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Keep on brewing on

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week returns

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week, an annual celebration dedicated to highlighting brewery culture in the Granite State, is returning for its seventh year. Starting Wednesday, April 7, in line with National Beer Day, and continuing through Saturday, April 17, breweries all over New Hampshire will be showcasing special beer releases, hosting virtual events and participating in various collaborative social media efforts to keep the community connected.

Craft Beer Week was introduced by the New Hampshire Brewers Association in 2015, when there were just 44 licensed craft breweries statewide. Today, there are over 90, according to executive director C.J. Haines. In 2019, he industry contributed more than $500 million to the state, the most recent data currently available.

Brewery happenings

Even now, brewers are finding ways to celebrate with their customers.

Several beer trails (you can receive prizes or giveaways based on how many participating breweries you visit) are planned — including a special one through the New Hampshire chapter of the Pink Boots Society. The beer trail is being held in lieu of a collaborative release from women representing multiple Granite State breweries.

Each brewery is instead releasing its own beer highlighting the hop blend released by Yakima Chief Hops. The trail, featuring nearly a dozen craft breweries across Manchester, Concord, the Lakes Region and the Seacoast, will be open throughout the months of April and May with grand prize drawings for those who complete it.

Great North Aleworks in Manchester, in addition to releasing a new lager to benefit the Manchester Historic Association on April 7, will host a trivia night that evening at 6 p.m., featuring executive director and author John Clayton. According to Great North sales and marketing manager Brian Parda, Clayton will be using the Manchester Wall of Fame, the Millyard Museum’s interactive exhibit, to play a game of “Who’s Who” that people can participate in either virtually or in person.

More new brews

In Derry, Cask & Vine owners Andy Day and Alana Wentworth happen to be celebrating the first anniversary of the Daydreaming Brewing Co. during Craft Beer Week. Their venture has gone in directions Day never thought it would go in since the pandemic hit.

“Our original intention was to do English-style ales,” Day said. “We started doing barrel-aged variants with our distillery, which was not what we had set out to do, but the reception has been pretty fantastic. … We’ve also found ourselves in stores and have a few draft accounts in restaurants. That was another thing we didn’t plan on doing.”

Fierce Princess, a German Pilsner brewed with rye and spicy peppers, is a new brew that will be available beginning Thursday, April 15. It’s the first of a series of beers being released that’s based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign Day is running called Insidious. It will also be the first Daydreaming Brewing Co. beer to come in cans as well as on draft. Three more releases in the series are expected to follow, every four months. The following day, Friday, April 16, they will release a special anniversary ale, Day said, a blend of Daydreaming’s Russian imperial stout, barleywine and Belgian strong dark ale that has been aged in a whiskey barrel.

Lithermans Limited Brewery in Concord also has an anniversary coming up in line with Craft Beer Week — its fifth, according to owner Michael Hauptly-Pierce. On Friday, April 9, Lithermans will be releasing a new double dry hopped IPA called Styles and Dynamics, followed by the re-release of Inner Light Spectrum, a dry hopped Pilsner, on Friday, April 16.

“We opened up an online store as soon as [the pandemic began], and that’s been huge in helping us get through,” said Hauptly-Pierce, adding that the outdoor patio at Lithermans is expected to reopen starting Saturday, April 3.

Last week, Manchester’s To Share Brewing Co. had two new releases of its own — Swhale, a hazy New England-style double IPA with flavors of strawberry, melons and coconut; and Up Cider, a dry hard cider made with orange zest and juice to give it a citrus-y kick.

To Share co-founder Aaron Share said he has plans to collaborate with Martha’s Exchange in Nashua on a beer he hopes to have released by May. The brewery will welcome several live music acts over the course of Craft Beer Week, like Ryan Gagne-Hall on April 10 and Kevin Horan on April 11. It also recently received approval to bring back extended outdoor seating.

“Throughout Covid, we’ve had to continue to adjust our business model in terms of how much canning we do versus what we have here on tap,” Share said. “For a while, we were canning a majority of the beer we were producing, but over the last several months things have picked back up [in the taproom]. … We usually see a dip in business in January, but in fact, January this year was pretty phenomenal for us.”

