Tag: 200716

Beer for the beach or pool

Go for a crisp, refreshing Pilsner

It’s beach time and it’s pool time — and if you’re relaxing in the hot sun at the beach or beside a pool, you’re going to need a beer to wash down that salty air.

While the brand doesn’t matter as much, the style of beer you want is a Pilsner. Crisp, refreshing, easy to drink, bright and best served ice cold (if you ask me), Pilsners are beers you just don’t need to think too much about. When you’re poolside or better yet floating in a pool, that’s the perfect time to drink a beer you don’t need to spend time considering.

That’s not to say that Pilsners aren’t interesting — many certainly are — but the point is, Pilsners taste like beer. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying a few Pilsners from the big names in the industry, such as Budweiser or Coors, but craft breweries have caught on that beer enthusiasts often want an alternative to IPAs and hefty stouts and porters. That means you have a plethora of craft Pilsners available, each offering subtle nuances, and generally all quenching the “I just need a beer” thirst on a hot, summer day.

Separate point, but there is no reason Pilsners can’t be the gateway beer for beer drinkers first diving into the sometimes overwhelming world of craft beer. They are not intimidating and they taste good pretty much universally.

Final point, Pilsners are low in alcohol — as in typically less than 5 percent ABV — meaning I give you permission to have more than one. And because they are lighter and have less alcohol, they don’t bog you down.

Here are six easy-drinking New Hampshire-made Pilsners to cool you down by the beach or by the pool or maybe after you’ve mowed the lawn:

Carry On by Great Rhythm Brewing Co. (Portsmouth)
This is a Bohemian-style Pilsner and I’m not going to pretend that I know what that means. This is a classic Pilsner in my book: super crisp, super refreshing and super easy-to-drink. Perfect after you’ve worked up a thirst catching a Frisbee at the beach exactly two times.

Northbound by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)
This is technically a summer seasonal, but I think Great North Aleworks should offer this year-round. There I said it. You get a little more citrus flavor on this then you might on other Pilsners, which helps set it apart.

Alexandr 10˚ by Schilling Beer Co. (Littleton)
This has a little more complexity than you might expect as the hop character is a little more pronounced and there is a little more going on with the aroma, and I mean all of this in a good way. This is delicious.

PJ Pilsner by Concord Craft Brewing (Concord)
OK, I haven’t had this one but I am sort of a sucker for dry-hopped beers — I just think it adds a little excitement, complexity and energy to a beer, if that makes any sense. According to the brewery, this is light and refreshing and finishes crisp and clean. Perfect.

Lost River Light Ale by Woodstock Inn Brewery (North Woodstock)
I respect when breweries aren’t afraid to call a beer a light beer. Let’s be honest, that’s sort of what Pilsners are. The brewery says this is “perfect for lazy days at the local swimming hole.” I’m in.

Post Shift Pilsner by Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers (Framingham, Mass.)
I know this isn’t a New Hampshire brew but this is, to me, the perfect Pilsner. It’s light and refreshing and easy to drink, but it has plenty of flavor too. It’s a beer that tastes like a beer. And sometimes, that’s all you need.

Featured Photo: The pilsner is perfect for summer. Courtesy photo.

What’s in My Fridge
Pulp Daddy by Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. (Worcester, Mass.) As you might expect from the name, this is extremely hazy, extremely juicy and also extremely delicious. This is a dialed-up version of a brew called Pulp. Find both and drink both. Cheers!

The Weekly Dish 20/07/16

• Common Man Roadside opens in Manchester: A new Common Man Roadside Market and Deli opened at 1805 S. Willow St. in Manchester on July 13. The combination takeout restaurant and convenience store features an open kitchen concept, offering fresh baked goods daily, as well as pizzas, deli and grilled sandwiches, homemade soups, burgers and salads. There is also a barista bar with fresh coffees and a walk-in cooler with domestic and local craft beers. Irving fuel pumps are outside as well. The Common Man Roadside is part of the Granite State Hospitality family, which also opens similar markets in Hooksett and Plymouth. The new Manchester location is open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Visit thecmanroadside.com or call 210-2801.

