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The Nerax cask festival<\/strong> kicked off last night in downtown Haverhill.\u00a0 In their 5th year, the Haverhill Tap<\/strong> and Brewery has been the home of Nerax North cask festival.\u00a0 With a selection of over 40 cask ales, this celebration is a satellite event for Nerax.<\/p>\n Founded over 15 years ago,\u00a0\u00a0New England Real Ale Exhibition<\/strong> has revived the age old tradition of Real Ale here in New England.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Through their tireless efforts of organizing festivals (currently 3+ per year), Nerax also supports the New England community in their real ale endevors.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Nerax\u00a0Classic event is\u00a0held each spring at the George Dilboy VFW Post, Davis Square, Somerville, MA<\/strong>; currently scheduled for March 28 – 31, 2012<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Last night’s event was a fun time.\u00a0\u00a0 The crowd was fairly light at the beginning, but picked up in the last hour and a hlaf. The beers were just the right temp (cask ales are typically served cool – about 54 degrees, but not too cold).<\/p>\n The best thing<\/strong> about the 5th annual Nerax North is the selection of beer<\/strong>.\u00a0 The split between US and UK\u00a0beers are almost 50\/50, with a couple of German Beers thrown in the mix.\u00a0 The US selection was very interesting, with only 3-5 of about the 15 beers on were from the bigger breweries (i.e.\u00a0Smuttynose, Allagash, Redhook, Grittys etc..).\u00a0 Please\u00a0don’t mis-understand.\u00a0 I love trying a cask selection from our local brewries, but there were some\u00a0casks from\u00a0new breweries (i.e. baxter Brewing, Bull Jagger, Jack’s Abby, Brays, \u00a0Andrews, Blue Hills etc..) and smaller breweries\u00a0(i.e. Cape Cod, Haverhill Brewery\u00a0etc..)<\/p>\n Here’s what was on last night: I set a plan of attack in advance, which included a full assault on the UK selection.\u00a0 My approach changed when I got there and I diverted my attention to the US selection.\u00a0\u00a0 Most\u00a0that I tried\u00a0were very tasty.\u00a0My favorite beer of the night was the Allagash Interlude (nice and sour — very different than a typical cack, but watch out for the 10.5 ABV).\u00a0 After that, I was a big fan of Jack’s Abby Smoke and Dagger, along with Baxter Brewing’s Amber Road (which is a new release).<\/p>\n If you make it over to Nerax North, please let us know what you think!<\/p>\n If you\u00a0haven’t done so already,\u00a0clear your calendar and get to the Haverhill Tap before all the beer runs out!\u00a0 There is a session tonight and tomorrow.<\/p>\n Enjoy!<\/p>\n Sean Drink Craft Beer, You’ve Earned It!!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.2beerguys.com\/images\/2011_nerax_north\/nerax_north11_02.jpg\")
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\n2Beerguys.com<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.2beerguys.com\/images\/2011_nerax_north\/nerax_north11_03.jpg\")
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