The Boston Local Food Festival is just a few weeks away (mark your calendar for Sunday, October 7th if you haven’t already) and as if that wasn’t exciting enough, the Friday before the festival you can attend the 3rd annual Local Craft Brewfest, a celebration of brews made right here in Massachusetts.
One of the local craft breweries setting up shop at the Brewfest is Notch Brewing, which was started two and a half years ago by brewer Chris Lohring. Chris has been brewing his own beer since 1993. He says, “I started brewing because I wanted to make the kind of beers I like to drink.”
Taking his brew master skills to the next level, Chris began formally brewing his own varieties in Ipswich, MA in a space that he and about ten other brewers call home. “This collaborative brewing space allows brewers to go in and create their own beers without having to find and run their own brewery. Some brewers use the space for pressure relief when they hit capacity, some to bottle and some just to create a single beer.” Chris lives in Salem, so brewing in Ipswich is like brewing at your neighbor’s.
Notch Brewing offers three beers year round, four limited release beers per year, a BSA beer (more on that later) and a line of cask-only beers (a British style). Chris says their most popular beer is the Pilsner.
When asked about his commitment to using local ingredients Chris shared, “As an East Coast brewer, you are usually far from your ingredients. Malting facilities are usually in the Midwest or on the West Coast. For the first time, two years ago, I stood in a barely field in Belchertown, MA and it was kind of an epiphany.”
Notch Brewing has partnered with Valley Malt in Hadley, MA and is focused on using their malt whenever possible. Notch is using all wheat grown in New England for their Saison beer.
Additionally, Chris is part of a BSA (like a CSA). BSA stands for Brewers Supporting Agriculture. The brewers pre-pay for the grain, so the farmer has an extra incentive to grow it. Everybody wins.
At the Local Craft Brewfest Chris will be serving up his BSA beer, “It really is a harvest beer, so this is actually the perfect time of year to serve it.” He will also be serving the Polotmavy, which is a Czech style beer.
When asked which of his beers is his favorite, Chris answered, “I think beer depends on the moment.”
See how the moment strikes you on Friday October 5th when you visit Notch Brewing at the Local Craft Brewfest. To learn more about Notch and where to find these beers in a store near you, visit their website and follow on Twitter, @NotchBrewing.
*IMAGE COURTESTY OF DRINK CRAFT BEER.
This post was written by Molly Galler of Pop Bop Shop, go check her out!