Maine Beer Company’s Lunch is the Best Beer in Maine

Yeah, bold title, but it’s true.  Maine Beer Company’s Lunch is the best tasting beer in the great state of Maine.  And that’s saying something in a state that boasts a deluge of world class brews.

The new hip beer on the scene is the sweet/sour, yeasty saison.  In Maine, craft beer disciples are gushing over Oxbow’s array of saisons or the sour offerings of In’Finiti.  That’s fine for them and their taste desires, but I still think the best way to judge a state’s beer scene is by their tastiest IPA.

In the state of Maine, the competition is stiff.  The top bidders for best IPA in Maine: Rising Tide’s Zephyr, Marshall Warf’s Can’t Dog, Sebago’s Frye’s Leap, and Baxter’s Stowaway IPA.  They’re all brilliant beers in their own right, but they fall short of the magic of Lunch.

Let’s put it this way, I’d put Lunch in the category of Heady Topper and Pliny the Elder.

Say what?

That’s right.  This is one of the best beers you will ever have.  Yes, ever.

Here’s why.  It’s a citrus wave predominately tasting of pineapple.  It’s a fresh, clean taste.  There’s nothing muddled about the citrus profile of a Lunch.  If there is, then you got a bad bottle.  At the end of the citrus experience comes a piney IPA finish that hits the right note.  It’s not at all a wimpy finish, but it’s also not a I-feel-like-I-ate-a-pine-tree taste that destroys the tongue.  The flavor profile is tasteful, dare I say classy.  The malts are pulled back, so the citrus and the pine are given center stage.

With that said, Lunch can be hard to come by.  My supplier keeps it hidden.  You have to ask for it by name, and he disappears into the cooler, coming back with a bottle.  I feel like I’m doing something illegal.  It adds a little excitement to my white, middle-class existence.

Here’s the back-up plan if your beer store doesn’t have Lunch: Buy a Mo.  It’s always available, and the flavor profile is close to Lunch.  Though, ultimately, nothing in the state of Maine beats a Lunch.