some dark, cool place for two to five weeks. Then bottle, or keg it. You’ll have about 2 cases of beer. The ABV should be around 6 percent. Invite some friends over for grilled meat, and beer. You’ll be glad you did.

One last thing. Its mother’s day this weekend, and Norman has been goin

g through a lot with his mom lately. Please keep him, and his mom in your thoughts, and hope that she pulls through. And if you can, give your mom a hug, and tell her you love her. If you can’t do that then give her a call, and tell her. If sadly, she’s no longer with you then toast to her this weekend, and thank her for bringing you into this world. We live but once, and it means the world to moms when you tell them you love them.

Better beer fans will have a nice treat when they go to New England Patriots games next season.

Yesterday, I once again had an opportunity to be a judge in the Samuel Adams’ New England Patriots Homebrew Contest.

The winning beer will be available at Gillette Stadium all next season.

Other judges included Jim Koch of Samuel Adams, Mike Adams of WEEI, Carolyn Faye Fox of the Improper Bostonian, Kerry Byrne of the Boston Herald, Jen Harmon of Yankee Brew News, Gail Ciampa of the Providence Journal, Dan Hausle of WHDH and the whole cast of the Loren & Wally show.

We got to try six different beers and to try to choose the best. The beers were a sahti, a Scotch ale, an IPA, a Belgian pale ale, a robust porter and a sweet stout.

I can’t tell you who won, but I can tell you it is the closest vote we, the judges, have ever had. It came down to two beers and we had to have a taste off to decide which one was going to be brewed.

Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Sometimes a beer will surprise you.

Take the brand new Samuel Adams summer seasonal, the Porch Rocker, for instance.

Reading the description, “Porch Rocker is our interpretation of a German radler – a light, crisp beer that’s part light-bodied ale and part real fruit,” just didn’t do anything for me. I prefer my beers to be beer. If they have fruit in them, I want the fruit to work with the beer and enhance it.

But, whenever I get a beer in the mail, I will try it no matter what. And when I tell you there have been some bad beers sent to me over the years.

So, last night I went home and decided to give it a try. I made a big commitment – I poured both bottles Boston Beer Company sent me into my large mug and had both at once.

I was rewarded with an oh-so-refreshing drinking experience. Every sip I took made a huge dent in the beer. I probably took 10 or 15 minutes to drink it and I wanted more.

It was just good. It was tasty, with the fresh lemon flavor mixing well with the beer. Instead of an ale, Samuel Adams used a Helles, a lager, as the base beer.

It’s also light, at 4.4 percent ABV. I can imagine taking a case of this to a cookout and everyone finishing it quickly.

I’d go to the a six pack, like, right now.

Julio’s Liquors, 140 Turnpike Road, Westborough, will be hosting its annual Spring Beer Fest on May 20 from1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival will feature more than 200 beers from 50 breweries. There will also be local foods and cheeses available for tasting.

Oh yeah, and the event is free. Free is always awesome.

Participating breweries include: Allagash, AleSmith,  Ballast Point, Boulder, Founders, Goose Island, Green Flash, Innis & Gunn, Jack’s Abby, Lost Abbey, North Coast, Rock Art, Southern Tier and Weyerbacher.

Hope to see everyone there.

I know I’m a little late with this, but the World Beer Cup was held this past weekend in San Diego, and New England brewers took home a fair amount of medals.

The big winner was the Allagash Brewing Company. They took home a gold medal in the Belgian-style witbier category with its Allagash White, beating out 50 other beers for the win.

Allagash also took a silver in the American-style sour ale with its Martina Rossa.

Also taking home a gold was the Cambridge Brewing Company, whose Sgt. Pepper won the Herb and Spiced beer category, beating out 80 other beers.

Samuel Adams Utopias took home the gold in the Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer category. It won over 90 other beers entered into the competition.

Silver medals went to Wormtown for its Pro-Am Porter (Robust Porter category), Cisco Brewers for its Monomy Kriek (Belgian-style Flanders Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale category) and Lawson’s Finest Liquid’s Maple Tripple (Specialty Beer category).

Congrats to all of the winners. For a complete list of winners, click here.