Looking ahead

The Brewers Association’s annual summer festival was canceled last July, but a couple of virtual or drive-thru events were held in its place to raise funds.

“We did the first one back in May, and I think we hit the timing just right because not everybody had suffered the whole Zoom burnout yet,” Haines said. “We meet with all of the other brewers guilds and associations weekly, and they’ve all done one to two virtual events since the pandemic started. Their participation numbers for those virtual events have definitely dropped.”

Instead of another virtual festival, Haines said, there are plans later this year to introduce a collaborative beer release among local breweries to benefit the Association.

With the launch of its new website earlier this year, Haines said the Brewers Association is now shifting away from its app in favor of a more user-friendly directory.

“There are all kinds of different search filters, so you can tell which breweries have outdoor seating, which breweries you can bring your dogs to, things like that,” she said. “We’re also going to be launching a new campaign on social media called ‘Your Next beer is Here,’ with the emphasis on the ‘n’ for next and the ‘h’ for here to highlight New Hampshire. So it’s going to be a way to encourage people to get out and enjoy their next beer at a place not in their homes.”

New Hampshire Craft Beer Week
When: Wednesday, April 7, through Saturday, April 17
Where: Various breweries statewide throughout the week; follow the New Hampshire Brewers Association on social media or visit their website for the most up-to-date details on special beer releases, events and more
More info: Visit nhbrewers.org or find them on Facebook @nhcraftbeerweek

Feautred photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 21/04/01

News from the local food scene

• Get ready for Easter: Visit hippopress.com for our annual Easter listings (available for free to everybody thanks to our members and supporters), which include details on local restaurants and function centers serving special brunches or dinner menus, as well as bakers, chocolatiers and candy makers offering unique creations of their own. Easter Sunday is April 4; for the most up-to-date availability, check the websites or social media pages of restaurants, bakeries and function centers, or call them directly.

• Shop local: There’s a new indoor spot to get some local products like fresh veggies, breads, baked goods, honeys, gifts and other non-perishables and handcrafted items. The Weare Real Food Market opened March 15 and is now open seven days a week, at 65 N. Stark Hwy. in Weare, owner Marek Rivero confirmed. The market’s mission, Rivero said, is to present a venue where local farmers, crafters and artisans can come together to provide products directly to the Weare community. The market is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit wearerfm.com or follow them on social media.

• Temporary takeout change: Great New Hampshire Restaurants, the local group that encompasses all T-Bones, CJ’s Great West Grill and Copper Door restaurants in the state, announced last week it has temporarily suspended takeout services on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 5 to 8 p.m., across all of its locations, including online ordering and phone-in orders during those times. “Takeout has become so busy during these up-times that it is impeding our ability to serve in-house guests at the level we demand of ourselves,” reads a March 26 company statement released on its newsletter and social media channels. Takeout will still be available outside of those hours as Great New Hampshire Restaurants continues to prioritize the increasing return of indoor and outdoor dining.

• Ribfest update: For the second year in a row, the Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival will not be taking place during its normal Father’s Day weekend timeframe, nor will it be happening at Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack, according to a statement recently issued on the event’s website and Facebook pages. Organizers hope to have the festival at a new location sometime later this year, but according to the statement, “negotiations are taking longer than expected.” The three-day event, which typically features local and regional barbecue vendors and food trucks, as well as live music, a beer station and a variety of family-friendly activities, was postponed multiple times in 2020 before it was ultimately canceled. Updates on the status of a 2021 festival will be made as they become available at greatamericanribfest.com.

Kiddie Pool 21/04/01

Family fun for the weekend

Easter fun!

Follow the Bunny in downtown Concord on Saturday, April 3! The free event will begin at the Statehouse lawn at 11 a.m., where kids will have the chance to participate in games, activities and crafts. They’ll also get to meet with the Easter Bunny and decorate their own treat bags before heading downtown to search for special treats. “Follow the Bunny” posters displayed on participating business windows will let them know that there’s a treat inside. The event runs until 2 p.m.

