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44 As our readers of South Shore Magazine and listeners of South Shore Live know, I am a huge craft beer fan, and the recent expansion of the craft beer line up at Marsh's Wine and Spirits in Norwell is a welcome addition to their spectacular wine and spirit line up. Many of my friends and contemporaries have always been excited about wine and wine/food pairings while I have always been "that beer guy." Today craft beers are the largest growth area in the retail and bar businesses and this growth has been explosive with new craft "micro" breweries starting up every month. Large brewing companies such as Inbev (Budweiser) and Miller/Coors have been gobbling craft beer companies to stay ahead of the trending curve. Quite frankly the number of choices can be overwhelming, with incredibly artful graphics on the packaging to confuse you more. Here are a few basic facts about craft beer: 1. Distribution in no more than 6 million barrels per year (this number keeps companies like Boston Beer/Sam Adams classified as craft brewers), most companies are extremely small and only brew a fraction of that number. Independence is also part of the classification—a brewery must be fully independent or have less than 25 percent ownership form a non- craft beer company. 2. There are only 2 types of beer: Ale and Lager. Ales represent the majority of craft beers with Pale Ales, Brown Ales, Porters, Stouts and Hefeweizens falling into this segment. Lagers are Pale Lager, Dark Lager, Bock, Pilsner and Marzen. 3. Other factors are Hop types, IBU (International Bitterness Units), brewing water (regionally different), and ABV (Alcohol by Volume). This varies from 3 to 20 percent with your standard American swilling (industry word "Session") beers in the 3.5 to 5 percent range. Now you are probably thinking, "Damn, that is a lot to consider when buying beer!" This is where your friends at Marsh's come in. They are educated in ALL THE PRODUCTS that they sell, whether it is a Honey Porter, a California Chardonnay or some fine sipping whiskey, these people know their product. To educate their customers Stephen Marsh and his team have introduced quarterly Grand Beer Tastings with industry experts and craft beer company representatives in the same fashion as the highly successful wine tastings in the cavernous basement of Marsh's Wine and Spirits. Early in May was the first of these events to celebrate the opening of the craft beer room and to get the customer base educated about this exciting segment of the business. Area craft beers were well represented with some of the larger players such as Harpoon and Sam Adams. The smaller brewers, of which there are SO MANY great ones out there right in our backyards, were very well represented at the show and are available to purchase at Marsh's. Jack's Abbey out of Framingham, specializing in dark beers, new-to-the-scene Bad Martha from the Vineyard, Mayflower Brewing out of Plymouth, a South Shore tradition and Cisco out of Nantucket with Whales Tale Pale Ale and Grey Lady as their signature products all were included at the tasting. Additionally there was a presence from Coastal Extreme out of Rhode Island with their Newport Storm, Newport Amber, Clown Shoes out of Ipswich, MA, featuring their Clementine and Tramp Stamp products, Long Trail and Otter Creek with IPA and summer selections and Peak Organic out of Maine— the only brewery in the country that uses GMO free ingredients. To round out the line up at the tasting were some non–New England beers such as Anchor Steam, Lagunitas, Dales, Stone, Dogfish, Founders, with the Dark Horse of these being Wasatch Ghost Rider White IPA out of Park City Utah. Most of these craft brewers all have a seasonal summer "session" beer for "when you're having more than one" (OLD SCHAEFFER JINGLE). The bottom line is try something new and if you are confused, consult the EXPERTS at Marsh's Wine and Spirits. Cheers, Bottoms up! New Craft Beer room: M a r s h ' s W i n e & S p i r i t s R e p r e s e n t s t h e R e g i o n ' s B r e w e r s W e l l By Stanley Blackmur