Here is the full release about the World Beer Cup:

2012 World Beer Cup® Winners Announced

Exceptional beers and brewers recognized in the largest global competition

Brewers from around the world received awards from an elite international panel of judges in the 2012 Brewers Association World Beer Cup. The ninth bi-annual competition boasted the strongest field of entrants on record, with 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states entering 3,921 beers in 95 beer style categories. A 17.7 percent increase over 2010, the entries were eligible for gold, silver and bronze awards in their respective categories. Judges presented a total of 284 awards.

“It’s called ‘The Olympics of Beer Competition’ for good reason,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, the U.S.-based trade association that has put on the competition every two years since 1996. “The event brings together great brewers from all corners of the globe. Plus, the awards are highly regarded. A brewer who wins a World Beer Cup gold award knows that their winning beer represents the best of that beer style in the world. Congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 World Beer Cup. The Brewers Association and the proud sponsors of our event thank all participating brewers for their involvement.”

Judges

The 2012 judging panel was the largest and most international in the history of the World Beer Cup. Judges from 27 countries conducted blind tasting evaluations of the beers to determine the winners. Drawn from the ranks of professional brewers and brewing industry experts, these 211 judges came mostly from international breweries, with some 67 percent from outside the U.S. In addition to the judging panel, over 250 volunteers helped sort beer entries and steward the competition.

The judging criteria are exacting—some categories are not given the full slate of awards if the panel decides that the entries do not merit recognition.

Highlights from the competition:

The average number of beers entered per category was 41.

The category with the most entries was American-Style India Pale Ale, with 150 entries. The second most-entered category was Imperial India Pale Ale, with 93 entries. The German-Style Sour Ale category had the fewest number of entries at 11.

The 2012 World Beer Cup saw substantial growth of entries in the American-Style India Pale Ale category. Category entries grew 41.5 percent over 2010 to make it the largest category of the 2012 competition.

Additionally, Champion Brewery and Champion Brewmaster awards are given in each of five brewery categories based on the awards won by each brewery in the given size category.

The five Champion Brewery/Brewmaster award winners are:

Small Brewing Company Category

Brauerei Michael Plank, Michael Plank

Mid-Size Brewing Company Category

Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Matthew Brynildson

Large Brewing Company Category

AB InBev, Claudio Ferro

Small Brewpub Category

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant-Media, Iron Hill Brewery Team

Large Brewpub Category

Pelican Pub & Brewery, Darron R S Welch

Beer is important to me. I enjoy trying all of the new beers that come out and all my old favorites. I make part of my living writing about beer and, because of beer, I have met and become really good friends with a lot of people who I think I will be friends with the rest of my life.

But, beer really doesn’t matter. What really matters are the people you love.

My mother has recently become really sick, and has been in the hospital for more than two weeks. I won’t go into details, except to say she had a really bad set back last night.

Let me tell you a little about our relationship. My mother was a single parent who raised me the best she could while working a series of low-paying jobs. Despite that, she always made sure I got to do what my friends did – I was a Cub Scout, I took karate, I played Little League. I had a good life.

I’m also an only child, and we have a very small family. My mother has one sibling, my grandfather died in 1991 and I haven’t had contact with my paternal side of the family in decades.

So, we are close. She actually hated when I started writing about beer because of a long line of alcoholics through our family history. But, she always supported me. She works at a liquor store and every once in awhile I’d get a call, “Norman, we got this beer in, have you tried it? Do you want me to pick you up a bottle?”

Last year, when I got an opportunity to write a book (I’ll talk about that another time), I began to doubt myself. She was the one who convinced me to do it, even though it would probably mean some travel, and more drinking than usual. She believed in me, and I did it because of that belief.

Now my family is tiny. It’s me, my mother, her sister and her family, so her being sick is kind of wrecking havoc on me right now.

Sure, you can call me a momma’s boy if you want. I’ll even agree with you, and I hope I get to be a momma’s boy for a few more years, because that is what really matters to me.

A few years ago, while working on a story about beer importer EuroBrew, I tried a French cider called Clos Normand, a French cider, and I remember thinking it was one of the best beverages I had ever had.

Unfortunately, I’ve never seen it in stores, and although I’ve been trying a lot of ciders the past few months, I haven’t delved back into the world of French ciders because of the cost.

