A Fermenter at the Berkshire Brewing Company

A 100 Barrel fermenter at the Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. At the time I believe this was fermenting a batch of Lost Sailor IPA, a favorite amongst the BBC beer lineup. You can read a bit more about the Berskhire Brewing Company in my post about the special Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout beer released in the spring of 2009. 

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Aperture: f/1.8

 

Sampler, Amherst Brewing Company

This past Saturday, I visited the Amherst Brewing Company in Western Massachusetts. The ABC opened in 1997 as a full service brew pub in the college town of Amherst MA, home of the University of Massachusetts. The Amherst Brewing Company is a ten-barrel brewery producing some of the regions best Ales and Lagers.

I was tempted by the four beer samples seen in the above photo;

1. Two Sisters Imperial Stout (6.7% ABV)- a dark chocolaty imperial stout named after two Russian sisters adopted by the Brewery’s owners and winner of a Gold medal at the 2008 and 2006 Great International Beer Festival.
2. Patch Porter (5.4% ABV) - a robust American style porter, brewed with roasted and chocolate malts 
3. Cascade IPA  (5.3% ABV)-  a house favorite with a medium body and big hop flavor and a winner of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Great International Beer Festival in 2007, 2006 and 2004 respectively. 
4. E.S.B (5.4% ABV)-  the Amherst Brewing Company’s take on an extra special bitter, dry hopped with Oregon Goldings providing a distinct hoppy aroma and bitter finish. Winner of the 2007 Great International Beer Festival Silver medal. 

I will attest, each of these were very good and if hard pressed to pick a winner I would have to go with the Two Sisters Imperial Stout. Although the Cascade I.P.A. is a close 2nd. 

Cheers.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: F/2

Imperial Stout Aged In Bourbon Barrels, BBC

This photo of Imperial Stout aging in used Bourbon barrels was taken in December 2008, while on a tour of the Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield in Western Massachusetts. For the beer enthusiasts that are not aware, the Berkshire Brewing Company — more affectionately referred to simply as the BBC — was founded in 1994. Their goal is producing clean and fresh well-balanced ales and lagers. The BBC brews in small batches — roughly 620 gallons — and is capable of producing 420 barrels (13,020 gallons) per week. The entire selection of Berkshire Brewing Company beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized, with no chemicals or preservatives added. The BBC currently produce nine year round styles of beer. 

The Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout is a special series from the BBC. This Imperial Stout was aged for a full nine months in old Oak barrels from the Buffalo Trace whiskey and bourbon distillery. Oddly, I saw the beer aging back in December and was lucky enough to stumble upon a batch in Needham, MA this past week. Needless to say, the beer was fantastic and a very interesting mix of bourbon and stout flavors.  

Consider this fantastic review by my good friends at DrinkCraftBeer.com if you don’t believe me. 

I edited this photograph mainly in Lightroom 2 with some exposure adjustments, clarity and a bit of saturation tweaks to individual color channels. A Match Color adjustment, some lens vignetting and some smart sharpening in Photoshop CS3 and voila. 

I’m at the BBC today for a tour, so perhaps a follow up post will follow soon. 

Update: Another fantastic barrel aged beer is the Oak Aged Unearthly India Pale Ale by the Southern Tier Brewing Company.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 50mm F1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Aperture: F2