We’re pretty big fans of both craft beer and music. The two really go hand in hand, especially when the weather starts turning nicer.
That’s why, in light of the relatively warm, sunny days we’ve been having lately, we stopped by Lithermans Limited, where all the beers are named after something related to music.
The brew pub is somewhat buried in a strip mall-type complex on Hall Street, but any beer lover would be wise to keep it on their radar, as there’s always something new being brewed up over there.
When we stopped in last Thursday, we liked the sound of Big Old Seth Airliner, an ode to the classic Steve Miller Band tune and a beer with a fairly low alcohol content for a brewery offering: 5 percent.
The creation – a Mandarina Bavaria double dry-hopped pale ale (which is a mouthful, but a tasty one) – is less than a month old, and it’s a special, one-off brew that will never return once it’s gone. It was made to honor the one-year anniversary of The Flight Center Beer Café in Nashua, a restaurant with a serious focus on New Hampshire craft brews.
That said, there’s still quite a bit of it left, so make sure you get down to Lithermans and try some while you can.
As for the Big Old Seth Airliner itself, this is a “fun” beer, if such a thing can exist. The name alone will no doubt have you singing the tune in your head the whole time you’re drinking it, and all the patrons around you will know exactly why.
It’s a cloudy, golden honey color that could be mistaken for some sort of juice in the right light. It doesn’t have very strong of an aroma, but that doesn’t do justice to the flavor.
The first sip was very crisp and not quite as dry as we had expected. Considering this is a double dry-hopped pale ale, it has a surprising amount of juiciness to it.
The flavor is hoppy, fruity and citrus-y, with a noticeable presence of orange. It’s almost similar to something like a Blue Moon served with an orange slice, only this beer has more hops and doesn’t require the addition of a fruit slice.
We were in the mood for a lower-alcohol beer, since we tend to get stronger drinks quite often and wanted to find something a bit milder this time. This beer hit the spot at that perfect 5 percent mark. It’s not so low that you “need” a couple, but it’s not so high that you can’t drive home after having one or two.
If it were earlier in the day – we stopped by about 5:45 p.m. – it would have been a perfect beer to sip outside. In fact, you’d be well-served to get a few growlers of this to welcome the first couple weeks of March and break in the horseshoe pit.
Lithermans is open Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.
