Mayflower Brewing

We are happy to offer our beers expertly paired with fine food.

The first Beer Dinners have been scheduled.

Dirty Truth and Cambridge Common

Who and Where: Mayflower Brewing Company and The Dirty Truth

When: Sunday, November 9th, Starts at 5pm
Contact: Dirty Truth (413) 585-5999 or email to info@dirtytruthbeerhall.com

Pre-Meal Welcoming Beer - Mayflower Golden Ale on Cask dry-hopped with Hops grown in Amherst.

APPETIZER ~ Paired with Mayflower Pale 

Artichoke & Spinach Parmesan Dip with Fresh Bread 

SOUP ~ Paired with Mayflower India Pale Ale

Triple Squash Soup   — Butternut-Acorn-Delicata

SALAD ~ Paired with Mayflower Golden Ale

Roasted Pear, Spiced Walnut, Gorgonzola Cheese w/ Spiced Pear Vinegar on Mescaline Greens

ENTREE ~ Paired with Mayflower Porter

Roast Garlic and Herb Rubbed Rack of Lamb with Celery Root Mashed Potato and Wilted Hardy Greens

VEGGIE OPTION ENTREE

Free Form Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta and Basil Sauce

DESSERT ~ Paired with Mayflower “Bourbon Barrel Aged” Porter

Double Chocolate Whiskey Cake

AFTER DINNER BEER - Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale

The Cambridge Common is hosting a beer dinner for us the same week. 

Below is all the info you need:

Autumn goodness, dancing in your head . . .
Who: Mayflower Brewing Company and The Cambridge Common
When: Tuesday, November 11th, 6:30pm
Contact: Cambridge Common, 617.547.1228 or beerdinners@cambridgecommonrestaurant.com

Premeal Brew: Thanksgiving Ale

~Starter~
Basket of Sweet Bread (Zucchini Bread, Corn Muffin, Dinner Roll) with a Maple Honey Butter
Paired with Golden Ale

~Soup~
Sweet Potato, Roasted Red Pepper, & Corn Chowder
Paired with IPA

~Entree~ [choice of]
Cranberry Chutney Stuffed Pork Loin with German Bread Dumplings, Crispy Fried Onions, Ale Au Jus, and Fresh Green Beans

OR

Pumpkin & Pancetta Risotto
Both paired with Pale Ale

~Dessert~
Pumpkin Pie, oh my, with a Graham Cracker Crust and Fresh Whipped Cream
Paired with Porter
[Vegetarian option available, with advance notice]

We look forward to seeing many friends and of course new faces at these dinners… so reserve now!

Now i am hungry,

Matthew

We are thrilled to have received some terrific recognition from the press in recent days, with articles that celebrate both our beer and our adventure as a new company.

On September 18, beer columnist George Lenker wrote a piece about our India Pale Ale in the Springfield Republican.  The article provides a sensory overview of our IPA and includes some thoughts from our Matthew Steinberg about his approach to brewing beer and his specific goals for the IPA.  Check it out below.

http://www.masslive.com/beernut/republican/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1221635850275180.xml&coll=1

This past Saturday, September 20, the Boston Globe published an article about us in the business section (as if there isn’t enough going on in business these days).   The article highlights our startup and growth plans as the newest craft beer microbrewery in Massachusetts.  It includes a couple pictures of our bottling process and some supportive quotes about our efforts from Todd Alstrom, founder of Beer Advocate.  Follow the link below to see it.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/09/20/mayflower_sails_again/

We appreciate the support from the press and hope it encourages you to go out and find our beer.

Cheers,

Drew

Sitting by fermenter 1 is an old Buffalo Trace barrel, and we finally have an answer to the often asked question ”What’s in the barrel?”  Mayflower Porter!  Yesterday Matt and I filled this used bourbon barrel with some porter.  We are planning on letting it sit there for a month or so to absorb all of the delicious bourbon and oak characteristics.  This one will be very limited, so when we know where it will be pouring, we will be sure to let you know.  While on the topic of oak, today we added light toast American oak to the Thanksgiving Ale.  It is tasting great and we are very excited to taste it as it ages on the oak.       

