portsmouth area
A lot of Portsmouth area breweries have limited hours (a few days per week and only open until 7 pm) and cannot serve beer in pints, rather they are served in tasting glasses. This seems to be related to whether or not they serve food on site. Even though you might be able to bring in food from neighboring locations, unless the brewery has a food license, you can only get beer samples (4 ounces).
7th Settlement Brewery
7th Settlement Brewery is in Dover, MA, not too far from Portsmouth. Dover is the oldest permanently settled city in New Hampshire and 7th in the New World, which is how the name was derived. The beer was good and they had a fun little contest when I was there, which they do from time to time. When a new beer gets close to finishing the brewing process, a contest is held to name the new beer. Great idea to get the people involved and choose a name that one of their customers has picked. I didn't win. Guest beers also available on tap. Location: 47 Washington Street, Dover Updated Jan '15
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7th Settlement
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Earth Eagle Brewings
Earth Eagle is a gastro pub and brewery serving about 6 or 7 of their own beers and another 6 taps of guest beer, mostly from New England but they occasionally might sneak in one or two domestics. Their prices were a little on the high side compared to other local breweries, so we didn't stay long. Location: 165 High Street, Portsmouth Updated Jan '15
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Earth Eagle
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Garrison City Beerworks
A recent addition to the New Hampshire beer scene (opened December 2014) Garrison City Beerworks is a small nanobrewery with just a 3 barrel brewing system. Beer only here - no food, but the beer is good, so who cares. A neat thing they have is a real-time display showing recent beer check-ins. Location: 455 Central Avenue, Dover Updated Nov '15
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Garrison City Beerworks
Real-time Beer Check-ins
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Portsmouth Brewery
I've been here a couple times because the beer is pretty darn good. Lots of room on the main floor as well as in the basement. Some amusements downstairs such as pool table and shuffleboard. Bar on both floors. Full food menu and since your on the coast, it included seafood. This place can get very busy, especially on the weekends, so plan ahead. Location: 56 Market Street, Portsmouth Updated Jan '15
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Ginger Wheat Gruit
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Beer List
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Red Hook Brewery
I've been to the brewery a couple times - the second time was because they were giving away logo pint glasses with the brewery tour. The first time, the tour guide as a lot of fun - he had interesting trivia questions and keep everyone attending engaged throughout the tour and tasting. The second time was very boring with a brief a simple tour and tasting afterwards. Good thing we got a glass. The have a restaurant at this location serving their beer of course and pub food. small gift shop, as well. Location: 1 Redhook Way, Portsmouth Updated Nov '15
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Lab for Brewing Experiments
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Stoneface Brewing Company
Stoneface Brewing has significantly expanded since I was there last year, growing from just offering small samples of their beer in the tasting room to a large taproom with a nice outdoor patio. They now also have a kitchen and offer a small pub style food menu. The number of taps has expanded also. Bottle sales are still available at the brewery. The beer is above average for flavor and they are one of the top rated breweries in New Hampshire. Location: 436 Shattuck Way #6, Newington Updated Aug '17
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Stoneface Brewing
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Thirsty Moose
If your are in the vicinity of Portsmouth and you want a variety of beer, one option is the Thirsty Moose in Dover. They have a whopping 70 taps of beer. Most of it is craft beer with a good selection from New England, although they have a lot of other domestic craft beer such as standard brands and styles that you can find at any craft beer bar. The night we were there, it was not very busy and the service was horrible. After waiting a very long time for our waitress, we finally decided not to eat and moved to the bar where we got prompt service. Location: 83 Washington Street, Dover Updated Jul '16 |
Thirst Moose
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Smuttynose Brewing Company
Smuttynose recently build a new larger brewery and adjacent to the brewery is the Hayseed Restaurant where you can eat dinner and drink the delicious Smuttynose beer. You can also get the small-scale brewed Smutlabs beers at the restaurant. Smuttynose is located in the Towle Farm which dates back to the early settlers of New Hampshire. The brewery has the farm feel when you come upon it. Tours and gift shop at the brewery. Location: 105 Towle Farm Road, Hampton Updated Jul '15
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Smuttynose Brewing Co
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Deciduous Brewing Company
Great name, great beer! New brewery as of August 2015. They are quickly making a name for themselves in the tiny city of Newmarket, not too far from Portsmouth. They had 7 beers on tap and three bottle-conditioned beers only available "to-go" in bottles. No food served, but you can stop at the pizza place next door and bring your pizza into the brewery while you drink some great beer. They are also beginning a small barrel-aging system with some top-of-the-line French wine barrels. Location: 12 Weaver Street, Newmarket Updated Aug '17
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Deciduous Brewing
Deciduous Barrel-aging
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Throwback Brewery
Throwback Brewery is on one of the neatest locations I've see in the U.S. They are located on a huge farm - the Hobbs Farm. They moved here in 2015. 15-barrel brewery with lots of fermenters providing for a good variety of beer. Great outdoor seating area on the farmland next to a chicken coop. Bar food is available. Throwback tries to use only local ingredients in both their beer and food. Location: 7 Hobbs Road, North Hampton Updated Aug '16
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Throwback Brewery
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Liars' Bench Beer Co
Small nanobrewery with what looked to be a 3-barrel brewing system and 3 small fermenters. Very low capacity as shown by their limited tap list. Good thing they only give 4 oz. pours or they would frequently run out. But there is room for expansion. With an opening in 2015, they are very new to the Portsmouth craft beer scene. Taproom only - no food, but there is a foosball table to pass the time. The beer was enjoyable, so they should do well as they settle in. Location: 459 Islington Street #4, Portsmouth Updated Aug '16
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Liars' Bench
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Beara Irish Brewing Co
Small Irish brewery located in the south end of Portsmouth. The beers are 'Americanized' Irish brewed using Irish malts and local ingredients for the rest. Having been in Ireland, I did not feel the beer was true to form, but still tasty, except for the pale ale brewed with buffalo sauce. They offer up to 6 beers on tap. There are just four food items on the simple menu. Located in a strip mall, there is ample parking available. Soft Irish live music played by the owner, on what I guess to be a Celtic harp, on weekend afternoons. Location: 2800 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth Updated Aug '16
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Beara Irish
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