On Saturday, around 350 people arrived at MV Wine and Spirits, the Island's newest liquor store to smell, sip and savor a vast selection of craft beer. Rachel White said her favorite was Purple Monkey Dishwasher Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, created by the Evil Genius Beer Company.
A pint of beer is a science class in a glass. On the macro level, there are the biology and chemistry lessons: fungi and plants collide to kick-start the fermentation process that produces alcohol. And the individual characteristics of those fungi (yeast) and plants (hops and malt) each affect how a beer will taste.
Todd Ruggere sat by himself at the bar of the Plane View Restaurant at Martha’s Vineyard Airport. Normally his visits cause quite a stir, but it was a Wednesday afternoon and nobody knew he was coming — he just needed a place to get a beer.
Mr. Ruggere is touring the state of Massachusetts and drinking a beer in each of the 351 towns, all in under a year.
Move over Martha, there’s a new gal in town: Bad Martha, a new craft beer company. The company is premiering two beers this month in Island package stores and restaurants, a summer ale and an extra special pale ale. Beer will be available for tasting at the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust annual Taste of the Vineyard Stroll on Thursday night.
This Sunday learn everything you want to know about classic beer as the Martha’s Vineyard Museum offers Pints of the Past at Dreamland in Oak Bluffs on from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Beer historian and master brewer Christopher Bowen will provide samples of classic beer recipes for the public to taste. He will discuss how beer is made and has changed over time from old England to New England and highlight local New England breweries, too.
Pints from the Past is $15 for museum members and $20 for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Call 508-627-4441, ext. 110.
On Wednesday morning, the jungle of hop plants at the end of Hopps Farm Road in West Tisbury stood 20 feet high, well above Alan Northcott’s head.
Atop a ladder he sliced the string connecting the vine away from the bamboo trellis that the hop plant had climbed along. Down below he handed the vine to the friends, neighbors and brewers who had gathered to help him harvest the hops, soon to be incorporated into an Offshore Ale one-of-a-kind brew: Hopps Farm Road Pale Ale.