What an awesome day today! It was so gorgeous and sunny out, that we knew we needed to spend some time outside. I skipped a workout so that we could head up to Portsmouth, NH for the day! It was so much fun to just spend the day exploring with no schedule – I loved it.
Our first stop was the Red Hook Brewery, so I knew I needed a snack on the way to soak up the beer. 🙂
After about an hour drive from Boston, we arrived at the brewery!
It was pretty crowded inside for it being such a nice day out!
We started with a tasting, while we waited for our tour to start. Their tasting menu consisted of 5 different beers -Long Hammer IPA, Slim Chance Light Beer, ESB Original Ale, Copperhead Ale and Oatmeal Stout.
Long Hammer IPA
This was good. Normally, I don’t care for IPA’s, but this one was not nearly as hoppy as many others I have tried. Brant loves IPA’s, so he was in heaven. 🙂
Slim Chance Light Beer
Neither of us really cared for this beer. It was okay, and definitely better than other light beers I have tried, but if I am going to drink beer I want something better and more flavorful!
ESB Original Brew
Apparently, this is the beer that made Red Hook famous! I did not love it because of it’s slightly bitter taste. Brant liked it though…
Copperhead Ale – Spring Seasonal Brew
Loved this one! We both did. It was flavorful and not too hoppy.
Oatmeal Stout
Surprisingly, this was my absolute favorite! I always stay away from heavier, darker beers for no good reason except that I assume I won’t like them. But, this was awesome!
We definitely did not have a problem drinking everything, even the beer we didn’t like!
Time for the brewery tour!
This was a pretty short tour that walked us through the different stages of the brewing and bottling process, then brought us into a tasting room to try some beer.
First up were the brew tanks, where the hops and malts pass through several different stages.
Once the beer is made, it sits in these enormous tanks for at least 2 weeks to ferment.
The bottom of the tanks.
The beer is then bottled in this huge room. It takes about 4 minutes for a bottle to go through the whole process (add the beer, label, cap, etc.) and only 2-3 people run the whole process because the machines do everything!
On to the tasting room, where we tried the IPA, Copperhead, ESB and Oatmeal Stout again – yum!
Our tour guide.
And us!
We mailed some postcards to our family’s from the brewery. They encourage this and actually give out postcards and stamps!
After the tour we headed to downtown Portsmouth for a super late lunch and to walk around in the gorgeous weather! We decided on The Works Bakery Cafe for some quick and healthy sandwiches.
It was cute inside, and surprisingly pretty busy for 3:30pm!
I decided on the special panini of the day – Provolone Artichoke Panini.
It was delicious! Not oily, like many panini’s are. They use homemade pesto and all fresh ingredients.
After lunch, we took a stroll around town and stopped at a chocolate shop for a coffee and some treats!
I decided on a Chocolate Coconut Haystack, and Brant got a turtle!
As expected, I dug right in and they were both awesome!
It was an awesome day! We made it home and I will be having a super light dinner, if anything at all, due to our very late lunch and my tummy full of beer!
Filed under: Eating Laps, Restaurant Reviews | Tagged: beer, chocolate, coconut, Eating Laps, panini, portsmouth, Restaurant Reviews | 3 Comments »
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