As you tip your glass of People’s Pint’s seasonal Irish stout beer, your thoughts might run to the shortnose sturgeon making their way to spawn downstream from the Rock Dam on the Connecticut River. But there’s nothing fishy about this brew, despite its Shortnose Stout name.
The People’s Pint Brewery is toasting the Connecticut River Watershed Council with its third annual run of Shortnose Stout as a way to raise awareness about the endangered fish that live and reproduce in the river — as well as donating a share of the profits to the advocacy group.
Last year’s 300-gallon batch sold out quickly, both at the Federal Street brew pub and in bottles around the Pioneer Valley and Boston area, said People’s Pint brewer Chris Sellers.
This year’s effort is timed earlier for St. Patrick’s Day and will be twice as large. There’s an open house Wednesday at the watershed council’s 15 Bank Row offices, where visitors can learn more about the nonprofit organization and the fish, and an uncorking celebration Friday at the brew pub, where the stout’s already on tap. Both events, from 4 to 6 p.m., are free.
There are about 1,800 shortnose sturgeon in the Connecticut River. The fish are the only ones in the river federally designated as endangered, according to fish biologist Boyd Kynard, who has spent nearly 40 years studying the species.
“The population is very small in part because of how the dams are constructed and operated,” said Andrew Fisk, executive director of the 64-year-old organization, which is currently embroiled in the federal relicensing of the hydroelectric dams along the river.
“A significant improvement for the shortnose sturgeon occurs when more water goes through the river rather than through the power canal,” he says. “Shortnose Stout is a good reminder that we are on the cusp of solving one of the injuries to the endanged shortnose sturgeon, because when there is a new license in two years for Turners Falls, there will be more water in the river.”
To support a healthy breeding habitat for the sturgeon, the typical river flow needs to be 10 times the river’s typical 200 cubic-feet-per-second flow because of what gets diverted for power generation.
The hope, Fisk said, is that drinkers of Shortnose Stout and everyone else who’s made more aware of the plight of the sturgeon will go to the watershed council’s CTRiver.org website and click on the sturgeon image to weigh in on the importance of the river.
“We want people to tell the power company, ‘We appreciate this critter, and we look forward to you fixing the river so this can be a much more abundant in this river.’ We know the river must have much more water in it to support that breeding habitat. The science is absolutely clear. We have no reason to think the owners of the dam would oppose the very valid, robust science.”
Shortnose Stout is rooted in an idea that naturalist Karl Meyer offered to People’s Pint owner Alden Booth, and is modeled on the success of the brewery’s 2014 Training Wheels IPA to benefit the cycling advocacy organization Mass Bike, according to Sellers. It is a traditional dry Irish stout with a light body and hints of caramel followed by a deep, roasted finish, he said.
Sellers lauded the watershed council’s work to make a difference in cleaning up the Connecticut River.
“A lot of us don’t think about the health of the river as much as we should, or about all the work it takes to keep the watershed clean, and protect all of the species of that river,” he said. “These people are doing a lot of good work to keep our waterways healthy. And People’s Pint’s mission is trying to make a difference right here.”
More information is available at www.thepeoplespint-.com and www.ctriver.org.