However, the other day I was at Trader Joe’s in Framingham and saw the Etienne Dupont Brut de Normandie, a French cider at a relatively affordable $12.99 for a 750ml caged and corked bottle.

I was looking forward to seeing how it compared to the English and New England ciders I have been enjoying lately.

This French cider was a totally different beast than the ciders I have been drinking. The Etienne Dupont Brut de Normandie is more like an apple Champagne than English or American ciders.

The smell threw me off a little – it almost smelled like wet leather, with hints of apple, although the apple came out more as it warmed. Taste-wise, it was phenomenal. Highly carbonated, the bubbles danced across my tongue. The flavor of ripe apples was intense, and there was a bitterness that I did not expect. I enjoyed it immensely.

Etienne Dupont Brut de Normandie has made me want to try even more of the French ciders that are available, even though they are expensive. It was a wonderful drink.

A lot of new beers have been hitting the liquor store shelves lately, so let’s take a quick look at them here.

I’ll start with a pair of new beers from Magic Hat. I don’t drink Magic Hat beers as often as I used to, but they are one of the breweries that I cut my beer geek teeth on.

First up is Pistil, which is only available in the 2012 Summer Scene Variety Pack.

The Pistil is kind of a unique beer, in that is brewed with dandelion leaves. It is also relatively light at 4.5 percent ABV. It  is also light in color, but it has actually has a fair amount of flavors. I’m not sure if the dandelion leaves causes the slight sourness, but this is an easy drinking beer. I’d drink it again.

The other new summer seasonal is the Elder Betty. The Elder Betty is a wheat beer brewed with elderberry. I have a love/hate relationship with fruit beers. I love a really good fruit beer, but most fruit beers I taste tend to taste fake.

But, I liked the Elder Betty. The elderberry is sweet, but not cloyingly so. It went down extremely easy. It has a good, full-body and lightly carbonated. It comes in at 5.5 percent ABV. One of the better Magic Hat beers I’ve had in awhile.

Next up is the three beers in the LongShot mixed pack from Samuel Adams.

If you don’t know, the LongShot is an annual homebrewing contest, and features three winning beers – two from fans and one from an employee. Typically, I enjoy two of the beers from the pack and find one lacking. This year was no different.

My favorite of the pack is the Five Crown Imperial Stout, brewed by Joe Fromanek. This 8.9 percent ABV imperial stout drinks like it is 8.9 percent, meaning there is a big alcohol warmth to it. That does not detract from the chocolate/coffee roasted notes, and relatively creamy body. There is just a little hop bitterness to balance this all out. A very solid stout.

I also really enjoyed the A Dark Night in Munich, a Munich dunkel lager created by Corey Martin. This tasted exactly what I would like from the style, a little bready doughiness, medium body, full-bodied with just a hint of hops. I could drink this often.

The only beer from the pack that I did not enjoy was Derf’s Secret Alt, created by Samuel Adams Fred Hessler. This is a sticke alt, coming in at a hefty 9.3 percent ABV. Maybe this beer would benefit from aging, but I found it to be a sweet, boozy mess of a beer. I have a second bottle that I’m going to lay down for awhile to see if things improve.

Next up is the Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale. Bottleworks is a well-regarded beer store in Seattle, and each year they work with a different brewery to create an anniversary beer. This year, the beer was brewed by Stone Brewing Company.

This porter features 13 hops and 13 malts and comes in at, you guessed it, 11.4 percent ABV (it was supposed to be 13 percent ABV, but it didn’t quite reach that level.)

I expected this to be an extremely hopped porter – almost expected a black India pale ale – but the malts in the beer take as much of a stage on your taste-buds as the hops.

There are plenty of hops – you will taste some piney and citrusy hops – but the roasted malts, with slight tastes of caramel – balance it out nicely. It is also very smooth and way too drinkable for such a big beer. It is absolutely phenomenal.

The final beer I’m taking a look at this week is the Cottrell Brewing Company’s Perry’s Revenge Ale.

I’ve liked everything I’ve tried from Cottrell, finding them to be very good examples of the particular styles. Perry’s Revenge Ale is no different. This 8.5 percent wee heavy ale is spot on for the style. Creamy, malty with hints of dark fruit coming through. It’s a slow sipper of a beer, perfect to enjoy on these still cool nights.

