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(Originally Published in Maine Today Magazine on July 24, 2014.) Everything great has an intoxicating birth story. The Universe has the Big Bang. Life on Earth has the primordial soup. Civilization has the Fertile Crescent. The Beatles have Hamburg. And Apple has a garage in Los Altos, California. As the Maine beer renaissance roars on …
Continue reading “The Industrial Way Neighborhood is the Fertile Crescent of Maine Brewing”
(Originally published in Maine Today Magazine on July 17, 2014.) We live in a new world, my friends. A fertile world where macro-breweries are losing shelf space by the minute to local micro and nano-breweries all across this glorious country. And nowhere is this brewing rebirth more prevalent than in the great state of Maine. …
For all of those who follow my blog, you’ve noticed that I haven’t posted here for quite some time. I’ve recently begun writing a weekly beer column for Maine Today Magazine, so all of my writing energy has been diverted from the blog to the column. This blog post relates to my Beer Muse column. …
Continue reading “A Beer With Paul LePage, Mike Michaud, and Eliot Cutler”
On my last visit to Bunker Brewing in Portland’s hip East Bayside neighborhood, Bunker’s head brewer Chreston Sorensen proclaimed, “This is going to be the summer of the IPL.” He handed me a sample of their beautifully hopped India Pale Lager, Cypher, and from that first crisp taste, I knew he was right. As an …
Continue reading “Bunker Brewing Rings in the Summer of India Pale Lagers with Cypher”
In his book Maine Beer: Brewing in Vacationland – a must read for all Maine beer enthusiasts – Josh Christie asserts, “Sebago Brewing Company is, in my mind, one of the most underrated breweries.” I concur. When I moved to Maine in 2005, Sebago was the only brewery in this state making high quality American-style …
Continue reading “Simmer Down Brings a Twenty-First Century Flavor to Sebago Brewing Company”
You’ve seen the green school bus driving through Portland’s Old Port. I know you have. You’ve watched people board this bus and thought, “What is that? What kind of magical place are those people going to?” And if you’re a local, you’ve probably let the thought pass like a cumulus cloud floating through a summer’s …
Continue reading “Let The Maine Brew Bus Drive You To Maine Beer Bliss”
“I’m old school,” D.L. Geary says from behind his desk. His crystal blue eyes make him look boyish, despite the white hair, ruddy complexion, and outdated office decor. I’ve been invited to his brewery to try IXNAY, a gluten free beer that by all accounts actually tastes like beer. But before we can get to …
Two weeks, 64 beers, and 1,524 votes later, we have our 2014 Maine Madness Beer Tournament Champion: Rising Tide Maine Island Trail Ale. MITA received 76% of yesterday’s vote, giving it a landslide victory over Allagash Curieux, a mighty, mighty opponent. Rising Tide fans got out the vote and made it happen for this tasty, …
Continue reading “Final Results and Analysis of the Maine Madness Beer Tournament”
This tournament has been a whirlwind ever since voting started two weeks ago in the Round of 64. If Warren Buffet offered a billion dollars to anyone who could pick a perfect bracket in the Maine Madness Beer Tournament, I have a feeling that he wouldn’t have to pay up in our tournament either. If …
Someone commented after yesterday’s Elite Eight round that they felt like a traitor voting against any of the remaining beers. But voters steeled themselves and made the hard choices, and we have our Final Four Lineup: Maine Beer Company Peeper (2) vs. Allagash Curieux (9) Maine Beer Company Lunch (1) vs. Rising Tide Brewing Maine …
DAVE PATTERSON 