More soon,

Ryan

At Mayflower Brewing Company, we believe in maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of good food, good beer and regular exercise.  That’s why we are thrilled to be able to support a couple of local events that celebrate this lifestyle and support the local community.

On Labor Day weekend, we helped sponser the first-ever triathlon in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Fast Forward Race Management conducted two races — The Ironman Distance Triathlon at Plymouth Rock (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2 mile run) and The Mayflower International Triathlon (1-mile swim, 30-mile bike, 6.5 mile run).  The races drew 450 runners from throughout the country, including plenty of New Englanders and athletes from as far away as Texas and California.  Hats off to race directors Chris Herbert and Richard Berard who staged a first-class event in their first year and plan to develop the event into a fundraiser for Kidney Transplant Research at Mass General Hospital.

Learn more about the event at their web site — www.plymouthrocktriathlon.com and check out the great writeups and video clips of the event at the Patriot Ledger — http://www.patriotledger.com/homepage/x467283976/Plymouth-Triathlon-winner-has-a-will-of-iron

We are also excited to be supporting the 24th Annual Autumn Escape Bike Trek  put on by the American Lung Association of Massachusetts.  The three-day, 160-mile bike trek from Plymouth to Provincetown (first landing place of the Pilgrims) will take place on September 12-14.  We salute the participants who are keeping fit and hoping to raise $200,000 through sponsorships.  And we look forward to quenching their thirst and providing a much-needed carbo load with Mayflower beer during their dinner on Saturday night.

Registration for the event is still open.  Interested riders should check out their web site at http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/home.jsp?id=1679

September is a great time of year here in New England, so get out there and enjoy it with plenty of exercise and Mayflower beer.

 Drew

So after Drew, Jeff, Ryan and I thought long and hard about how to make a very cool fall beer…  we came up with the following.

Mayflower Thanksgiving Ale is a sort of “Wood-Aged” Old Ale/American Strong Ale that is fairly malty and earthy with subtle spiciness.  We expect it to be around 6.5% abv. with 40 IBUs.  Here is a list of some of the goodies we are using to make this very special release…

For malts we thought… let’s go a little NUTS!
Crisp Gleneagle Maris Otter - this stuff is incredible

Castle Special B - a roasted belgian malt that delivers a nutty character with some caramel

Simpson’s Crystal Rye Malt - Why the heck not?

Simpson’s Golden Naked Oats - We like the name.. and figured the roundness will lend itself nicely.

Weyermann Carafa III - We wanted about 16 SRM(color) without the burnt flavors.. this should work fine.

Flaked Barley for some nice head retention and creamy mouthfeel.

We are also using a few different sugars for fermentables

For hops… going classic with East Kent Goldings at about 40 IBUs

The yeast… Well now something has to be secret doesn’t it?

As far as the Wood… we chose to work with The Barrel Mill and use American Oak Spirals with a light toast.

The brewday is set for September 2nd…. we will post more after we get to taste it.

More Later,
Matthew

Come join us this Thursday night for a tasting of Mayflower beers at The Pour Farm Tavern, in New Bedford.  The Pour Farm is a new tavern with 12 draft lines, and an extensive bottle selection on Purchase St. in New Bedford.  Check them out at www.pourfarm.com for more info.  From 7-9 PM we will be pouring samples of our Golden ale and Pale ale, and our Porter is currently on draft.  Look for Mayflower as it makes its way into the Southcoast, and as always, ask for it at your local watering hole and package store.

 Na zwrodie!

Ryan

We were very excited to hear that the folks at the Great British Beer Festival enjoyed our Porter on cask.  We shipped a firkin(10.8gallon cask) to the GBBF a few weeks ago.  Apparantly the cask was in great shape and was awarded a Silver Medal by a panel of Beer Experts and Professionals within the industry.  To learn more about The Campaign for Real Ale and the Great British Beer Festival go to:     http://www.camra.org.uk/home.aspx   and  http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=282170

There is also a pod(beer)cast for your listening pleasure. 