• Flights for the navigator: A new website designed to help local breweries in New Hampshire connect with craft beer lovers during the pandemic recently went live, according to a press release. DraughtPick.com strives to give visitors the most up-to-date and easily accessible information on their favorite breweries in the state, as well as details on new breweries and beers as they become available. New users who create a free login account with their email address and a password are prompted to fill out a short profile page, which includes a figure for “brewery distance,” or the number of miles within their location where craft breweries are located. They can then access a search page, with the ability to filter by type, location, events (including virtual) and those that offer delivery, curbside pickup or outdoor seating. Visit draughtpick.com.

• Kettles and candies: Manchester’s Van Otis Chocolates now has its own line of candied popcorn products, after the company recently purchased Hutchinson’s Candy, according to a press release. Known as Evangeline’s Popcorn, the brand is named after Van Otis founder Evangeline Hasiotis, featuring original caramel corn, maple caramel corn and seaside kettle corn with cane sugar. All of the flavors are gluten-free and non-GMO, made in small batches by hand at Van Otis’s factory. They come in either 5-ounce or 8-ounce bags, and you can get them at the shop (341 Elm St., Manchester) or order them online at vanotis.com/evangelines-popcorn.

• Eats by the slopes: A new eatery opened at the base of the McIntyre Ski Area (50 Chalet Way, Manchester) on July 1. The Hill Bar & Grille features a menu of appetizers, salads, burgers and entrees, along with opportunities to play games like cornhole, horseshoes or giant Jenga out on the lawn in front of the lodge, as well as fire pits and live light music. Only outdoor seating with table service for food and drinks is available this summer. No reservations are required. To view the menu, visit mcintyreskiarea.com/the-hill-bar-and-grille.

Kiddie Pool 20/07/16

At the Audubon
The New Hampshire Audubon is offering an in-person event at the Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way in Auburn; nhaudubon.org, 668-2045) on Saturday, July 18, from 10 to 11 a.m. Learn to “Be a Nature Detective,” a program geared toward families and featuring outdoor exploration (families will have their own investigation area), according to an email from the Audubon. Masks will be required and the center (and restrooms) will remain closed, the email said. Advance registration is required. The cost is $30 per family.

At the drive-ins
Teens and up might want to check outFootloose (1984, PG but Common Sense Media pegs it at 13 and up). The movie will screen Friday, July 17, at 8:50 p.m. (or so, depending on when it gets dark) at Fieldhouse Sports Drive In (12 Tallwood Drive in Bow; fieldhousesports.com). Tickets can be purchased online for $20 per car (for up to four people, each additional person is $5).

On Monday, July 20, head to Portsmouth (the Pease campus of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital) for The Lost Summer Drive-In Movie Series, presented by the Prescott Park Arts Festival (which canceled its summer programming) and sponsored by Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. Drive-in movie-experiences have been created in two locations — Pease on Monday nights and Blue Mermaid/Tributary Brewing in Kittery, Maine, on Friday and Saturday nights (on July 17 and July 18, the movie is The Princess Bride) — with programming scheduled to run through Sept. 5. See the movies and reserve a spot (suggested donations are $25 per car; pre-bagged popcorn is available for $6.24) at prescottpark.org/event/seacoastnh-drive-in-movies.

Or head to Hampton Beach on Monday, July 20, for a free screening of Toy Story 4 (G, 2019). “Movie Night Mondays at the Beach” are scheduled to run through Aug. 31; movies begin at dusk, about 8 p.m., according to hamptonbeach.org, where you can find a list of upcoming movies and an explanation of procedures. Admission is free.

Treasure Hunt 20/07/16

Dear Donna,
Can you help me with this item? It looks to be silver, and we were thinking maybe it’s a tie ring. It is too big to be a ring for a finger, and the end is removable.
Susan

Dear Susan,
I have to say this is the first piece of Fernando Mendez Mateo I have come across. After doing some research for you I found the trademarks inside the ring to match his. It is silver, you were right. It is a key ring; that is why the end is removable. Remove the end, slide on the keys and replace for safety.

Fernando Mendez Mateo does very interesting work. Your key ring is just one of his animals, and he has other modern designs too. I found key rings, rings, bracelets, etc. The values were all different depending on the piece and design. I did find a couple keyrings similar to yours, in the range of $100 and up, so a little treasure it is.

Watering in dry times

What your plants, trees and lawn need

June, for most of us, was a very dry time. When weeds and established perennials started to droop, I knew it was time to water, and I did. But watering done well takes time and, done poorly, wastes a lot of water — or doesn’t do the job. I have no crystal ball to know what the rest of the summer will be like — July started well with plenty of rain — but it’s good to plan ahead.

