PULSEBREW

Shannon Jutras

March is most famous in New England for being a) terrible and b) full of Saint Patrick’s day festivities. We've covered my feelings on artificially dyed green beer in previous columns and my position remains unchanged: Don’t do it. You are better than this. Get yourself a Dry Irish Stout or Red Ale like a proper adult.

March is also Women’s History Month, and of particular interest to this columnist, it is PINK BOOTS BREW SEASON. Over the next several weeks, thousands of people around the world will craft various magical elixirs, and a portion of each beverage’s proceeds will be donated towards scholarships to further education for women and non binary people in the fermented beverage industry. As a woman, a brewer, and a passionate advocate for diverse people in beer, Pink Boots Brew Days are my Super Bowl.

One of my favorite elements of Pink Boots brew days is getting a first hand look at other brewery’s equipment and processes. I wish I could throw the brewery bay doors wide open and invite every member of the public to participate in the kind of hands-on learning experience these days provide. I can, at least, pull the curtain back a little on the anatomy of a real life brew day.

Cleaning - There’s a misconception that brewers spend a lot of time wandering around in overalls, leisurely sipping beer and twirling their mustaches. The only part of that I can personally relate to is the walking (so much walking), and the overalls, which are truly a superior pant. Before brew day, during brew day, and after brew day there is an almost limitless amount of cleaning and equipment maintenance that needs to be done to keep the brewing environment clean and sanitary.

Recipe design - You can’t bake cookies or brew beer without a plan. Without a recipe you would just have some weird pile of mush. (Pssst this this is many brewers favorite parts of the process).

Brew Day Prep - Water is heated, grains are milled, brewing salts and hops are weighed out. The start of a brew is a HUSTLE because the length of the day is determined by how quickly we can get the beer mashed in, and the average brew day is already 8-12 hours.

Mash In - This is the “brewiest” part of the brew day, where crushed grains are mixed with hot water to pull fermentable sugars and produce “wort”. This is the part of the brew day that gets the most glory and is usually the most hands-on.

Vorlauf/Lauter/Boil - Each of these are separate steps, but they mostly amount to moving fresh wort around to maximize fermentable sugars, volume, and to “sanitize” the wort for fermentation. Things get exciting again when it’s time to add hops or botanicals like coriander or citrus zest, which can happen at any stage of the boil to impart different varieties of flavor, aroma, and bitterness.

Transfer to Fermentors/Pitching Yeast - Beer spends comparatively few hours being “brewed.” It spends most of its time in fermentation vessels aka “the cellar.” Wort is chilled in line and sent to these fermentors, where yeast is “pitched” (literally thrown in the fermentor). Steps like dry hopping and lagering happen days to weeks later. At the end of an actual brew day you don’t yet have anything that really approximates beer. The magic is still to come.

There’s more cleaning in the middle of all this, including disposing of all that “spent” grain,” samples to be taken and tested, data to be entered, and even emails to be handled. For all craft beer’s splendor, making it is a very humble process. There’s no reason to gatekeep brewing or question someone’s ability to participate based on their gender, race or any other external quality. There’s a pair of overalls for every body and plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of hard work to go around. No mustache required.

Local breweries currently registered to participate include: Redemption Rock, Altruist, Timberyard, River Styx, Thirsty Robot, Lost Shoe, Rushford & Sons, and Amory’s Tomb. You should try them all. Seriously.

EVERGREEN ROOM, HUDSON’S NEW DATE SPOT THE MIDSHIFTERS (ELISABETH MORGAN & JOIE GERHARDT )

Stepping into Crose Nest Apothecary’s newly opened tea lounge- Evergreen Room, I felt the buzz of a kid in a candy store. The intimate space seemed to whisk my friend and I out of Hudson, MA and into the lo-fi beat videos that have dominated Youtube’s study-music niche: a vintage anime world with an aesthetic that’s eclectic, yet cozy and balanced. This is not the musing of a millennial on psychedelics—if you lost me at “lo-fi”, just picture a trendy, big little business with authority in its realm.

While Evergreen Room’s tea selection is intimidating for an apothecary novice, the staff is accommodating in helping you discover your new favorite herbs. The cocktail program is an extension of that, with description of the key herbs used in each beverage and their intended effects. I ordered the ‘Stay Gold’, a cocktail with a turmeric & spice infused rum, featuring birch beer, maple, lime, and mint, finished with a lemongrass stirrer. Stay Gold’s intentions are listed as: “soothe, cool, ground”. You will not find a better reading from an oracle, so don’t even try.

Prior to opening, their instagram profile seduced us with images of poached pear desserts, sourdough loaves from heaven, and graze boards with accoutrements that put other boards to shame. My friend demanded we go together for an all-out feast, but we couldn’t make it past the Evergreen Board. The board’s description cautions a serving for 2-4 people, but hubris told us to accept that challenge, and it was so worth the defeat. For those chasing the “perfect bite” in a meal, this board offered us many: mushroom pâté, pickled kumquat, sugared blood orange, artisanal cheeses, jams, pistachio and swiss chard pesto (and more)- all served with fresh bread and crisps. It was an indulgent observance of exquisite flavor. We sat there, on the best friend date ever, stuffed past capacity.

I impulsively marched to the counter to purchase two prix fixe tickets for their 4 course Lovebirds offering the same night, as if I hadn’t already lived like a king for the day. I was love drunk off of my wholesome meal and I wanted my partner to experience this. Budget be damned, I returned to Worcester to spread the gospel to my valentine. I barely digested the first meal before being ushered out of our house to return. The second drive to Hudson didn’t even matter.

The prix fixe was an amusement park for the senses. We cozied up on the couch with four courses of tea, merriment, and even a surprise aphrodisiac-herbed cotton candy stick served with a parsnip puree. Then, I reveled in my second (considerably smaller) Evergreen Board of the day. Our main dish selections were braised short rib, or a mountain of mushrooms, both rosemary scented- including beet parsnip puree, artichokes, and a pomegranate/schisandra reduction. We spooned a wall of lavender meringue out of their Mai Tai, aptly named, “Put a Spell on You”. My partner was in awe, from the bartender's presentation to his flawless execution.

Owner Kinsey Rosene is the ‘head witch in charge’ (sorry, Kinsey) of this sorcery. She’s been sharing her style and holistic expertise through Crose Nest for seven years. Despite all of her team’s creativity, she’s crafted a humble space for anyone to expand their knowledge on herbs and cuisine. While the apothecary itself is worth a trip to Hudson, Evergreen Room deserves celebration. You may not have the same cult-like reaction as I did, but I assure you that the tea lounge is a fantastic date spot for friends, self, and lovers alike. It’s Kinsey’s gift to us all (but mostly me)!