BeerBloggers.com

Because we love beer!

Archive for the ‘Maine’


Beer Talk at Prost!

If you’re in town this Wednesday (the 2nd), Luke at BlogAboutBeer.com will be hosting a beer tasting event at Prost! International Tap House from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. I will be Luke’s co-host. Our topic will be an introduction to better beer. This will cover some of the basics, such as selecting proper glassware, pouring properly, beer temperature and how it effects taste, etc. Please come by, drink some good beers and introduce yourself.

And, speaking of Prost!, they’ve been selected as the July venue for the Maine Beer Writers’ Guild meet-up on Wendesday July 9th. Check out the website for more information.

And hopefully we’ll see you at the bar!


Welcome to BeerBloggers.com. Since this is your first time here, let me give you a tour. At its heart, this site is a collection of beer reviews and other beer-related discussion. We welcome your comments and are always looking for new bloggers to add to the site as well. If you're interested in becoming a BeerBlogger, use the Contact Form to drop us a line.

If you're looking for just the beer reviews, click on the Beer Reviews link on the right hand side of the page to display just the reviews. If you're looking for some other beer-related reading, take a look at the Blogroll. If you're an RSS user, click that big orange button in the upper-right corner to subscribe to our newsfeed. Finally, if you're looking for a specific review, use our handy Search box (right under the subscribe button) to find it. Again, welcome to BeerBloggers.com. We hope you enjoy your stay and come back often.

Novare Res Bier Café Hosts Allagash and Dogfish Head

I stopped in to say hello to Eric yesterday, and he was working on updating the Novare Res Bier Café Events page. I took a look over his shoulder to see exactly what was going up there and was excited at what I saw. Eric has managed to set up evening tasting events with some renowned breweries. The first one, on July 1, will feature pretty much the whole crew from Allagash, Portland’s Belgian brewery, and the second, a week later, will feature everyone from Dogfish Head! There is not a complete listing of what they’ll be pouring, but the July 1 Allagash event promises 10+ kegs, and Sam and the DH guys are bringing some great stuff with them from Delaware.

Allagash Brewery
July 1
10+ kegs
Owner and brewers on-site from 6-9 PM

Dogfish Head Brewery
July 8
6 different beers
Owner and brewers, 6-8 PM

Oh, and according to Eric (and the Events page), we should be expecting Rogue in late August. I’ve already marked my calendar for every Tuesday in August, just to be sure!

Mark Your Calendars for Bray’s One Night Stand

Mark your calendars now. That’s right. Grab your datebook (err…I mean open up Google or iCal) and flip to August 9. Now mark that whole afternoon as Unavailable. Oh, and you might not want to make plans for the 10th either. You’ll need some recovery time.

On Saturday, August 9, Bray’s Brewpub and Eatery in Naples, Maine will be hosting its annual One Night Stand. Head Brewer Rob Prindall is pleased to announce that, for the first time, there will be 25 beers on tap. With bands playing outdoors during the day and inside at night, plenty of food available, and some pretty rare beers available, this should be on every Maine beer lover’s calendar. Here’s the current tap list:

  • Brandy Pond Blonde
  • Old Church Pale Ale
  • Orien Oatmeal Pale
  • Mt. Olympus Special Ale
  • Pleasant Mountain Porter
  • Quaker Ridge Oatmeal Stout
  • Muddy River Bog Brown
  • Epicurean I.P.A.
  • Stanley Steamer Uncommon Ale
  • Yammityville Horror
  • Songo Loch Scotch Ale
  • 440 Blues Brew
  • Gustave und Kristov’s Oktoberfest
  • Redeye P.A.
  • Causeway Cream Ale
  • Bray’s Imperial Stout
  • Burnt Meadow Mountain Peated Porter
  • I.rish R.ed A.le
  • Bald Pate Celebration Rye
  • Graveyard Shift Coffee Stout
  • Viciously Vivacious Vanilla Porter
  • Stang’s Swang Ginger Honey
  • Willie McGill Brown Ale
  • Causeway Cream Ale

Wow, what a list. The Peated Porter and Imperial Stout will be bourbon barrel aged, and some seasonals that aren’t usually available (a sweet potato ale?) and once-a-year specials like Graveyard Shift Coffee Stout make this a must-attend event for Maine beer geeks.

I’m definitely planning on attending. Naples is less than 30 miles from Portland. Perhaps an MBWG trip is in order? We’ll need to talk somebody into driving, but I’m sure one of our wives could be bribed into it. Hope to see you there!

Loads of Portland Bar Reviews

In my web wanderings this weekend, I came across an interesting series of Portland bar reviews entitled 1:00 a.m. Curfew on the MaineToday.com website. For those not familiar with the bar scene here, the title is a reference to closing time for Portland bars. John Everett takes an in-depth look at some two dozen Portland bars and pubs over the course of what I assume to be a six month internship. John’s series ended with his departure from Blethen Maine (the publishing company) in mid-June, but his body of work provides a great introduction to a number of Portland night spots, such as:

Novare Res is a great idea. The deck is beautiful and the location is tucked away, which helps keep the ‘riffraff out,’ as Michaud says. The beer selection is astounding, and truly encapsulates every different type of brew you can think of. But Novare Res still has some kinks to work out…

and

The crowd is for the most part straight off work, and unlike many post-workday bars, Andy’s lacks any noticeable filth factor. It is well-lit, clean and carries a warm atmosphere that immediately induces comfort. The two TVs were tuned to ESPN, but this is no sports bar, as the talking heads of “Around the Horn” were uniformly ignored.