First, how much rain do we need each week to be able to avoid watering? About an inch. If you have sandy soil, water runs right through it, so you need more. Clay soil has tiny soil particles and holds onto moisture nicely. But if clay goes bone dry, it can turn into something like cement that will let water run off the surface and downhill instead of soaking in.

In either case, you can make watering easier and your plants more vigorous by adding compost to your soil. That is easiest to do before planting, of course, but you can top-dress the soil with compost and let earthworms, roots and rain work it into the soil over time. Half an inch of compost on the lawn each spring and fall will help a lot. And mulching with compost, an inch or so, will help your flowers and veggies considerably.

In general, I don’t like overhead watering systems. Yes, they do mimic a rain storm, but they waste a lot of water, and water the walkways and weeds as well as the plants. So long as the soil is not parched, I like to water plants using a watering wand.

My watering wand is a 30-inch-long aluminum tube with a watering rose on the end and a shutoff valve that allows me to increase or decrease the flow of water. I like those made by Dramm, a company that specializes in watering devices and has figured out how to deliver lots of water while not disturbing young plants.

In the vegetable garden, I walk up the rows directing the water around my tomatoes or irrigating the lettuce. The wand allows me to spray water close to the ground level — it’s not falling from waist high, the way a nozzle on the end of a hose would. I place hardwood grade stakes at the end of each row to guide the hose and keep it from damaging plants

But during an extended period of hot and dry weather, I know I need to water each bed entirely, from side to side, but not the walkways. If you just water right around the tomatoes, for example, the surrounding soil will wick away the moisture that you gave to your plants. So you need to soak the soil around your plants, not just at the stem.

When watering newly planted trees, or those planted last year, water in a circle around the tree or shrub that extends at least to the drip line. Later on, when a tree is mature, the roots can go far beyond that. If the soil is dry, you might be surprised how long you need to water around a tree in order to get water to get down 6 or 12 inches — which is where the roots are.

Another way to keep your plants happy in dry times is to mulch them well. This will keep the soil moisture from evaporating and will minimize those thirsty, greedy weeds.

In the vegetable garden I put down four to six layers of newspapers or a single layer of cardboard or large brown paper bags, and then cover that with straw. To make sure a light rain gets to my plants, I don’t mulch right up to the plants. Or I’ll mulch with chopped fall leaves or grass clippings right next to the plants. Leaves or grass let rain pass through more easily than paper and straw but keep down weeds.

Why use straw instead of hay? Straw generally costs more — $10 a bale or more versus $5 or less. Mulch hay has seeds, that’s why. Straw is not supposed to have seeds, though occasionally it does. I was told that even if you see seeds in straw, they are immature and won’t germinate.

I don’t like to use black plastic in the garden. It does keep down weeds and holds in moisture, but it ends up in the landfill a year later. And it may interfere with the beneficial microorganisms in the soil — it gets pretty hot under the plastic. It can also create pools of water, a good breeding place for mosquitoes. So I avoid it.

In flower beds I prefer to grow plants so close together that few weeds grow there. But in new beds I use finely ground bark mulch. Never the colored kind, orange or black, as they have chemicals I don’t want.

For big areas of new plants or lawn, a sprinkler of some kind is good. I like a Melnor brand flip-flop sprinkler, model XT360 M. It is easy to use and comes with a lifetime warranty. For small areas, I like a fixed sprinkler like my brass frog that waters calmly in a 20-foot circle.

Plants will usually recover from getting dehydrated, but it takes a week or more, so you lose valuable growing time. I want my tomatoes sooner, not later. So I make sure they don’t dry out too badly in dry times.

If you pay attention to your plants, if you really look at them, you will see when they start to wilt. That’s the time to water. So get a good watering device, and be ready!

Featured photo: A watering wand directs a soft spray just where you want it. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

The Art Roundup 20/07/16

• Return to the big screen: Cinemagic Stadium Theaters in New Hampshire (1226 Hooksett Road, Hooksett, 644-4629; 11 Executive Park Drive, Merrimack, 423-0240; 2454 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 319-8788; cinemagicmovies.com) will reopen on Friday, July 24, with a lineup of classic movies for $5 a ticket. First-run feature films are scheduled to begin, with tickets at regular pricing, on Friday, July 31, with the Russell Crowe movie Unhinged (R) and later Tenet (PG-13), scheduled to open Aug. 12, and Mulan (PG-13), scheduled to open Aug. 21. Moviegoers are required to wear face masks while moving around the facility but can remove them while seated in the auditorium, observing social distance at all times.