Now go buy some of these beers and let me know what you think.

The British Beer Company in Walpole will be hosting a Massachusetts Brewers Weekend on May 11 and 12.

The two day event will feature several tap takeovers, and feature 14 different Massachusetts based breweries.

During the Mass. Brewers Weekend, there will be brewery representatives hanging around, offering samples, glassware and other free stuff, and of course, to talk about beer.

The British Beer Company will also offer flights of four five-ounce pours.

Here is the schedule: May 11 – Wachusett Brewing Company, 1 p.m.; Samuel Adams, 4 p.m.; Haverhill Brewery, 5 p.m.; Wormtown Brewing Company, 6 p.m.; Harpoon Brewery, 7 p.m.; Mayflower Brewing Company, 8 p.m.

Here’s the schedule for May 12: Cisco Brewers, noon; Blue Hills Brewery, 5 p.m.; Berkshire Brewing Company, 6 p.m.; Backlash Beer, 7 p.m.; Clown Shoes Beer, 8 p.m.

Other breweries that will be available include Pretty Things, Slumbrew and Jack’s Abby Brewing.

Now that’s a lot of good beers. We’re lucky to have so many good breweries here in Massachusetts.

I had a lot of new beers in April, but two really stood out for me, and they’re both from the same brewery – Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project.

The Once Upon a Time X Ales,  the November 22, 1838 and February 22, 1945, are both English mild ales that were originally brewed by the same English brewery, but the beers are very different, but both are worth seeking out.

If I had to pick one to drink, I may lean toward the 1838 version. This X Ale is not what most people think of as a mild. It is higher in alcohol, 7.4 percent ABV, and on the hoppy side. It is more reminiscent of an IPA than a mild. I enjoyed this beer immensely.

But, I can see why some people may like the 1945 version better. Other than the same name, the beers are nothing alike. This is a dark beer, more malt forward than the older version, and oh yeah, it is 2.8 percent ABV. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bomber with such a low ABV. This beer proves that low ABV does not mean low in flavor.

Whichever one you choose, you won’t be disappointed. For an interesting tasting experience, do a side-by-side tasting to see how distinct the differences are.

If you’ve tried these beers, let me know what you thought of them.

My wife, and I took a trip out to Northampton this past weekend. (Editors note: This blog was supposed to run more than a week ago, so it is more like two weekends ago that he went to Northampton.)

We both love the area, because it has lots of hiking, a good music scene, awesome restaurants, and is one of the best beer hubs in the country.

We stayed at the Hotel Northampton because we wanted to be able to walk around Northampton, and not have to drive anywhere. Great hotel, and would highly recommend it if you want to stay in Northampton.

First day we met up with friends in the afternoon at the Dirty Truth. Holy cow what a great place. I had a De Ranke Saison, and it was one of the best beers I’ve ever had. A great beer for that day since it was a little humid. I followed it up with a High & Mighty Fumata Nora. It was served in an old school 20oz mug, and it was really good. I can’t say enough about the Dirthy Truth. Even the food we ordered was great. Can’t wait to go back.

That evening we headed over to the Northampton Brewery. I have a special place in my heart for them, and if all goes well when I turn 40 I’ll be having my birthday there. Now, what did I have? I can’t really say, because like an idiot I ordered some spicy, and very good food, and my palette was destroyed, so I could have been drinking oil, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Next time I head back there I’m avoiding the spicy food, so I can enjoy their beer.

Next day we went hiking on the 91 degree day. Yup, it was hot, and humid, and at the end of the hike we headed over to the Amherst Brewing Company, and I right away ordered the Honey Pilsner. I love, love, love, love, love the Honey Pilsner there. It was the perfect beer after the two hour hike we did. Light, refreshing, and just damn good.

That night, we went out for our official date night to the Sierra Grille. We went there last summer for the first time, and we fell in love with it. For my first beer I had a Radeberger Pilsner. It was ok. Nothing special about the beer, but it was good enough.

I followed it up with a Scotch Ale. Wanna know the name of it? Me too. Cuz I kinda forgot. All I know is that it was the best Scotch Ale I’ve ever had. It didn’t punch me in the face with bitterness, or alcohol. Perfect for the hot day.