Also on Saturday, the Easter Bunny will hop on over to the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org) to meet with kids and give out special goody bags. Ask the Easter Bunny questions and pose for photos, then check out the museum’s kid-friendly activities and exhibits, like a scavenger hunt and a real airplane cockpit kids can climb into. The event will run during normal operating hours, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12, seniors 65 and older, and retired/active military, and free for kids 5 and under.

Nature activities

Kids can hike, run or learn about science at Beaver Brook Nature Center (117 Ridge Road, Hollis), with new sessions of after-school and homeschool programs starting Tuesday, April 6. The Hiking Club and Trail Running programs, which are for kids in grades 4 through 8, are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively, from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m., from April 6 through May 18. The center is also hosting Homeschool Science those same weeks, from 9 a.m. to noon, for ages 6 to 10 on Tuesdays and ages 9 to 13 on Wednesdays. Classes will include hikes and other outdoor activities along with nature-related lessons. Register at beaverbrook.org.

Featured photo: The Easter Bunny visiting the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire. Courtesy photo.

Stems, branches and weeds

How to create early spring arrangements

I miss being able to go to my garden and pick flowers for the table. Yes, spring is on the way and even feels present on good days now. But it will be a while until my daffodils and tulips bloom. My winter aconite, small yellow bulb flowers, are blooming, and little white snowdrops have pushed through frozen earth. Those mini-flowers aren’t really suitable for a bouquet, but I’ve picked a few things that please me.

First, I picked some stems from my Merrill magnolia. It is loaded with fuzzy buds for its late-April blooming, and these look good in an arrangement. Magnolia branches tend to fork and grow in different directions, so placing stems in a vase can be tricky. I put some in a dry vase with dried flowers and seed-bearing stems and one in a vase with water to put on a windowsill. The buds I picked on Jan. 31 bloomed on March 17.

Beech branches are good for arrangements, too. The young trees, anyway, hold onto their light brown leaves, filling spaces in a vase. And the stems are a smooth gray, with cigar-shaped, pointy buds.

Of course red- or yellow-twigged dogwood stems add color to a winter arrangement. Each year one must cut back the plants in spring or winter to get the color on the new stems. They are fast-growing plants, so they can grow 5 feet of new stem in a single summer. They grow best in moist or marshy places.

For contrast in my vase I like to have some dark stems. Trees in the cherry family do well there. Chokecherry, pin cherry and black cherry look good in a vase. Young white birch have dark stems, as does hop hornbeam. But basically you can pick any tree branches if you like their look.

Greenery is nice for contrast with bare stems. I recommend white pine for greenery. It has a nice weeping tendency and is great around the outside of the vase. Unlike Canadian hemlock, it holds onto its needles quite well, but hemlocks are more common on my property, so I often use them.

Then there are the hydrangeas. Many species and varieties hold onto their flower panicles well into winter and can be quite nice in a vase. My favorite is one called Pink Diamond. It has long stems and it holds onto the fertile and infertile inflorescences, showing contrast between white and black florets on the panicles. Although the blossoms are pink toward the end of their bloom cycle, they are not pink after frost.

Winter weeds can be interesting, too. One of my favorites for winter picking is teasel. Technically, this is a biennial weed. I harvested some seeds from a corn field in Ohio years ago. The corn farmer thought I was a total nutcase because to him teasel is a noxious weed. But I have learned its habits and allow just half a dozen plants to flower and produce seed every year, and it is a delightful addition to winter arrangements.

The key to keeping teasel in check is to recognize the first-year plants. They are rosettes of light green leaves. I pull most, but leave half a dozen to mature and bloom in Year 2. The second year plants are loaded with thorns and have a deep tap root, so if you pull them then, you must wear gloves. I rub the thorns off while wearing gloves as I pick them, and can then handle them with ease when arranging them in a vase.

Astilbes bloom magnificently for me, and their winter stems are great in a dry vase. I have many different species and varieties ranging from short (12-inch blossom stems) to tall (48 inches). Their chief requirement is moist soil, and I have plenty of that. If you don’t have moist soil, the leaves will brown up in the heat of summer. One trick I have tried in dry locations is to bury a plastic bag a foot or so deep in the soil before planting. That will act like a little bathtub and hold some water in dry times. They like a half day of sunshine, and prefer morning sun.