• Award-winning films by New Hampshire students: The premiere screening event for the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival that was scheduled to take place in May at Red River Theatres in Concord was canceled due to Covid-19, but you can still watch this year’s 32 films on YouTube. The festival features short films created by New Hampshire high school students. The winning films include The Beauty of Believing by Michaela Short of Pinkerton Academy, Grand Prize Jury Award; It’s All About the Green by Lily Hipp of Souhegan High School, Jury Award Runner-up; Color Dance by Lyle Setnick-King of Concord High School, Jury Finalist No. 1; Mirrored by Garrett Fleury of Nashua Technology Center, Jury Finalist No. 2; Unfortunate by Charlie McKelvey of Nashua Technology Center, Jury Finalist No. 3; and See Something Say Something by Grace Lumley of Salem High School, PSA Award. Two special awards were also given in light of the unique circumstances under which some students were making their films this year. The Quarantine Award, given to The Dark Mode by Aziz Guedoura of Somersworth CTC, was created to recognize a film that was created during quarantine by a single filmmaker using only available resources. The Out of Bounds Award, given to COVID-19: A Documentary by Zoe Deyermond of Pinkerton Academy, was created to recognize a film that made use of available technology to collaborate safely with others in the making of the film. Visit nhstudentfilm.com for the link to the festival on YouTube.

• All kinds of gardens: The Symphony NH Garden Tour takes place on Sunday, July 19, from 3 to 7 p.m., in Nashua. The tour will feature four gardens in different styles: a bonsai garden, an Asian-inspired garden, a garden filled with uncommon perennial and tree specimens and a backyard oasis with a plunge pool and waterfall at a woodland edge. The gardens are located at 9 Cheyenne Drive, 59 Cheyenne Drive, 11 Brackenwood Drive and 11 Governors Lane. There will also be a plant sale at the Brackenwood Drive garden. Face masks and social distancing are required during the tour. Registration is not required; simply show up at any of the gardens in any order you like. Donations are appreciated by cash or check. Visit symphonynh.org/garden-tour.

• Craftsmen’s Fair goes virtual: The 87th annual Craftsmen’s Fair, hosted by the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, will be held as a virtual fair, the League announced in a press release. “When we decided to shift to an online format, the response from our members was overwhelmingly positive, so we are confident there will be a robust opportunity to explore art and craft and the creative process in a way that will capture the excitement of … [seeing] everything in person,” Miriam Carter, League executive director, said in the press release. “Our staff and our talented League members have worked overtime to provide a really comprehensive online fair which we hope triggers the same enthusiasm from visitors.” Traditionally the nine-day fair is held outdoors at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury in August and features hundreds of craftspeople with vendor booths plus special craft exhibitions, live demonstrations, hands-on workshops and more. This year’s fair, happening Saturday, Aug. 1, through Sunday, Aug. 9, will replicate those activities and more through a virtual experience that will include the ability to shop fine crafts directly from more than 140 craftsmen and communicate with the craftsmen; live demonstrations presented by craftsmen; on-demand video content including at-home craft workshops and projects for all ages; a virtual exhibition tour, musical performances and more. A variety of contemporary and traditional crafts will be represented at the fair, such as baskets, blacksmithing, hand-blown glass, functional and decorative ceramics, framed original prints, metal sculptures, vibrant folk art, modern and traditional furniture, elaborate quilts, wearable art and jewelry. Call 224-3375 or visit nhcrafts.org.

• Hatbox Theatre reopens: Get your tickets now for the Hatbox Theatre’s (Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road, Concord) reopening show Copenhagen, produced by Phylloxera Productions, running from Friday, July 24, through Sunday, Aug. 9, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. The Tony Award-, Drama Desk Award- and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play-winning play dramatizes one of the 20th century’s greatest mysteries: what happened during the secret meeting between Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr, two friends, physicists and experts on nuclear fission, who were on opposite sides of World War II in September 1941. Tickets cost $18 for adults; $15 for theater members, seniors and students; and $12 for senior theater members. Audience members will be required to social distance and wear face masks during the performance. Call 715-2315 or visit hatboxnh.com.

Featured photo: Metalwork by Tom Burns, participating craftsman in this year’s virtual Craftsmen’s Fair.

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