Sometimes life gives you lemons, and you’re forced to make lemonade. Other times you’re handed blood oranges, so you combine them with lychee, malt and hops to make a friggin’ awesome beer! That’s the case with a new brewery in Newmarket, NH, called Deciduous Brewing. Because I’m lucky enough to have married somebody with connections, Winey Woman and I were treated to a special hour and a half with the owner and brewmaster extraordinaire, Dave Sakolsky. He was more than happy to welcome us into his less than finished brewery and tasting room to give us a once in a lifetime “behind-the-behind-the-scenes” tour of the project that has consumed the past two years.

We were also treated to samples of his Auroral Berliner (the above mentioned blood orange and lychee), along with samples of the three brews that will be available for opening but aren’t finished yet. I said he could package what was there today and it would be an instant hit, but Dave was adamant that they would be MUCH better once “finished.” If the midpoint product is this awesome, the final offering is going to be phenomenal. Getting to experience a brewery in it’s infant, pre-opening form is simply amazing. No hustle and bustle of customers, no noise except for the occasional mechanical whirr, just a man and the dream that he’s bringing to life. It was truly an honor, and I can’t say thank you enough for the experience. Oh, and the final, super awesome icing on the cake — being handed a carboy of the Berliner to take home.

You’ve made one exceptionally happy beer drinker, and if you need somebody to taste beer again, just say the word and I’m there!

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