Smuttynose and Stone Release Cluster's Last Stand

Smuttynose Brewing Company and Stone Brewing Co. Team Up To Pay Tribute to the Original 

American IPAs

Smuttynose Brewing Company is proud to announce its partnership with San Diego’s Stone Brewing Co.
for the New Hampshire brewer’sfirst collaboration brew, Cluster’s Last Stand. Cluster was once the king of
American-grown hops (at one point, the variety made up 90% of all the hops grown in the America), but is
now considered passé. The limited release beer is a recreation of the legendary Ballantine IPA, complete
with the original retro hops varieties. Brewing takes place the morning of June 17 at Smuttynose. Greg
Koch, CEO and Co-founder of Stone, will represent the brewery as part of his whirlwind tour through
Portsmouth (see below for details).

“Cluster’s Last Stand is a tribute to the original American IPAs and the hops that that made them great
(including Cluster),” said David Yarrington. “While the name started out as a way to lampoon a hop variety
whose moment had passed, we realized that working with Stone, particularly in the wake of Brewmaster
Mitch Steele’s book, was the perfect way to create a serious tribute to the earliest American IPAs and
showcase some important, but forgotten hops that many ‘aficionados’ find passé in 2013.”

Steele literally wrote the book on IPAs and did a tremendous amount of research on the most popular beer
style in the U.S. Not only does the book, IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale have some great information and historic recipes, it also gives a nod to Portsmouth’s Frank Jones Brewery as the home of America’s first IPAs. While thatrecipe hasn’t surfaced yet, the Ballantine recipe is in the book and that’s what will become a mid-July, 30 barrel (930 gallons) release in the New Hampshire brewer’s Short Batch Series.

A previous batch of Cluster's Last Stand was brewed at Portsmouth Brewery in January 2012, with Steele,
Yarrington and Tod Mott, then Head Brewer at Portsmouth Brewery. That batch, a slightly altered version
of what’s being brewed now, made just 220 gallons. Confined to the Portsmouth Brewery's four walls, it
came and went, pleasing beer drinkers with its antiquated deliciousness. The beer wasn't super piney or
citrusy, nor did it smell like New Zealand white wine, but it was quite hoppy, deeply resinous and by all
accounts, unique. A few bottles made it back to Greg Koch at Stone. He and Mitch both liked the beer and
everyone thought it would be exciting to brew it on a larger scale.

Package information and release details will be announced over Smuttynose’s blog and Facebook page
ahead of a mid-July release.A few kegs will be sent to Stone’s farm-to-table restaurant, Stone Brewing
World Bistro & Gardensto serve to eager guests, marking the first time Smuttynose beer has been for sale
in California.

In addition to brewing Cluster’s Last Stand, Greg has a few other eventsin Portsmouth. From 3pm-4pm,
he’ll be recording a conversationwith the hosts of the Seacoast Beverage Lab podcast for future airing.
From 4pm-5pm he’ll host a meet & greet in the Portsmouth Brewery’s LaPanza Lounge where three Stone
beers; Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, Stone Ruination IPA and Stone IPA will pour from the new draft system.
Greg’s day will wind down at a sold-out Stone beer dinner at the Sheraton Harborside.

ABOUT SMUTTYNOSE BREWING COMPANY
Smuttynose Brewing Company is New Hampshire’s original local brewery. Independently owned since its
opening in 1994, Smuttynose brews over 25 different styles of beer for distribution in 23 different states,
including their best-selling Finestkind IPA and international award-winners Robust Porter and Wheat Wine  Ale. In 2012, our 50 employees worked together to brew, package and sell nearly 41,000 barrels (over 10
million pints) of all-natural, unfiltered, honest-to-goodness beer from our Portsmouth brewery. In August
of 2012, Smuttynose officially broke ground on its new production facility at the 14-acre Towle Farm in
Hampton, NH, which will be operational by the end of 2013. For more information, please visit
smuttynose.com.

ABOUT STONE BREWING CO.
Known for its bold, flavorful and largely hop-centric beers, Stone Brewing Co. has been brewing in North
County San Diego since 1996. Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, Stone is the 10th largest craft
brewer in the United States—a position it achieved without paid advertising, discounting or compromising
standards. In addition to brewing, Stone owns two eclectic farm-to-table restaurants—Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Escondido and Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station—and Stone Farms, an organic farm located near the brewery which grows produce for the restaurants. Stone also
operates an off-site events company, Stone Catering, as well as Stone Distributing Co., which distributes
more than 30 craft beer brands throughout Southern California. For more information on Stone Brewing
Co., please visit stonebrewing.com or the company’s social media sites: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
Google+, YouTube and The Stone Blog.

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Smuttynose Wins Two Medals in Europe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- Portsmouth NH –9 November 2010

Smuttynose’s Second Trip to Europe This Year is Twice as Nice

Smuttynose Wheat Wine Ale and Smuttynose Robust Porter each won a gold medals at
2010’s European edition of Mondial de la Biere, held in Strasbourg, France. An
international panel of experienced judges awarded two of only fourteen gold medals
to the Portsmouth, NH brewer, which was the only American brewery to claim hardware.
Both beers are previous gold medal winners at the Great American Beer Festival,
with Wheat Wine Ale taking a gold in 2005 and Robust Porter taking a gold in 2001.