My final beer was Pretty Things X Ale, and what a home run this beer was. Nice aroma, great taste, and color, and was served in what looked like a white wine glass, but was bigger. The food was excellent too, as usual.

I want to mention that the Hotel Northampton had BBC’s Steel Rail on tap, and when my wife was taking a nap, I went to their bar, and had one while watching middle-aged men ramble on ESPN about sports that they were never good at playing, and it was awesome. Steel Rail on tap is fantasmagorical.

We of course did other things while we were out there, but in terms of beer these were the highlights. If anyone has not gone out to the Pioneer Valley, and you love beer then get your tail out to Northampton, and experience one the best areas for beer in the country. You’ll be glad you did.

Hello all, I’m back.

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week. I typically try to let you know ahead of time that I’ll be out, but this came out of nowhere.

My mother had a medical emergency and remains hospitalized, so that took priority last week over writing about beer.

However, I had a lot of time to think, and a lot of that thinking had to do about beer, so expect many blogs this week.

I hope you all continue reading and drinking good beer.

Cheers.

On its Website, Farnum Hill Cider said it wants to get back to the “True meaning of the word ‘cider.’ ”

That true meaning was lost due to Prohibition, when “apple-growers sharp need for a new teetotal image cut the normal old word ‘cider,’ from its normal meaning and pasted it to the sweet brown ephemeral juice of autumn, normally called ‘apple juice.’ ”

I recently tried my first Farnum Hill cider, the Semi-Dry, and if this is what ciders tasted like before Prohibition, then I’m all for a return to the past.

Farnum Hill has come highly recommended. Several Websites have called them the best cider producers in the United States, and friends who have tried it said I would love it. I put it off because of the cost (over $10 a bottle), but I decided to try one the other night.

What a treat. The Semi Dry Cider actually has some aroma of citrus fruits and, as semi-dry would lead you to believe, there is very little sweetness. It is a hefty 7.4 percent ABV cider, but the 750ml was not a chore to drink.

I would buy this again, and the next time, I’m going to try pairing it with some of the dishes that Farnum Hills suggests, such as seafood, ham or sausage.

Other Farnum Hill Ciders available include the Extra Dry, Extra Dry Still, Kingston Black ’09 Crop and Dooryard.

If you’re looking for a cider to try, you could do a lot worse than this one. It is up there with some of the best ciders I have tasted so far.

“Chow,” is holding a “Best Brewpub in American” bracket on its Website, and the Cambridge Brewing Company is representing New England.

In all, there are 16 brewpubs in the competition, and I’ve only been to two, the Cambridge Brewing Company and Nodding Head in Philadelphia.

I’m sure all of the competing brewpubs produce some find ales and lagers, and I know I’m a little prejudice because the Cambridge Brewing Company is my favorite brewpub, but they got my vote.

If you have a second, take some time to vote, by clicking here.

The Brewers Association today announced the top top 50 craft breweries, in terms of sales.

A lot of really good to great breweries on the list. Here is the list. I have put the breweries that are not available in Massachusetts in bold so you don’t have to try looking for them.

Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies:

(Based on 2011 beer sales volume)

Rank      Brewing Company     City        State

1. Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA

2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

 3. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO

 4. The Gambrinus Company, San Antonio, TX

5. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

6. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, NY

7. Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Galesburg, MI

8. Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA

9. Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, CA

10. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO

11. Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA

12. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE

13. Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY

 14. Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co., Juneau, AK

15. Long Trail Brewing Co., Burlington, VT

16. Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland, ME

17.  Abita Brewing Co., Abita Springs, LA

 18. Great Lakes Brewing Co.,  Cleveland, OH

 19. New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI

20. Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR

21. Summit Brewing Co., St. Paul, MN

22. Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA

23. Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

24. Sweetwater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA

25. Rogue Ales Brewery, Newport, OR

26. Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD

27. Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, PA

28. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants, Chattanooga/Louisville, TN/CO

29. Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO

30. Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO

31. Stevens Point Brewery Co., Stevens Point, WI

32. Ninkasi Brewing Co., Eugene, OR

33. BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc., Huntington Beach, CA

34. Blue Point Brewing Co., Patchogue, NY

35. Bear Republic Brewing Co., Cloverdale, CA

36. Lost Coast Brewery Cafe, Eureka, CA

37. Big Sky Brewing Co., Missoula, MT

38. North Coast Brewing Co. Inc., Fort Bragg, CA

39 Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Bottleworks, St. Louis, MO

40. Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., San Jose, CA

41. Breckenridge Brewery, Denver, CO

42. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI

43. Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX

44. Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

45. Real Ale Brewing Co., Blanco, TX

46. Mac and Jack’s Brewery Inc., Redmond, WA

47. Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth, NH

48. Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT

49. Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO

t.50. Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville, CA

t.50. Four Peaks Brewing Co., Tempe, AZ

The Prodigal Brewery at Misty Mountain Farm in New Hampshire has come up with a unique idea to raise money toward a new brewhouse – they are asking for donations.

The brewery, run by Paul Davis, has started a Kickstarter Project seeking the money to buy the brewhouse from a hop farm on Vancouver Island.

Calling it 6,324 Pints of Beer on the Wall, those who donate will receive a paper “pints” of beer.

If they do not raise $6,324 by May 5, the campaign is over.

“Prodigal is not trying to raise all of the money to buy the new brewhouse through Kickstarter. We have applied to the usual lenders for equipment financing, but the finance system is rather broken right now, and lenders are very cautious,” according to the campaign’s Web site.

“We want to show the lenders that enough beer lovers want more Prodigal beer, and that if our beer lovers are willing to buy a ‘Pint of Lager,’ for our ‘Wall of Beer,’ our beer lovers will buy the actual pints when more beer from the larger brewhouse is available for sale in June 2012.

Rewards for donations include Prodigal EuroStickers and posters, Prodigal T-shirts and a private group tour  of the farm.

I’ve had some of the Prodigal beers, all German-inspired lagers, and I really enjoyed them. This seems like a really well-thought out effort, and hopefully they are successful.

To donate, or read more, click here.

Are you artistic? Do you know your way around designing graphics on the computer? And, most importantly, do you like beer?

Well, the Mass Brewers Guild is holding the perfect contest for you.

They are holding a design contest to design the logo for the 2012 Mass Brewers Fest, to be held on Aug. 24.

The winning design will be featured across the state and the winner will receive a prize pack from member breweries, as well as four tickets to the Mass Brewers Fest. I went last year, and it’s an extremely good time.

Entrants are due by May 8. They must be emailed to info@massbrewersguild.org in a .pdf format. The winner will be notified on May 14.

Entrants must be 21 or older.

Pictured is last year’s winner.

Good luck.

The Sherborn Business Association is sponsoring its first Summer Brewfest.

The festival will be held at the Sherborn Inn, 33 North Main St., on June 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Along with a large selection of craft beer, the Inn’s kitchen will be cooking up some knockwurst, bratwurst, sauerbraten sandwich, spaetzel and other German fare to fill your belly.

In addition, there will be live music by “Back Page.”

Tickets are $25 in advance, available at Rose’s Automotive (26 North Main St., Sherborn), the Sherbon Inn, Sherborn Wine & Spirits (29 North Main St.), Sherbon Market (21 South Main St.) and Walgreens (19 North Main St., Sherborn). Tickets are also available on the day of the festival for $30.

The event will raise money for “civic and educational needs.”

The guys over at Drink Craft Beer has announced the upcoming Summerfest, described as “New England’s only fest focusing on Farmhouse Ales and Saisons.”

There will be three sessions of the festival, July 13, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and two sessions on July 14, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The festival will be held at the Somerville Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville.

Summerfest will feature more than 70 farmhouse ales and summer beers from 25 different New England breweries. It kind of makes sense – pretty much every brewery that has opened in Massachusetts in the past couple of years brews some form of farmhouse ales.

Along with the beer, there will be food vendors such as B. Good and Taza Chocolate, s well as hot dogs and burgers.

Confirmed breweries include the Alchemist, Backlash Beer, Cambridge Brewing Company, Jack’s Abby Brewing, Mystic Brewery, Notch Brewing, Peak Organic, Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project (Saturday only), Slumbrew and Smuttynose.

Tickets are $45 each, and available by clicking here.

This seems like a fabulous event. I hope I can make it.