Fall festivals feature beer: From Exeter’s Powder Keg to Smuttynose Food Truck Festival

For those craft beer enthusiasts who may be trying to come up with the perfect compromise between two popular fall activities — beer tasting and apple picking — Sean Kelly and Stripe Nine Brewing may have come up with the ideal solution.

Nestled in an apple orchard at scenic DeMeritt Hill Farm in Lee, Kelly will welcome 35-plus breweries, multiple food trucks, two bands, and upwards of 1,500 beer lovers to the orchard Saturday, Sept. 30, from noon to 4 p.m.

Brew Fest in the Orchard is one of a handful on tap this fall on the Seacoast, including Exeter’s annual Powder Keg Beer and Chili Festival (Oct. 7) and Cisco Brewers’ annual NH Brewfest in Portsmouth (Oct. 14).

Starting with some 500 patrons in 2021, Kelly, who is a part owner of Stripe Nine Brewing in Somersworth, saw his brew fest top 1,000 attendees last year. With the always popular Derry After Dark brew fest taking a one-year hiatus this fall, Kelly is expecting an even bigger turnout this year.

“With them not doing it, we’re kind of the first one out of the shoot,” Kelly noted. “It’s fun, and it’s definitely getting momentum. I can tell just by the social engagement online.”

Once again, beer lovers can expect to find tasty offerings from every corner of the Granite State to complement the top-notch lineup of breweries here on the Seacoast.

“We still strive, and I think we deliver, as many breweries from all parts of the state, which is fun because the locals get to try beer from Lancaster (Copper Pig) and Keene (Modestman), and all these other places they are not getting a shot at,” Kelly enthused of the impressive brewer list. The list also includes popular returnees like Deciduous, Spyglass, and Kettlehead, along with newcomers like Concord’s Feathered Friend Brewing and Gorham’s Big Day Brewing.

To help soak up at least a little bit of the suds, Kelly has at least five food trucks committed for the event – Red’s Good Vibes, Wicked Tasty, Gyro Spot, Seacoast Pretzel, and Weeners on Wheels.

For entertainment singer-songwriter David Corson of Exeter will take the stage first to play for the VIP session from noon to 1 p.m. before giving way to popular ’90s alternative rock tribute band, Matty and the Penders, from 1 to 4 p.m.

There’s a great synergy between Stripe Nine and the sprawling, family-owned farm in Lee, which annually hosts the famed Haunted Overload each October. Stripe Nine sources all of the pumpkins for its pumpkin ale from the farm, and many of the Haunted Overload actors, including the headless horseman, make a habit of wandering through the brew fest. There’s also a nice perk for all of the participating brewers who get a sneak peek of the Haunted Overload after the taps are shut off and all the kegs are stowed away.

“My secret sauce is that you have to make it fun for the brewers,” said Kelly. “If they are having fun, everyone else has fun, so that’s what we try to do.”

Tickets: stripeninebrewing.com/stripe-nines-brew-fest-in-the-orchard

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Powder Keg tickets going fast in Exeter

A week after the Brew Fest in the Orchard, the 11th annual Powder Keg Beer and Chili Festival takes center stage at scenic Swasey Park in Exeter on Saturday, Oct. 7, from noon to 4 p.m. Despite a ceiling this year of 3,000 people, Greg Bisson, the director of Exeter’s Parks and Recreation, warns that waiting to buy tickets until right before the event may be a risky proposition. The VIP early tasting hour of 500 tickets is already almost sold out and they have already gone over the 1,000 mark in ticket sales with better than two weeks to go.

“We have already sold more at this point than we have last year,” said Bisson, who welcomes some new breweries like Nashua’s Spyglass Brewing, Littleton’s Schilling Brewing, and Burlington Vermont’s Foam Brewers into a prolific lineup of 60 breweries across New England, including hard ciders and seltzers as well.

“We’re really excited with those (new breweries) coming,” said Bisson. “We have 10 restaurants coming as well, so we are back where we were (pre-Covid), and ticket sales are flying much faster than anticipated. We are really excited about this year.”

A big change this year is that the festival will not be broken up into two, two-hour sessions as was the case last year, but rather into one, four-hour session.

“We did a survey last year, and everybody from both the vendor side and the participant side all wanted to go back to one session,” Bisson noted. “It was more that people didn’t want to feel rushed and that vendors felt more comfortable serving people and that it created a nice zone for them to pace themselves.”

Now with a decade’s worth of festivals behind him, there’s very little that Bisson and his staff haven't thought of – including beer cup holder lanyards to help patrons multi-task between tasting chili, eating snacks, and sampling some of their favorite brews.

“That was a big hit pre-COVID, and we would sell out within the first hour,” Bisson noted of the essential brew fest accessory.

Each participating restaurant will be transporting 35 to 40 gallons of their unique chili to Swasey Park and will be vying for the $500 people’s choice prize for the best chili. There will also be multiple food trucks as well. Fresh off their performance at the Brew Fest in the Orchard a week earlier, Matty and the Penders will again provide the musical entertainment, featuring former Exeter police deputy chief Mike Munck on bass.

Tickets: www.powderkegbeerfest.com/tickets

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Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival at Smuttynose in Hampton

Also, on Oct. 7, Food Truck Festivals of America will host its first Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival from noon to 5 p.m. at Smuttynose Breweryin Hampton. Nine food trucks are on board so far, and organizers expect that list, along with the expansive roster of artisans, to keep growing. Both the trucks and artisans will be complimented, by a wide selection of the brewery’s voluminous tap list.

Tickets: www.foodtruckfestivalsofamerica.com/smuttynose

Cisco Brewers of Portsmouth to host 15th NH Brewfest

The 15th annual NH Brewfest is slated for Oct. 14 from noon to 4 p.m. at Cisco Brewers in Portsmouth. The event is a partnership between Prescott Park Arts Festival, the New England District of the Master Brewers Association of Americas (MBAA), Cisco Brewers Portsmouth, and 100.3 WHEB. The brew fest already has nearly 40 breweries committed to the event, and proceeds go to Prescott Park Arts Festival and the New England District of the Master Brewers Association of Americas.

Tickets: portsmouthnhtickets.com/events/new-hampshire-brewfest-10-14-2023

Bob Albright covers the craft beer scene on the Seacoast. Follow him on Instagram @full_pours or email Bob at ralbright33@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Craft beer fests on the Seacoast: Exeter Powder Keg, Smuttynose