John is looking at the overall bar experience rather than just the beer selection, but I found his writing to be funny and most of his opinions spot on. I’m not entirely sure how he managed to skip Great Lost Bear, especially given that he ventured as far from the Old Port as CJ’s Place, but he did manage to visit a wide variety of venues. I’ve only been to maybe a third of the establishments he covered, so I’ve now got a new checklist of places to check out during upcoming weekends out. Thanks, John, for a great look at some good bars in our little city. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

June MBWG Meeting at Novare Res Beer Café

G’ah! Time flies when the weather is nice, doesn’t it? It’s somehow been 12 days since our June MBWG meeting, and I still haven’t published that longer piece on Novare Res Bier Café that I promised when I got home that night. Thanks, Russ, for making me get my butt in gear and finish this post.

Much has been made about the beer selection at Novare Res, so I won’t beat that tired horse any more than I must. Yes, there are 25 taps and 200+ bottles. No, none of them are Bud or Coors products, and only a handful of them are even Maine-brewed. Owner Eric Michaud also has a small but quality selection of tequilas, scotches, ports, and wines. Added between the opening and our meeting two weeks later is a tasty selection of meets and cheeses, a couple of great-looking sandwiches, and an olive platter that I’m told doesn’t really taste like normal olives (I don’t like olives, so I didn’t try them).

All of these things make Novare Res a good place to grab a good beer. But there are other good places in Portland to grab a beer, too. The Great Lost Bear, $3 Deweys, and the new Prost! International Tap House all have good to great beer selections, and more taps than Eric’s Novare Res. What makes Novare Res truly special, and worth seeking out, is the atmosphere. Hidden away in the basement of Four Canal Plaza, you need to go down the stairs behind the building from Middle Street, or through the alley off Exchange, to find this place. It feels like you’ve found a secret beer haven when you do. And that’s before you even set foot inside. Just the huge deck alone is worth finding.

But when the weather isn’t cooperative, the indoor setting is simply superb. The exposed brick, the tin ceilings, the real dart boards, the lack of televisions, and the wide wooden tables give this space a very European flair. What would be a walk-in wine cooler in most bars is, in fact, a beer cooler (didn’t manage to talk him into letting us inside though). Eric’s attention to detail is great too—everything from the wonderful leather sofas to pouring the beers into the proper glassware (this is no “everything goes in a pint glass” establishment) reveals that this is truly a labor of love for Michaud. If the first several weekends is any indication, that love is being returned by some very loyal customers.

In addition to our MBWG meeting, Novare Res has also hosted a gala opening grande, complete with a jeroboam of tasty Belgian beer, and a Maine BeerAdvocate gathering this past weekend. The Events page also hints at upcoming events involving Allagash, Rogue, and Dogfish Head. I’m not sure what Eric has up his sleeve, but I know I’ll be there when it happens. We’re riding down to Portsmouth next week for the unveiling of this year’s Kate the Great, so perhaps I can get a few more details from him then. Stay tuned…

Again, cheers to Eric Michaud for opening a great new beer destination in Portland. And a huge thanks from the Maine Beer Writers’ Guild for hosting our meeting and sharing some of your personal stash (Earthmonk is like nothing I’ve ever had before, and since it’s retired, I may not have many other opportunities to sample it again).

mainebeerguildcolor_small.jpg

American Craft Beer Fest Countdown

We are officially less than two weeks away from the American Craft Beer Fest in Boston. The ACBF, organized by the Allström brothers of BeerAdvocate fame, takes place in Boston on June 20 and 21 and will feature 75 brewers with some 300 beers, panel discussions, and guest speakers such as Dave Lieberman (host of several Food Network shows), Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery), Rich Doyle (Harpoon), and Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head).

Among the breweries featured will be three Maine brewers: Allagash, Peak Organic, and Sebago. Of the three, the most interesting, in my opinion, is Peak, which will be offering a handful of new, experimental brews in addition to their four current production beers. The Double Amber Ale sounds like it would be a great summer beer. I’m not so sure about the Pomegranate Wheat, but Pomegranate is all the rage right now in juices, so I’m not surprised it’s finding its way into beer.

Sadly, I have other commitments that weekend which will preclude my attendance. I do know of several people who are going, though, and hope to talk at least one of them into guest posting about the event here.

A Newbie To Beer Blogging…

It’s a real pleasure to join BeerBloggers!

Blogging is totally new to me, but writing certainly isn’t, so it will be interesting to see how this old dog learns new tricks.

My intent is to share personal experiences and reactions. Rigorously rating specific beers is done widely by others, some well and some not so well, and I’m happy to leave that to others. My initial intent is to explore three themes…

  1. Travels in search of great beer. I’m blessed with a life style, professional and personal, that allows me to visit quite a few beer festivals, sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a punter. I intend to share my thoughts about the beers and festivals I enjoy.
  2. Experiences inside a beer festival. I’m Treasurer of CASC, the organization that presents NERAX, NERAX North, and other cask ale events. I’m looking forward to sharing an insider view of organizing and running serious beer festivals. Hopefully we can build a dialogue around some of the issues we at NERAX face yearly.
  3. Cask Ale in New England. This is my passion. I look forward to sharing both the delights and disappointments as I pursue cask ale across New England.

Let the fun begin!