As the beach season is on its last legs, a craft beer fest is coming to Ocean City in late October. Before it arrives, organizers are offering a chance to name two of the beers that will appear.
The Shore Craft Beer Fest is set for Oct. 24 at Sunset Park. Assawoman Bay Brewing, Backshore Brewing, and 3rd Wave Brewing joined forces to create the two new beers. One is a breakfast porter, and one is a harvest ale. The brewers used homebrewing equipment to create the OCtoberfest brews, so it’s pretty much guaranteed that they won’t last the weekend.
Anyone interested in offering up a name for the beer can submit an entry to the ShoreCraftBeer.com Facebook page by Oct. 15.
Here are descriptions, from Doug Griffith of XTreme Brewing:
Breakfast Porter: This dark porter has notes of chocolate, coffee, smoke, and toffee. It was brewed with a base of Gleneagles Maris Otter malt from the north of Scotland, along with Mesquite Smoked Malt for smokiness, Dark Crystal Malt for a touch of caramel sweetness, Flaked Oats for nuttiness and mouthfeel, and Pale Chocolate Malt to add a roast nuttiness and darker color with a small percentage of Midnight Wheat and Black Patent Malts for a little coffee/roasted/chocolate flavors. A pound of regular molasses at flameout tops out the fermentable ingredients and the use of Fuggles, Hallertau and Cascade hops balance the sweetness of the residual sugars to create an autumn beer that is good all day.
Harvest Ale: It’s made with ingredients that grow above the ground. The base is a Red Ale made that incorporates Red X Malt and Red beets, both producing a noticeable red color, plus some Dark Crystal Malt for a touch of sweetness and more reddish color. Northern Brewer hops for bittering and East Kent Golding hops for flavor and aroma provide the balance for a malty beer fit for the cooler season.
