The Rise and Fall of Expectation

Saturday...what a glorious day it was shaping up to be. The Mercury Brewing Company was holding its 15th Anniversary Harvest Festival. Oh, what a glorious day indeed!

Mercury Brewing is finally opening their doors and becoming a consumer-friendly brewery! But all was not well. Upon arriving at Mercury, I was immediately underwhelmed. There was a smattering of picnic tables, and a couple of food booths set up by the Rotary Club of Ipswich. Alone in the parking lot stood the Mercury traveling tap van. A cargo van retrofit with eight taps serving up all manner of Ipswich and Stone Cat Ales.

But the beer extravaganza began and ended with that van. There was a live band, but they never really kicked it into gear. There were no representatives from Mercury walking around, to tell the tale of Mercury Brewing and what makes their ales so wonderful. No one to promote the brand, no souvenir cups or contests or giveaways. From what I can tell, Mercury has had 15 years to plan this event, and to not have a more consumer-geared event was disappointing. I had the cask-conditioned Ipswich I.P.A, which was the lone bright spot of the trip. I found it interesting that under the Stone Cat name, Mercury produce two seasonal beers; Octoberfest and Pumpkin Ale, perhaps hoping to capitalize on the varying tastes of fall beer lovers. Needless to say, it was a disappointing trip into the heart of Ipswich.

Now I'm just holding out for the 20th Anniversary party.