What’s On Tap: Rob and Lisa North from Great North Aleworks!
Great North Aleworks has been a dream of Rob & Lisa’s for many years. Rob has been a long time home brewer and after rediscovering the craft back in 2007, he immersed himself in the hobby. Lisa was always extremely happy with the outcome, and even talked Rob into teaching her how to brew some creations of her own.
Around that same time both Rob & Lisa became active members of the New Hampshire homebrew club Brew Free or Die and began entering their beers in competitions. Rob did well in those competition, including being crowned four time Brewer of the Year at the New England Regional Homebrew Competition, taking a silver medal in the final round of the 2013 National Homebrew Competition, and twice making the semi-finals of the Sam Adams Long Shot Competition. In 2010 Rob won the Samuel Adams Patriot Homebrew Competition which gave him the opportunity to brew his beer at the Sam Adams brewery in Boston and have it served on tap at Gillette Stadium for the 2010 New England Patriots season.
Rob has also achieved a National rank in the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and Lisa has earned the level of Certified Beer Server in the Cicerone Certification Program.
By 2011, it was time to make the dream a reality; Rob and Lisa decided that Rob would leave his day job in the IT world to pursue opening a brewery. Shortly after leaving the corporate world, Rob spent the majority of 2013 working as the first Assistant Brewer at Newburyport Brewing Company, all the while perfecting his recipes, searching for a location, and refining the business plan.
Great North Aleworks: Website | Facebook| Twitter
Bert’s Better Beers’ Draft Pick(s) of the Week:
1. Great North’s “Smokin”
2. Great North’s IPA
3. Great North’s RVP
Listen for our review!
Kettle to Keg’s In the Kettle: The Dangers of Oxygen
New England’s Tap House Grill’s Ale Communications:
1. Founders runs afoul of Michigan law with baby on Breakfast Stout label
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Oh, baby… What now?
Apparently, Michigan isn’t cool with the Founders Breakfast Stout label, either.
On Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Grand Rapids brewery announced it was changing the label of its popular seasonal beer because state alcohol regulators took issue with the picture of a baby eating oatmeal on the label — which, as it turns out, has not actually been registered with the state for many years.
“The baby of Breakfast Stout is taking some time away from his crib after being booted from the label in our home state of Michigan,” read a post on the brewery website.
“However, you’ll continue to see that familiar face in all other states within our distribution footprint — and soon!” READ MORE
2. Smart Brew™ Water Testing Kits
In the world of craft brewing, water is the most essential ingredient to making a quality tasting beer. The new Smart Brew™ Water Testing Kits are the perfect tool to properly begin the brewing process. The Smart Brew™ Kits incorporate a revolutionary photometer system that integrates 2–way wireless communication with a smart device. The multilingual app is the brain of the system which allows limitless possibilities including lab accuracy, free upgrades, mobile sharing, and more. The app comes with 4 tests installed including pH, Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine (Chloramines) and Total Alkalinity. Over 35 additional parameters are available for in app purchase ($4.99/ea), so you can tailor the eXact iDip® to suit your needs at a fraction of the cost of competing photometers. The simple and quick 20 second testing procedure takes the guesswork out of results. It’s like having a laboratory in the palm of your hand. READ MORE
3.Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewing to partner with Heineken in 50-50 deal
In the most significant deal yet in the American craft brewing industry, Lagunitas Brewing Co. and Heineken International announced a partnership Tuesday to take the fast-growing Petaluma company’s hoppy craft beers and irreverent business ethos across the world.
Heineken will acquire a 50 percent stake in the nation’s sixth-largest craft beer producer for an undisclosed amount of cash and a structure that allows Lagunitas to utilize the Amsterdam company’s global production and distribution network, Lagunitas founder and owner Tony Magee said. READ MORE
4. Trio stole $1K worth of beer kegs without realizing they were empty, cops say
A trio’s plan to bring beer to a lake party Tuesday didn’t go smoothly after Riverdale police caught them trying to steal $1,000 worth of kegs from a Route 23 restaurant, authorities said.
Even if police hadn’t intervened, the scheme would not have worked, Lt. James Macintosh said, since the three Middlesex County residents inadvertently stole kegs that were empty.
“While at headquarters, one of the suspects said they took the kegs for a party at a lake but when questioned about which lake, they suspects couldn’t answer. They also did not have an answer when told that the kegs were empty and therefore not useful for a party,” Macintosh said. READ MORE
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