In a world of style-shredding beers, the Mondial de la Biere is one of the few
competitions that takes a post-style approach to judging. Instead of each brewery
choosing the categories in which to enter its beers, judges nominate each beer into
a style category. The winners are then chosen through a numerical scoring system.
Beers can be entered into multiple style categories but each beer can only win one
medal and awarded medals aren’t tied to a specific style. “This unique judging
format really opens the door for a lot brewers who, like us, don’t brew exactly to
style,” says David Yarrington, Smuttynose’s Director of Brewing Operations,
“Obviously, we’re really grateful that the folks at the Mondial have taken such a
unique approach to beer judging.”

This year was the second edition of the Strasbourg Mondial de la Biere. The
original Mondial began in Montreal in 1994 and has become one of the world’s premier
beer festivals, offering not only a wide range of beers to sample but a successful
educational program as well. The festival is the premier international beer event
in North American and is world renowned, expecting around 100,00 visitors next year.
This year’s French edition hosted 16,000 attendees (up 5% from last year), showing
how rapidly craft beer culture is spreading, even in areas that are traditionally
considered wine country.

The wins continue a great run for Smuttynose in European competition. The brewery’s
Big A IPA won the Michael Jackson Award, given to the Best American Beer at the
Great British Beer Festival in August of this year. European interest in craft
beer, and American craft beer in particular, is booming, and Smuttynose is exploring
options by which it can join this European beer renaissance. The medals, which
would have simply been a nice surprise in days past, may now open a door to new
markets.

Smuttynose Brewing Company is New Hampshire’s leading craft brewery. Founded in
1994, Smuttynose brews more than 20 different styles of beer, which are distributed
in 19 different states, including the entire East Coast. Its beers have won many
awards both domestically and abroad and have been featured in publications as
diverse as “Wine Enthusiast,” “Men’s Journal,” and “The New York Times.”


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Smuttynose Big A IPA - Quadrupel Dry Hopped

Smuttynose's Big A Double IPA is widely regarded as a great beer. With great reviews on websites such as RateBeer and BeerAdvocate, as well as multiple awards including CAMRA's Michael Jackson Award it is apparent that the beer drinking masses enjoy this beer. After hosting a Smuttynose Beer Dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville, NY, I was fortunate to try a special quadrupel dry hopped cask version of the Big A.

This cask beer poured a cloudy, orange color with a paper thin, white head. The nose is a little sweet and packed with huge amounts of hops. The body has a thick malt base, smooth with medium depth and a little carbonation. It is sweet up front, with peach notes. The finish offers up a monster hop bitterness and a prolonged lingering dryness. Overall, this is a great beer. A sipping beer no doubt, it is pretty well balanced for such a big beer.

Smuttynose Short Batch #9 Rogue d'Shire

While Smuttynose is one of the more well known craft brewers in American, you can beer fans if they have never heard of Smuttynose's Rogue s'Shire. The beer is part of Smuttynose's Short Batch Series, an series of beers with extremely limited production. You can find the story behind Rogue d'Shire on the Smuttynose Brewer's Notes blog.

Rogue d'Shire poured a ruby red color with a paper thin, white head. The aroma was juicy, sweet with lots of raspberries. The body is short, with a little hint of sweetness, and raspberries before a super tart finish that puckers the mouth.

Overall, this was a nice sour. The raspberry balance is perfect, sweet up front with the short body transitioning quickly to the tart sour notes left on the palate. On my recent tour of Smuttynose, Director of Brewing Operations David Yarrington explained that some experimental brews were sitting in the wooden barrels I had inquired about. If what was in those barrels was as good as Rogue d'Shire then anyone fortunate to taste them is in for a treat.

David Yarrington Interview - Smuttynose Brewing Company

Smuttynose Star Island Single

Star Island Single poured a clear, golden yellow color with a two fingered width, white head. The nose is light, some faint pale malt underneath citrus notes. the body is smooth, with a fairly full mouthfeel. The body is fruity with the citrus growing as the beer progresses. The finish is almost absent, with only a little corn like yeasty dryness.

Overall, this is kond of just an average ale that is enjoyable without being memorable. The fruity sweetness takes over a little bit and could use a dryer finish to balance it out. Smuttynose is calling this a pale gold ale and it seems that the ber kind of toes the line between both styles, leaving it without an identity. Not bad, but I was hoping for more from Smuttynose.

Smuttynose IPA

Smuttynose IPA poured a semi-hazy, light amber color with a finger width, white head. The aroma was clean and crisp, with plenty of hops and light fruit. The body has light malt up front with a fruity sweetness and a decent helping of hops. The finish is hoppy with a really, really long lingering dryness.

Overall, I think this is a very good IPA. I am not usually a fan of overly hoppy or dry beers but I loved this beer. The body is balanced and I really liked the bone-dry finish.