The Great Lost Bear in Portland hosts their annual Christmas in July tonight. This year, in addition to the usual holiday ales from Maine, they’re featuring Delirium Noel and St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. All of the locals, Sebago Slick Nick Winter Ale, Shipyard Prelude, Gritty McDuff’s Christmas Ale, and Allagash Grand Cru (my favorite for the bunch), will set you back only $2.75 a pint. The stronger Belgian’s will run you $3.50 for a 13.5 oz tulip. If you’re looking for a way to beat the rainy day blues, celebrating Christmas a little early should do the trick.
Archive for the ‘Watering Holes’
GLB Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Allagash Treats
Great Lost Bear and Allagash have a long history together. GLB was among the first bars to feature Rob Tod’s fledgling brewery and its now iconic White. Since its humble beginnings in Portland 14 years ago, Allagash has grown to national recognition for its White and many other Belgian offerings.
The Great Lost Bear, of course, is one of the best known beer destinations in the northeast, if not the country. Celebrating its 30th “annibearsary” this year, it seems only natural that one of Great Lost Bear’s weekly Thursday night showcases should feature Allagash. Of course, GLB has an entire tap section known as Allagash Alley, so they’re stepping up their game this week to make it a “showcase.”
Along with the Allagash White (GLB’s number one selling beer), they will be pouring Burnham Road, Confluence, Dubbel, Tripel, Hugh Malone, and some casked Curieux. For any fan of Allagash or Belgian-style beers in general, this is enough reason to head to Forest Ave. this evening.
But just in case that doesn’t do it for you, there’s one other special treat (and no, I’m not talking about the moules et frites, which will be served). Four years ago, Rob and company brewed a 10th Anniversary Ale, a blend of two different batches of their White Ale. So what, you say? That was four years ago.
Well, apparently they kept one barrel of the stuff. Four years ago, they filled a single American oak Bourbon barrel with the 10th Anniversary Ale, and they’re pouring it tonight as GLB’s 30th Anniversary Ale. According to Allagash’s Jason Perkins, “[t]he deep malty character is complimented by flavors of sherry and port as well as a tart finish.” This sucker weighs in at a hefty 11% a.b.v., so I’m sure the pours will not be overly generous, but I’m excited to try one nonetheless. I’ll need to make a pre-volleyball pit stop this evening.
Belgian Bier Fest on Tap at Novare Res
For those of you who haven’t wandered down the little alley off Exchange Street in Portland yet, Eric Michaud offers yet another reason to take the plunge. For the next three weeks, starting on Friday, May 1, Novare Res is hosting a Belgian Bier Fest. Never one to put on a small event, Novare Res’s Belgian Fest will feature some 100 different biers. That’s a whole lot of beer to work through, so please mark your calenders to head down to Portland and help out.
On the tap list are such favorites as Cantillon, De Stuise, and Petrus, as well as a whole host of others, including De la Senne, La Rulles, Des Rocs, St. Bernardus, Caracole, Bosteels, Van Steenberg, De Struise, De Ranke, Geants, Chimay, Koningshoeven, Witkap, and more. Plenty more. I know where I’ll be tomorrow after work. Hope to see you there…
Novare Res Offers Unique Tasting Opportunity on April 2
Eric Michaud at Novare Res is offering yet another reason to find the alley off Exchange St. in Portland that leads to his basement beer utopia. On Thursday, April 2, 2009, Novare Res will be tapping four casks of Harviestoun Ola Dubh. Anyone who’s had one of these aged Old Engine Oil beers knows that the aging in Highland Park Scotch barrels imparts a lovely oaky flavor and is a special beer.
I’ve had both of the Ola Dubhs that I knew existed, the 12 and 16 year vintages. Eric is, of course, upping the ante here. In addition to the 12 and 18 (apparently they do both a 16 and an 18), he’s got 30- and 40-year-old casks to sample. I did not even know these beers existed, but I’m certainly hoping there’s still some left on Friday when I get down there to try some. $35 will score you all four (8 oz.) pours, plus a dram of Highland Park 15 Year to round out the tasting experience. If you’re one of the first 50 people to partake, you get to keep the Ola Dubh glass, too. Damn my Thursday night volleyball league!
Bridgetown, Barbados: Buffy’s Bar, and The Sticky Wicket
Buffy’s Bar is in the Inch Marlow neighborhood, about 9 miles from town. It was a short walk from our hotel and convenient to the airport.
Buffy’s features Banks beer in glass bottles. Also several kinds of rum. It’s not the sort of place where one asks for a beer glass. Both management and the punters are friendly; everyone is knowledgeable about Cricket. We were the only tourists – it was fun trying to understand the accents of our new friends.
The Sticky Wicket is much more up market, and is a pretty good basic restaurant, located near the Silver Sands beach area. The place is popular with British tourists staying at the nearby Silver Sands resort, and features Banks, Heinekin and Guinness, all in glass bottles.
Harpoon Featured at GLB Tonight
The weekly Thursday beer special at Great Lost Bear features Harpoon Brewery this week. Their well-known IPA and Celtic Red Ales are available for the usual $2.50 a pint, but who hasn’t had those? Of more interest is their 100 Barrel Series Catamount Maple Wheat, also for $2.50 a pint, and their Leviathan Series Baltic Porter. A 13.5 oz pour is all you’ll get of this 9.5% ABV monster, but a couple pints of that might be deadly, so the smaller serving is a pretty good idea. The Catamount Maple Ale pours
[a] beautiful orange-ish copper color, totally clear, just like all Harpoon brews. Big ‘ol carbonation, with tiny bubbles wildly swirling around to create a rather healthy looking, thick, frosty off-white head…The aroma is really inviting, with a big whiff of sweet, yet smokey Vermont Maple syrup. The spicy, herbal wheat balance is very good, with the wheat, hops and heat really adding to the nose complexity.
The BA folks outdid themselves with that description, but it sure sounds tasty. I really need to see if I can find some of this at the RSVP, as my Thursday night volleyball league prevents me from getting some straight from the tap. For those not similarly engaged, stop on down to Forest Ave’s beer block and grab a pint! Oh, and that Leviathan Series page lists a Quad as their newest offering. I will hunt this one down–it sounds wonderful.
Cask Bitter at Run Of The Mill
The folks at Run Of The Mill in Saco have been offering some very good beers lately.
Today I had a “Basement Bitter” on Cask, and it was beautiful. A session beer at 4.0%, it was copper colored, bright, with a lovely head. Slightly hoppy up front, it had a finish that softly echoed the hops long after the liquid was gone. I understand this one is almost gone, so don’t waste time in getting over there to try it.