It sure is a nice treat to mosey on up to the bar at a local watering hole and order a cold one.
There’s nothing quite like a freshly poured draft beer to whet the whistle. But how do you decide which one to satisfy your craving?
If you’re a beer connoisseur like us, getting a little taste of what each tap has to offer sounds like a great idea – and quite delicious.
That’s why we had to check out Lithermans Limited for the grand opening of its tap room last Friday. It’s a new place that serves beer in Concord – and we’re allowed to visit during work hours. Sounds right up our alley.
Now for those of you who don’t know, Steve Bradbury and Michael Hauptly-Pierce are longtime friends who share the enjoyment of creating tasty beer.
They’ve been doing it for many years together and for the last three with the intention of opening a brewery – which they officially did last week. Well to the public at least, because for the last two months they’ve been working on getting enough beer made for people to enjoy when they could walk through the doors of Lithermans’ 126 Hall St. location.
They came up with four beers that will be staples in their production – Crisped Cream Ale, Simply Red (an imperial red), Bow Wow Yippie Yo IPA and Tangled Up In Brudges (a saison).
There’s a 10-tap system in the tasting area, five of which were flowing steadily at Friday’s opening, featuring the Crisped Cream Ale, Self-Titled Pale Ale, The Real Roxanne, Bow Wow Yippie Yo Ipa and Roxanne Roxanne – a twice dry hopped version of The Real Roxanne.
You could get a flight of four, 4-ounce tasters of the beers for $6 and add a taster of the fifth for an additional $2. Because they are just a tasting room, they can only offer each person one taster of each beer they have on tap. No pints at this spot, or going back for seconds, so savor it. But if there are 10 beers on tap, you can get a taster of each one, you just have to pay, of course.
There are stools with old 45s (records) lacquered into the top. It makes sense, since all of Lithermans brews have a musical meaning behind them. There’s counter space to put your flight, which comes on a board, and a big table.
You can fill a growler (or half growler) of your favorite one to bring home, as well as purchase whatever they have available in 22-ounce bottles.
In addition to the four year-round staples, Lithermans will have special releases and seasonals. They’re available in the Concord Co-op with more spots to come in the city.
Now you’re probably wondering what the beer tastes like. Well since we were on assignment, we couldn’t exactly down a flight like the standing-room-only crowd did during the first hour of operation, but we did take a few sips of The Real Roxanne and Roxanne Roxanne. We are, after all, what Bradbury would call a hop head – which means we thoroughly enjoy IPAs.
And let’s just say it left us wanting more, especially of the Roxanne Roxanne. Perfect for a hop head. Some tasty beers that we will probably look to indulge more in when we’re off the clock.
The tasting room is open Fridays, 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m., and the plan is to keep creating new beers for all of you to taste. And once things get settled down, there will be tours of the brewery as well.
Just check facebook.com/Lithermans-Limited-Brewery for up to date info on beers to taste and where to buy them.
We can’t wait to see (and try) what they come up with next.