Snake root or black cohosh (formerly called Cimicifugaspp. Now in the genus Actea) holds on to dry blossoms long after summer has passed. They look good in dry arrangements if you have any still standing.

Winter arrangements tend to be fairly monochromatic — tan or brown colors are most common. I have seen gardeners use dry allium (onion-family) blossoms to bring color to the table by spray-painting them with red, blue, purple and yellow spray paints. I have never done so, but if I think to harvest some next spring or summer, I may do so. I have even seen them sprayed while still in the garden!

Of course, the best color in the house for me right now is my forced daffodils. Last fall I potted up plenty of “tete-a-tete” daffodils and I kept them in my cold cellar until recently. Each bulb provided many blossoms and even now, after the flowers have gone by, they are still pleasant-looking with green leaves and dried yellow flowers.

Featured photo: Winter aconite. Courtesy photo.

Best of 2021

Best of 2021

Despite the challenges of the past year, there’s still plenty to celebrate about living in New Hampshire. Readers voted on their favorite people, places and things in the Granite State; now, check out the results and make some plans to grab a winning bite, take a mini hike or enjoy a night of comedy or live music from some of our best local talent.

Also on the cover, immerse yourself in verse during Poetry Month, p. 24. New Hampshire breweries celebrate Craft Beer Week, p. 30. And springtime means spring wines, p. 35.

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Stems, branches and weeds

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Kiddie Pool 21/04/01

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The Weekly Dish 21/04/01

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Keep on brewing on

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Dan Blake, Da Fé (Sunnyside Records) Fourth full-length from bandleader Blake, a Brooklyn-based sax player and board member of Buddhist ...

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The Art Roundup 21/04/01

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Currier reopens: The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St., Manchester) is reopening to the public on Thursday, April 1, with several new exhibitions on display. “The Body in Art: From the Spiritual to the Sensual” provides a look at how artists through the ages have used the human body as a means of creative expression; The Tomie dePaola exhibition celebrates the illustrator’s life and legacy through a collection of his original drawings; and “Critical Cartography: Larissa Fassler in Manchester,” features immersive large-scale drawings that reflect the Berlin-based artist’s observations of downtown Manchester while she was an artist-in-residence at the Currier Museum in 2019. Tickets cost $15, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, and must be booked online. Museum hours are Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (free after 5 p.m.); and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the hour of 10 to 11 a.m. currently reserved for seniors and museum members. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.

• Growing up wild: The Walker Lecture Series continues with a virtual author event featuring Michael Tougias (michaeltougias.com) on Wednesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. Tougias will discuss his new bestselling memoir The Waters Between Us: A Boy, A Father, Outdoor Misadventures and the Healing Power of Nature, which chronicles his experience growing up and exploring nature in the 1960s and ’70s. “I was a wild kid by nature and choice who sought out wild places,” Tougias said in a press release. “I feel lucky to have grown up in a time when a kid could spend the entire day on their own in the great outdoors with no parental interference.” The memoir also looks at his complex relationship with his father, Tougias said. A recording of the event will be available to watch starting the following day. The Walker Lecture Series will continue every Wednesday through April 21, with a travelogue about the deserts, coastline and safari parks of Namibia presented by Rick Ray on April 14 and a faculty concert by Concord Community Music School on April 21. Events are free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

• Virtual screenings: The Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord presents a series of virtual screenings for a variety of performances. “Double Take,” a dance concert by Repertory Dance Theatre and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Co., will screen on Thursday, April 1, and Friday, April 2, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, April 3, at 4 p.m., for $25 per ticket. War Horse, a National Theatre Live Encore Presentation, is available on demand through Tuesday, April 6, for $15. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, filmed live in London, is available on demand now through Sunday, April 11, for $25. Finally, “The Art of Circus” will be screened on Thursday, April 8, at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 11, at 2 p.m., for $25 per ticket. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

Keep on brewing on

The Weekly Dish 21/04/01

Kiddie Pool 21/04/01

Stems, branches and weeds

Best of 2021

The Art Roundup 21/04/01

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