A few calm, non snow storms days with subzero winds and Arctic chills.

 Yesterday, we celebrated the grand weather with a trip to the Portsmouth Brewery. Portsmouth is a working town with a great harbor, fine restaurants and good bars. In the summer, it is a wonderful place to walk around and see old buildings, and apre-civil war buildings. The gardens are fabulous and their is even a chestnut tree that one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence planted when he came home from Philadelphia. It is a grand old, huge and ancient tree.

We headed for the Portsmouth Brewery for lunch and some fine brew.  I opted for the Double Oaked Royal Imperial Stout. This is the stout that put this brewery on the beer maps. It was formally called Kate the Great Imperial Stout. The lines would form the day before the cask opening, and the madness would go on until the cask was empty. The brew master left with rights to the name, so this fabulous beer is now sold as Double Oaked Royal Imperial Stout. We never had the patience to wait in line, so, yesterday I was able to taste this brew and let me tell you, I was in Stout Heaven, it was so good.

Stout Heaven is a grand place to be on a quiet Monday afternoon.