I had the pleasure of meeting up once again with John Jepson and Brett Marcy of Martha's Exchange Restaurant and Brewery a week ago yesterday. This time they came to my area, and we enjoyed lunch at Trinity Brewpub followed by a great time at Emerald Isle Brew Works. John and Brett were thoughtful enough to bring samplers of their latest beers (A brewpub that delivers. What's better than that?), and we enjoyed them that night and were provided with samples for later analysis. Somewhere along the line that night, however, I suffered an insect bite that quickly became infected and within a day and a half had me very sick and with a horribly bloated hand. I'm finally recovering, and have a chance to offer my opinions on three great beers from Martha's.

Main Street Pilsner comes in at 12.1 Plato and 5.1% ABV. It is brewed with three Belgian malts, with the Pilsner malt stealing the show for me in the palate. The beer is light golden in color with a crisp malt nose and a brisk, biscuity character from the Belgian Pilsner malt. Nicely balanced with a lingering Saaz bitterness. Brett Marcy, Martha's head brewer, intends to up the aromatics in the next batch, but I found this to be a delicious German style pils.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Nashua, New Hampshire, a stop at Martha's is well worth your time!
 

Update 12/15/1998: I made it up to Nashua this weekend with a few friends, and was reminded again how fortunate that city is to have the brewing talent it does. Brett Marcy and John Jepson at Martha's Exchange and Darryl Goss at the Skyview Cafe are constantly brewing a wide array of styles, and each interpretation is quite on the mark.

We stopped at Martha's first and enjoyed the crisp, malty Main Street Pilsner, well balanced with a grassy, herbal hop finish, domestic Hallertaus as I recall (I had taken tasting notes but lost them in the course of the day).
 



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