 Now… it is time to go bottle a batch of Pale Ale.  I will certainly have a glass of Porter at the end of my day to celebrate.  Hopefully you will too!

Ah, summer.  We’ve spent the last few days out and about with customers and colleagues and have been having a ball.  Last weekend, we spent Saturday pouring beer at the first ever Shirley Fest in Shirley, Massachusetts.  About 400 people turned out for a terrific outdoor festival in support of Habitat for Humanity.  Great weather, beer, BBQ and bands made for a fabulous time.  We also participated in the 5th Annual Hophead Throwdown at The Publick House in Brookline, another charitable event supporting The Multiple Sclerosis Society.  We donated a keg of Mayflower IPA that we infused with extra hops (Marynka).  We hope everyone enjoyed it alongside the many other scrumptious offerings from our fellow brewers.

On Sunday, it was on to the 4th Annual Pig Out at Grover’s House, a Beer Advocate event hosted by our friend Michael Saklad from Stone Brewing. Our Mayflower Porter stood up to Michael’s 50 lbs. of pulled pork and ribs.  There was enough food to feed a small army, and we did our best.  Other great draft we enjoyed included Stone IPA, Southern Tier Uber Sun (donated by O’Brian from Sierra Grille) and homebrewed Wit by the infamous Longstaff.

And on Tuesday night, we poured our full line-up of Mayflower ales at the 2008 Best of Boston Awards party held at the Conley Terminal on Boston Harbor.  You wouldn’t think that it would be fun to have a party on a dock filled with shipping containers, but nice weather (finally no thunderstorms), good food, fun music and a festive crowd made for a  terrific evening.  Hats off to Boston Magazine and this year’s Best of Boston Award winners!

And this coming weekend, Matthew is off to New York for Belgium Comes to Cooperstown.  OK, so we’re not from Belgium, and we don’t brew Belgian ales, but Matt needs to get in his annual camping trip and couldn’t say no to Belgian waffles, a pig roast and a chance to show off our beer.

Meanwhile, it’s back to work.  Hope your summer is fun too. 

One thing about starting a new business is … you don’t necessarily know how much product your customers will want.  Well, lucky for us our customers are proving to want alot of our fine fresh beers.  We figured.. let’s start with 4 single batch fermenters and we should be good for at least a year.  NOT!  Today I called Rob Stoltys of Premiere Stainless in San Marcos, California to order more tanks.  We expect to have our two 40BBL (Double Batch) fermenters in place by the fall and also we will have a double batch Bright Beer Tank to go with them.  This will allow us to brew plenty more beers for all our loyal comsumers. 

 What an exciting time this is.  Barely 6 months into our 1st year of operations and we already are adding equipment.  No fear though, we have plenty more space to grow… stay tuned and thanks so much for your support.

But first… I must take a weeks vacation.  Starting……… Now! 

We just brewed our 500th Barrel!!!   We are very excited with the reception our beers are receiving in both bottles and draft.  Everyday we get calls from restaurants, bars and package store asking for our beers.  This ROCKS!!!  Our Sales Director, Jeff is very busy hitting the road hard with samples in hand.  He also can be found a tastings pretty much every weekend.  ”Hey Jeff!!! - Your family called, they wondered if they can schedule a meeting with you sometime…”  On a side note .. we are very exciting to have been asked to ship our beer to Great Britain.  We are sending a firkin of Porter dry hopped with East Kent Goldings to the Great British Beer Festival.  That is so cool.  My first beer to be shipped across the pond.  We also are working on some firkins of porter aged with Hungarian wood to be served on gravity at a few local beer bars.  Keep an eye out for those for sure. Gotta go… we are brewing porter today and i have to go shut the whirlpool down and let the wort rest.  Then we’ll send it through the heat exchanger. Cheers,Matthew