Located outside of Boston in Waltham Massachusetts, Watch City Brewing offers a “locals” dining and craft brew experience in a small town.  As they put it,

At the head of Moody Street’s Restaurant Row, in the center of a silicon savvy Waltham, Massachusetts, a legendary brew pub is holding court — and creating some of the best hand crafted beer anywhere.

I started off with their Octoberfest which was ruby red as best I could tell in the dim lighting and it was crazy matly and sweet, maybe even too much for the style, but I know some people who would likely have thought it the best Octoberfest they ever had. I liked it… not loved, but liked it.

For dinner I had the fish tacos and I was expecting something you might get from Moe’s (Welcome to Moe’s!) but instead I was treated to fancier fare. The blackened mahi-mahi tacos in a soft tortilla were delicious, just not what I was expecting as the gentleman sitting next to me had a great looking pub burger and onion rings. It was spicy, the way I liked it.

I ordered the Timepiece Porter next and that was dark, chocolately, with roasted malt goodness, just like a porter should be. This turned out to be my favorite.

I sampled a few others… the Pumpkin Ale was full of pumpkin flavor with strong clove; a nice dessert beer. But the beer that stood out the most was the BeeJesus’ Hop Crisis BPA. True to its name, this beer had no hops. Instead, it was spiced with bee balm, lemon balm, and jasmine white tea. Low in alcohol (2.1%) the beer was clear and golden yellow; the aroma was floral and a bit citric, but nothing you have ever had from a hop. It was light in mouth feel, and very drinkable, just not my cup of tea. I give full credit to Watch City for inventing such a unique beer; it really was well done and if you feel adventurous, I recommend giving it a try.

Overall, Watch City Brewing is very much worth a trip (and a return trip). Yet another great American craft brewer making great beer and running a fine establishment.

Related posts

• Hops shortage on Wired.com (1)
• Hops shortage made manifest (6)
• Hop shortage turning small brewers into farmers (0)
• Candy store: Julio’s Liquors, Westborough, Massachusetts (3)

It really seems to be a simple solution: If you can’t beg, borrow, or steal the hops you need, grow your own.

Small brewers become hop farmers amid shortage

For the second straight year, a worldwide shortage of hops has small brewers worried they might not find enough hops to produce their standard beers, let alone experiment with new ones. Many are planting hops themselves to ensure an adequate supply at a price they can afford.
…
Herb Pluemer, owner of Tractor Brewing Co. in Los Lunas, N.M., bought 10,000 hop stems from Wills’ Oregon nursery to try growing the crop himself after hearing how much farmers wanted this year.

“We had to lay out $16,000 for the hops for next year, and now they want the following year upfront and it’s just going higher,” he said. “I have a lot of land, so I got the idea, why not try hops myself?”

Related posts

• Watch City Brewing (0)
• Hops shortage on Wired.com (1)
• Hops shortage made manifest (6)

You and I and everyone who reads blogs like this know it already: Craft brewers are trying many different ways to deal with the shortages of hops. Their—and, by extension, our—plight has even been examined in the mainstream media.

Well, now it’s serious. The issue has now been covered by that paragon of journalism for geeks: Wired.com.

Craft Brewers Reformulate Beer to Cope With Hop Shortage

The beer-brewing situation demonstrates how the global-commodity shortage is spilling over to affect diverse industries in unexpected ways. The hop shortage lives on the outer edges of a food crisis that’s prompted riots across the planet, and last month led U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to implore the world’s governments to increase food production to stave off a 40 percent jump in the cost of staples.

While nobody in the craft-beer industry is going hungry, they are being forced to adapt. There’s no replacement for hops in beer — they give the brew its flavor. But other key ingredients are in short supply, as well. Malt, which comes from sprouted barley, produces the alcohol and body of beer — its prices have doubled along with hops. The price of rice, used by industrial brewers, has charted a similar course.

(via Boing Boing)

Related posts

• Watch City Brewing (0)
• Pimp my cubicle (1)
• Hops shortage made manifest (6)
• Hop shortage turning small brewers into farmers (0)

If I had any doubts about what would happen with the the hops shortage, I just got a very concrete example.

Yesterday, I paid $16.99 (+ tax) for a six-pack of Stone Ruination IPA.

I will certainly be savoring these.

Related posts

• Watch City Brewing (0)
• Hops shortage on Wired.com (1)
• Hop shortage turning small brewers into farmers (0)