Nale House hosts 'Main Event' Thursday evening

After a few, much buzzed-about pop-up tastings, Nale House Brewery is about to open its doors more officially with “The Main Event.’’

For several weeks, the Medford brewery has been fine-tuning operations and gearing up to offer more beer.

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The Main Event will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at 32 N. Main St. Flights, pints and growlers will be available in the large tasting room.

“Nale House operates with a small batch artisan concept,’’ says partner and head brewer Eric Leiner.  The brewery uses a 2.5-barrel brew house and has 15 barrels of fermenting capacity.

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The brewery, which was joined last week by Lower Forge Brewery just down the street, draws its name from Medford’s rich history.

“In 1800, a merchant named Mark Reeve arrived in Upper Evesham (Medford). He built the first horse powered machine in the country to manufacture cut nails,’’ according to Leiner. “His building where he made cut nails was located on the corner of Friends Avenue and South Main Street. That building, named The Nail House, a historic landmark, was later moved and today sits on the Jennings Farm.’’

The word “nale’’ is an obsolete Middle English term that translates to “alehouse,’’ Leiner said. “The term  was used in Chaucer's ‘Canterbury Tale’ and ‘Friars Tale,’ to refer to an alehouse.’’

Leiner formerly owned The Hoptopus's Garden homebrewing supply shop in town.

We’ll let the brewers talk you through their opening line-up:

Cow Tippin' (Milk Coffee Stout):  A dark, roasty, and smooth stout. We use lactose (milk) to help balance the bitterness of the coffee used in the boil process. For an extra coffee punch, we cold pressed more coffee and added it directly to the fermented.

Teabag: A milk porter, blended with an oak “teabag.’’ The result is strong but smooth. The strong notes come from the special oak teabag that this porter is fermented with. The smooth notes come from the copious amounts of lactose (milk) and rolled oats. Served in a wide rimmed glass to let all of these aromas take over your senses.

IPA - Project No. M15058: This IPA is aggressively hopped with Warrior hops to achieve perfect IPA bitterness. The malt bill allows for a smooth sweetness to join the hops in balance. Dry hopped for one last punch with Cascade hops.

Snitches Get Stitches: An American Pale Ale, a perfect harmony of mosaic and citra hops. Simply let the fruity nose and indescribable flavor of Mosaic hops take your pallet on a journey. Oh, and don't be the snitch.

Locus Delicti: When you roll up on the scene of the crime, first thing you do is lock down a secure area. Our secured area consisted of a massive amount of hops. Once, they were logged in as evidence, we used those hops the only way we know how, to brew a killer, hoppy, IPA.

Blonde: An American Blonde Ale. This one is for the warm and easy months of the summer. So go ahead; do some yard work, wash the car, catch some rays, catch a fish. Whatever you do, take your time and enjoy.

For details, call (609) 432-6672 or visit nalehousebrewing.com/index1.html