Omnium Brewing comes to Nashua

BREWERY SCENE

by Jeff Rogers

NASHUA, NH – Of all the breweries I have written about, Omnium Brewing is, on the basis of flavor, at the very top of the list. But let’s back up a bit…

I still maintain that one of the best places to discover delicious new beers is The Hop Knot on Elm Street, at Brady Sullivan plaza (immediately south of the tall back building, near the lollipop sculpture). Run by Kenny Frasch, they have a rotating list of a dozen or more beers on tap, frequently turning over. All beers on tap are listed on a chalkboard right inside the door.

During my last visit, I saw something new on the board. A stout called “Oreoasis.” My spidey sense tingled! Gotta try the new thing! And I am so glad I did! I have to admit that it sounded like a strange combination, but it worked well. Flavor and texture are very much beer, definitely a stout, yet at the same time you can also taste the infusion of Oreos in this beer, both the chocolate and the sweetness. Delicious! Not heavy. But beware: at 10%, the ABV is a bit high.

A discovery like that cannot just languish. While Hop Knot had it on tap, I wondered if I could find cans anywhere nearby? Time for a visit to the Packie, on Manchester’s west side. They recognized the beer name, looked on the shelf, checked their stock list. Nope, none at that location — BUT! — they had several four packs at their Hooksett location. Boom! Off I went. A few minutes later, I was headed home, with a four pack of Oreoasis in my car.

But the discovery continued to ferment. I was curious where this delicious elixir came from. California? I wondered. Oregon? Colorado? No! None of those far-flung western locales. Someplace far better. Somersworth New Hampshire! And even better, they had just opened a second location in Nashua, not far from my old stomping grounds. (I once lived in Clocktower Place right on the river downtown.)

So Saturday afternoon my wife and I went for a visit.

The Space

Located in a fairly nondescript strip mall downtown, Omnium Brewing’s space inside is quite large. They had plenty of indoor waiting space, should they be busy during bad weather. To one side of this space they have a large cooler well stocked with cans of beer to go. A hostess was nearby, behind a podium bearing a sign requesting, “Please wait to be seated.” We asked if we could sit at the bar; she said, “Sure, you may seat yourself there.”

Proceeding past the waiting area we walked through an array of tables, in the center of which was large rectangular bar, with seating all around and taps in the center. The bar’s size and shape were somewhat reminiscent of the Tap House in Hooksett. In terms of seating capacity, I would say it was somewhat more than Spyglass in Nashua. Some of Spyglass’ space is devoted to brewing, which Omnium does in Somersworth, so they don’t need that in their Nashua location. At the same time it appeared that Omnium’s Nashua kitchen space was larger than that of Spyglass. Omnium’s seating space might also compare well to Nashua’s Lost Cowboy Brewing.

The walls hosted a few photographs from India, a nod to the heritage of Omnium’s founder and owner — more on her below.

One more thing: Omnium’s Nashua location seems to be equal parts restaurant and brewery tasting room. Certainly the food we had was extremely good, absolutely worth a visit even in for someone with zero interest in beer.

The Food

We decided to start with the Crispy Brussels Sprouts. We’re fans of these as appetizers, and frequently order them whenever we see them. From the menu description: Miso Sake Glaze, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Cilantro, Scallions, Peanuts (Vegetarian/ Gluten Free Option). These were absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious. I would order them again in a heartbeat. To be a nitpicker, I must point out that they were not crispy. But they were still delicious just as they were! And the portion was large — for a single person, this could be an entire meal.

For our main orders, my wife chose the Aloo Tiki Sliders, while I chose the Cubano, having been a fan of cuban sandwiches since first discovering them at the Granite Street Bar and Grill around 30 years ago. The Aloo Tiki  Sliders are described: “Spicy Mashed Potatoes & Peas, Cheese, Cilantro Chutney, Tamarind Chutney, Cucumbers, Pico de Gallo (Vegetarian Option).” They were unquestionably delicious, perhaps the single most flavorful food item we had that day. Contents between the buns just a bit on the soft side. The Cubano was as you might expect: “Slow Roasted Pork, Grilled Ham, Swiss Cheese,  House Mustard, House Pickles.” Very good.

We had leftovers boxed up from our Brussels Sprouts, Sliders, and Cubano, so we just barely avoided making complete pigs of ourselves. Bonus: that meant we had room to try dessert. The menu listed something called Chocolate Dipped Gulab Jamun Truffles. This was like a beautiful and delicious ice cream sunday — except it was not cold! Described as: “Cottage Cheese Dumplings Soaked Saffaron and Cardamon Flavored Syrup Dipped in Chocolate Shell. Served with Sweetened Cream and Sprinkled with Pistachio.” Amazingly tasty!

