7.16 - Vaca Wrap Up

So over the weekend the girl and I took a little summer vacation up to coastal Maine.  Just what we both needed!  The icing on the cake was that for one full day, I had myself a beer vacation.  We went and visited 3 breweries, plus go to a well-known beer restaurant for dinner!  Lucky me, right!?

First stop - Maine Brewing Co!  Most geeks in New England know the lure of fresh Lunch and MO.. if you don't, get on that train!

Luckily for me, the girl is staring to enjoy craft beer too, so we were able to get the 8 sampler tray for something like $20 and I wouldn't have to finish them off myself.  The highlights were of course the Lunch and MO.. Lunch is a fantastic IPA.. aromatic and strong.. orange peel, citrus, pine.. perfect blend of east and west coast IPAs.  While their most well-known, MO is my favorite.  Both were crazy fresh (within 4 or 5 days) but fresh MO beats Lunch any day to me.  It's a cleaner beer, lighter (duh - it's a Pale!) with a more balanced profile and cleaner hops.  Simply sublime.  Bernadette found a new love in their vanilla bean-aged Stout - Mean Old Tom.  She may like this more than me!  Some other highlights were the Collab II and III, both Saisons (Bluejacket and Nogne O, respectively) with the II with a nice hoppy, orange take on a Saison. And we had the place all to ourselves, as there was a beer fest happening a few miles away!

Up next - Rising Tide!

I like barrels.. so what!?

aaand again!  They had a really cool little operation here.. actually inside of a previous semi-trailer garage. Small little tasting bar and they were more than hospitable and welcoming to us.  They are making some solid beers and, based off their success, are able to start experimenting more so.  There was a beer aged with dates that the tasting room manager was kind enough to let us sample on the down low, and their red wine aged Saison - Lyra - is simply terrific, especially coming out of a small, new-ish place not known for barrel aging.  Highly recommend this place; emphasis on the guests/customers and great beers!


The final stop - Allagash.  You can't mention Portland (Maine) and craft beer without talking about Allagash. The most well-known brewery in Maine, by far the largest, and some of the most unique.

See.. told ya I love barrels!

A pretty solid tour (only official tour of the trip - Rising Tide is a simple, one room place and MBC wasn't running tours that day) and having $12-$20 bottles as sample tastes is a nice touch too!  Allagash is pumping out the most consistent stuff in Maine with nice touches on well-known styles - Belgian Tripel, but aged in bourbon barrels.. a clean Saison with a touch of Brett.. and to my knowledge the first coolship system in the US (look it up, ya no0b)  A must for any trip to Portland!

Finally, we needed some food in us.  We were gonna hit up Novare Res, a super well-known craft haven in downtown Portland, but really just wanted some solid grub so ended up at the Great Lost Bear  (no bash on Novare.. but they're more known for their extensive high-end beer selection and not their greasy, fill-you-up pub food)  I snagged a sampler including some local Marshall Wharf, In'finit and Oxbow, plus a brew from VT I had been dying to try - Switchback.  Great beer.. great burgers.. great day!

And in addition to TRYING the beers... I also purchased a ridiculous amount of beer to haul back with me.. see below!!

PHEW