{"id":9289,"date":"2023-01-04T21:38:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T03:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/?p=9289"},"modified":"2023-02-27T12:06:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T18:06:34","slug":"12-beers-of-christmas-2022-9-smuttynose-ice-damn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/golf\/lifestyle\/9289\/12-beers-of-christmas-2022-9-smuttynose-ice-damn","title":{"rendered":"12 Beers of Christmas 2022- 9: Smuttynose Ice Dam(n)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Smuttynose<\/a>

Smuttynose Brewery a few years back<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve written about Smuttynose and its history<\/a> numerous times, and its Smistletoe<\/a> made the 2014 12 Beers<\/strong> list. At the time I wrote that the brewery had moved into its stunning new brewhouse, and grounds which included, \u201c…\u00a0a tasting room and restaurant, and a place for the orchard and hop vines and beehives and nine-hole disc golf course\u2026.\u201d It turned out to be a little too much too soon, since the brewery was never able to utilize all the available capacity.<\/p>\n

Smuttynose reached a nadir of sorts in 2018, when it was sold at auction and then picked up by an investment group, eventually named Finestkind after its well-known IPA (the Old Brown Dog almost as well known). Covid hit hard the brewery hard, too, and production plummeted, but in 2021 the brewery rebounded somewhat, producing about 22,000 barrels. Once distributed to more than half the U.S. states, Smuttynose now sends beer to the nine listed below.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sad to report that the brewery announced in August that its Dover-based Smuttlabs Brewery and Kitchen was closed, where a lot of interesting R&D beers were produced. But happy to say that, on the basis of the Ice Dam(n), they\u2019re still brewing some fine and interesting beers.<\/p>\n

In simplest terms, a Cold IPA is an IPA fermented at lower temperatures than typical for the ale style, perhaps using a lager yeast or a combination of ale and lager yeasts. Rice or corn is sometimes added in the grist, and the end result should be a hop-forward IPA that is heading toward the crispness of a lager.<\/p>\n\"Smuttynose<\/a>\n

In this case, a Chico Ale yeast was used (think Sierra Nevada), H\u00fcll Melon and Centennial hops. The malt bill includes 2 row, Carahell, Acidulated and some flaked rice, all of which tend to keep the beer on the light side. But it\u2019s still a 6% ABV brew, so \u201clite\u201d it is not.<\/p>\n

Like the Lone Pine Winter Carnival <\/a>from a few nights ago, there\u2019s really little to qualify the Ice Dam(n) as a winter warmer other than the name, and the brewery braggadocio: \u201cThis winter, make sure your emergency kit includes Smuttynose\u2019s newest beer, Ice Dam(n) Cold IPA \u2013 a light bodied beer that is crisp, straw-colored, and a true balance of East and West coast IPA flavors of berries, melon, hints of citrus and pine. This is one beer that will help you both gear up for the long, cold battle ahead and wind down when you are done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, okay. Now that they\u2019ve suggesting it, I\u2019m picking up all those flavors, naturally. Not that I could tell you what kind of berries or melon. But what I like about the beer is that balance of east and west coast IPA flavors. The balance seems skewed toward the west, and that\u2019s fine with me. I\u2019m getting mighty tired of dank, \u201cjuicy,\u201d murky New England style IPAs, and yearn for the more malt forward west coast style brews with noticeable hop bitterness.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the east coast style comes into play here\u2014while there\u2019s a decent hop bite at the end, there\u2019s nothing that will shock imbibers here on the Atlantic side. The beer is straw-colored, but actually fairly clear, too, another blessing in my mind. I\u2019m also tired of beers that look like pulpy orange juice. Sure, call me a heretic.<\/p>\n

\"Smuttynose-Seal-and-Script-K-1\"<\/a>Name: Ice Dam(n)
\nBrewer: Smuttynose Brewing Co., Hampton, New Hampshire
\nStyle: Cold IPA
\nABV: 6%
\nAvailability: Seasonal, NH, ME, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY, NJ, PA.
\nFor More Information: smuttynose.com<\/p>\n

[January 4, 2023]<\/em><\/p>\n

< 12 Beers of Christmas 8: Woodstock Inn Brewery Wassail<\/a>
\n12 Beers of Christmas 10: Four Quarters Sugar Plum Fairy<\/a> ><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve written about Smuttynose and its history numerous times, and its Smistletoe made the 2014 12 Beers list. At the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":9291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[939,627,18],"tags":[1002722,1006437,1035416,1035417,1035418,749,1388,1392,676069,975741],"class_list":["post-9289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer-on-tap","category-tap-beer-of-the-week","category-lifestyle","tag-12-beers-of-christmas","tag-hampton","tag-cold-ipa","tag-finestkind","tag-ice-damn","tag-christmas","tag-smuttynose","tag-new-hampshire","tag-christmas-beers","tag-12-days-of-christmas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/01\/Smuttynose-Ice-Damn-e1672889547341.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9289"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9308,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9289\/revisions\/9308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}