Everything we ate was delicious.

The Beer

Omnium serves beer in pours of 5, 12, 16 or 20 ounces. To go, they sell single 16 ounce cans and four packs of cans.

As we often do, we shared flights so that we could each taste a greater variety. Between the two of us, and with our meal, we had 3 flights. Each flight was 4 five ounce pours. So in terms of quantity, that’s a bit less than two beers for each of us. This allowed us to taste 12 distinct beers. By the way, their beer menu listed 33 beers.

The beer menu is divided into three sections: 1) Hoppy, 2) Sours, Wheats & Lagers, 3) Dark. We ordered some from each section.

First flight
  Creamfull Mango Masti – IPA – Milkshake – 7.8% ABV
  El Fuego Spicy – Pale Ale – Other – 6% ABV
  Tangerine Tangy – Wheat Beer – Other – 4.6% ABV
  Pils Wave Pilsner – German – 5.5% ABV

Second flight
  Vanilla Winter Drift – Stout – Other – 7.2% ABV
  Fire on the Red – Red Ale – Other – 4.5% ABV
  Taj Mahalager – Lager – Amber – 5.5% ABV
  Currant Phase – Sour – Other – 4% ABV

Third flight
  Sound of Vienna – Lager – Vienna – 4.2% ABV
  Wise Fellas Wheat Beer – Hefeweizen – 4.5% ABV
  Watermelon Wonderfruit Ale – Fruit Beer – 4.2% ABV
  Pistachio Brown Brown Ale – American – 4.7% ABV

Tasting Notes…

Almost all of the beers had very clean mouth feel except where otherwise noted, and most of the flavors were subtle and not in-your-face overpowering, again, except where otherwise noted.

• Creamfull Mango Masti – IPA – Milkshake – 7.8% ABV
  Delicious mango flavor, with the most distinctive texture of all the beers we had, due no doubt to the lactose.

• El Fuego Spicy – Pale Ale – Other – 6% ABV
  A very good pale ale. Spicy heat was present, but on the mild side.

• Tangerine Tangy – Wheat Beer – Other – 4.6% ABV
  Extremely good beer with tangerine notes. Would be great on a hot afternoon.

• Pils Wave – Pilsner – German – 5.5% ABV
  A very good pilsner. Perhaps the most ordinary tasting beer we had.

• Vanilla Winter Drift – Stout – Other – 7.2% ABV
  A very good stout. Strong flavor from the rye barrels used in aging.

• Fire on the Red – Red Ale – Other – 4.5% ABV
  Just a hint of caramel in this very good red ale.

• Taj Mahalager – Lager – Amber – 5.5% ABV
  A very good lager. To those beer drinkers who are not adventurous, I would recommend this after the Pils Wave.

• Currant Phase – Sour – Other – 4% ABV
  The most flavorful of the fruit beers we had. Delicious, very clean. Currants for the win!

• Sound of Vienna – Lager – Vienna – 4.2% ABV
  Very good, perhaps not quite as good as the Taj Mahalager.

• Wise Fellas – Wheat Beer – Hefeweizen – 4.5% ABV
  A very good hefewiezen.

• Watermelon Wonderfruit Ale – Fruit Beer – 4.2% ABV
  A good watermelon ale. Would be great in summer.

• Pistachio Brown – Brown Ale – American – 4.7% ABV
  A good brown ale. Pistachio flavor very faint. (Or maybe our taste buds were getting worn out!)

Important to note: Not a single one of these beers was in the slightest way objectionable. There were none that we would not drink again. Of course we had our favorites.  Currant Phase, Vanilla Winter Drift. Creamfull Mango Masti, Tangerine Tangy, Pils Wave, Sound of Vienna.

About Omnium Brewing

Omnium Brewing is a woman-led brewery, founded by Jasmin Patel. She always had a passion for combining diverse ingredients to create unique flavors. An Indian American woman who’s called the stunning landscapes of New Hampshire home for more than 17 years, she took the leap into brewing by opening Omnium Brewing in December 2022 to showcase her vision for vibrant food and various brew styles from around the world.

Based on our experience there, Omnium Brewing is an unmitigated success.

Data

Omnium Brewing is located at…
  
  300 Main St
  Nashua, NH 03060
  
  (along with their original location in Somersworth)

Phone: (603) 521-6377

Website – Facebook – Instagram – Untappd – Email

Hours:
  Wed: 12 – 9 pm
  Thu: 12 – 9 pm
  Fri: 12 – 10 pm
  Sat: 12 – 10 pm
  Sun: 12 – 9 pm