The room feels cold and sterile with its high ceilings and gray tones, but it bursts with tables, smells, and people who have come from all over to sample beers both new and old at the Drink Craft Beer SpringFest.
Jeff Wharton, the founder of Drink Craft Beer, oversees the fest, along with a summer, fall, and winter beer gathering of brewers from the New England area who pick their best new brews and their classic sellers to sample out to the crowds who pack the Revere Hotel conference space for the weekend.
Wharton pays each brewery for the beer they bring for guests to sample.
Ben Howe came from Lowell, Mass. with samples from his brewery, Enlightenment Ales.
He operates a small barrel system where the beer ferments in the bottles on a riddling rack. Howe explained that the yeast settles to the cap, at which point they freeze the bottle, yank out the cap and yeast, and recap the bottle for consumption.
“I wanted to make a beer I could afford,” he said. A bottle of Enlightenment Ale, which is more similar in size to a champagne bottle, costs $18. Howe said he thought that was still too expensive, though, and that one of his goals for the future is to lower the cost.
A craft beer festival where people roam with pretzel necklaces and the beer gets weird
Drink Craft Beer presents: SpringFest
As the brewers move around the room, they wave and sample each other’s wares.
And there must be something in the water in Boston, because it sparks interest in beer brewing and encourages people to start their own businesses.
“I’ve been a brewer professionally in Boston since 1993,” said Chris Lohring, the founder of Notch Brewing, based in Ipswich, Mass.
The fact of the matter, however, is that property rent in Boston is higher than outlying areas like Lowell or Ipswich, so many of these new brewers seek space elsewhere, while maintaining roots in Boston.
Lohring went to brewing school in Chicago, apprenticed as a brewer in Maine, and when he came to Boston, he worked his way to head brewer at Tremont Brewery, before it closed in 2001. Five years ago, he noticed the industry was going higher alcohol content, which he took as a sign that he should devote himself to producing what are called “session beers,” or beverages with lower alcohol content.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to do something no one else was doing,” he said. “When I released my new brand, Notch, three years ago, people thought I was insane. But people have started coming back to session beers.”
Three years ago, he created Notch, which produced these session beers with moderate to low alcohol content. He uses hops from the Czech Republic, England, Belgium and Germany, depending on which type of beer he is brewing.
Sara Crandall and Greg Zoeller are self-described beer-chasers who attended the fall and winter fests as well.
“We’re not novices of the beer tasting,” said Zoeller.
“It’s just an easy way to get your hands on different styles,” said Crandall. “It’s fun to try different things. There’s no risk of going to the store and and getting a six-pack or buying an expensive beer and then not liking it. I think it’s good cause you sort of find things you didn’t think you liked.”
Zoeller and Crandall said the Snow Angel beer from Slumbrew was the favorite of the day.
Slumbrew, or Somerville Brewing Company, brews a different beer every other month on limited release, and keeps four main styles throughout the year.
“We’re a very ingredient-driven brewery,” said Jeff Leiter, the owner and brewer. “We’ve got three IPA’s right now. We come out about every other month with a new beer. We’ve got four main beers, then we’ve got four seasonals then special release beers we come out with every other month.”
The brewery has been open for a little over a year and a half, and will release their latest special brew, a white IPA brewed with peaches, in July. Leiter conducts business operations in Somerville, and brews the commercial beer at Mercury Brewing in Ipswich. He said Slumbrew was glad to be at the beer fest.
“We love their fests that they do—Drink Craft Beer puts on amazing fests,” Leiter said. “We get things like food vouchers. Nobody else does this.”
“It’s actually a very collegial environment in Boston area with so many new breweries this year,” said Leiter. “There’s a bunch of new breweries. I was on my way back over to hang out with my friends at Backlash.”
