Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/943494
121 ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATTY NEWTON J O H N E R I K S T R O M Bent Water Brewing Company "Whenever anybody asks me what my favorite beer is, my response is always, 'whatever you're buying.' It's kind of a joke, but I really mean it. While I like to think I have a solid palate, I'm not too picky when it comes to what beer I drink. For me it's more about who I'm with, what I'm doing, and the entire experience. I've had a great time sitting around a fire in the summer tossing back Miller Lites and I've had an equally good time doing a vertical tasting of Sam Adams Utopia with a few loyal customers and friends. I'll never forget the time I hosted a beer tasting at my house and one of my friends brought Duchesse de Bourgogne, which I had never heard of at the time. When he opened it and tasted it's fruity sourness, he declared that the beer was bad and started to dump it down the drain. Luckily I stopped him and we looked up the beer online and discovered that the sour, fruity, vinegar-like flavors were supposed to be there. It was a very memorable introduction to an excellent beer." WE REACHED OUT TO SOME OF THE PEOPLE BREWING CRAFT BEER ACROSS THE NORTH SHORE TO FIND OUT THE BEERS THEY'VE TRIED, AND WHICH BEERS THEY'VE MADE THEMSELVES, THAT THEY'RE MOST FOND OF. S T E V E S A N D E R S O N RiverWalk Brewing Co. "I definitely have an a‡nity for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I think it's a great, classic American beer that you can't go wrong with in any situation. There's a much longer list that I could give you, but if you had to force me down to one, I have a lot of admiration for that company for what they do, the way that they operate, and that was a pioneering beer that has stood the test of time." C H R I S L O H R I N G Notch Brewing Co. "For me, the most interesting or unique beer I've ever had is Pilsner Urquell brewed via the old methods in Plzen, Czech Republic (not the version sold here). They use methods that U.S. brewers would think are 'extreme' and it's all for a classic pilsner. Triple decoction mash, open fermentation in pitch-lined wood fermenters, lagering for months in wood barrels in the brewery's extensive tunnel system under the city. Crazy stu", and it yields the most amazing pilsner. At Notch, we use some of these same brewing methods for our beers (decoction, open fermentation) and it improves in our pale lager beers." S T E V I E B A R E F O R D BareWolf Brewing "Okey-dokey, here's a few o" the cu" by style: Kulmbacher Pilsner, Aeronaut Robot Crush Pilsner, BareWolf Rock the Kazbek Pilsner, Burley Oak Dankscape IPA, River Roost Mas Verde IPA, BareWolf Fear of Commitment Chapter 1 IPA, Andechs Helles Vollbier Helles Lager, Von Trapp Helles Lager, River Roost Mellow Submarine Pale Ale, BareWolf Kitty Kitty Pizza Party Pale Ale, Brouwerij Bockor Cuvee des Jaconins Rouge Flanders Red Ale, Allagash Brewery—every sour beer, Burley Oak Sorry Chicky Dey-hopped Pale Ale, Jackie O's Oil of Aphrodite Imperial Stout, and Founders KBS Imperial Stout." S E T H B A R N U M True North Ale Company "As for the most unique brews I've ever tried/made, my time at Breakside provided quite a few options when trying to come up with a response to your question. I definitely tend to stick to buying solid versions of various beer styles when purchasing beer, so couldn't easily come up with something that I've tried as a consumer that's been all that unusual. But at Breakside, brewmaster Ben is known for his culinary bent when formulating beers. While there I was lucky enough to have the chance to brew a few really cool unique beers. The standouts in my mind, although maybe not all that strange or out there, were really exceptional beers. Juggling Plums was a collaboration with Fat Heads in Portland, a gose with coriander. Beaujolais avec Brett was a brett beer made with the Gamay Noir grape that was another one of my Breakside favorites. This beer gave me a lot of inspiration to formulate (and was lucky enough to brew while at Breakside) a Belgian blonde with Chardonnay grape, Brett clausseneii, flaked rice, and elderflower." T O M V I L L A Ipswich Ale "Ipswich Zumatra Stout is an impeccable o"ering this time of year. Drink it slightly warmer than your average ale and you'll pick up on hints of dark chocolate and roasted notes that emerge from the co"ee infusion. It's a true co"ee lover's beer and it makes the brewery smell great! This is the second year that we've brewed Zumatra Stout. Our friends at Ipswich co"eehouse, Zumi's Espresso, take full-bodied Sumatran beans from Indonesia to create an earthy cold-brew that is then blended into our smooth stout. It's a limited release product that is available in 16-oz can four packs and on draft in select locations. ABV is 7 percent." J A Y B U L L E N Brewery Silvaticus "Allagash House Beer. Delicate, nuanced, and easy drinking. Being that it's only available at the brewery (in a wooden crate) makes it a must stop whenever I make my way to Portland." FOND OF.