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 next we were off to the Skyview, where we started out with a 20oz. thistle glass of Kiltie's Pride Scotch Ale, always a treat.

Darryl had two new Belgian-style beers on and he is a master in brewing them. The first I tried was Gnome's Tippel Belgian Ale, weighing in at about 5.7% ABV as I recall and packed with yeasty Belgian character which reminded me somewhat of Chimay Red.
 

As if all this wasn't enough, we ended the day at a Christmas party for New England Real Ale Expo (NERAX) volunteers and enjoyed beers from Commonwealth, McNeill's, Back Bay, and Emerald Isle. It was a tribute to Mike McConnell's brewing skills that his Bank Street Ale was the first keg to kick.

Update 12/21/98: If you're looking for Belgian beers, I can't recommend anywhere more highly than the Skyview in Nashua, NH. Darryl Goss has done a Tripel that will make you swear you're sitting in Belgium, and most recently his Gnome's Tippel and L'Epice de Vie have been equally incredible. And that's only when I've been up in Nashua. I'm sure other great beers have been brewed in between my visits.
 



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