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(Originally published in Maine Today Magazine on September 16, 2014.) Do you crave a beer that you can’t buy here in Maine? Maybe it’s the elusive Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing in California. Or perhaps you still haven’t had the luxury of trying a Heady Topper from the Alchemist in Vermont. Or maybe …
Continue reading “Maine Brewing Supply Rolls Out Clone Recipes”
I’m on a journey to drink them all. And on this journey, I’ve drank a lot of them. Heady. Pliny. (The Elder, not the Younger. Yet.) Double Sunshine. Hill Farmstead Abner. Zombie Dust. 90 Minute. 60 Minute. Smutty. Lunch. On this path to IPA enlightenment, I’ve tasted greatness. So strap in tight and hold on …
Continue reading “Watch out, Heady Topper, Maine Beer Company Shows Us It’s Time For Dinner”
I’ve figured it out. It came to me while I was enjoying a glass of Zombie Dust this past weekend. It all seems so clear now I feel foolish to have missed it before. Here it is: the key to making world class beer is keeping the taste notes simple and graceful. Here’s another way …
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 …
Continue reading “Maine Beer Company’s Lunch is the Best Beer in Maine”
In my pursuit of the perfect IPA there have been a small handful of recurring beers people tell me I have to try. 120 Minute IPA. Check. Maine Beer Company’s Lunch. Check. Hop Stoopid. Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. Hop Wallop. Green Flash. Check. Check. Check. Check. I’ve even found myself holding the elusive and mysterious Heady …
Continue reading “When Life Hands You Citra Hops, Make Zombie Dust”
Drinking Pliny the Elder a few weeks ago with Tim, we got to musing over whether or not there’s any reason to rank beers. If a beer kicks your palate’s ass, then why start rating it against other beers? Why do humans feel the need to categorize and make best-of lists? As humans, we like …
Continue reading “Pliny the Elder Vs. Heady Topper: A Fight for World Dominance”
The story of how I got my greedy mitts on a bottle of Pliny the Elder is almost as integral to the mystique of the imperial IPA as the complex taste wave the beer possesses. In some camps, there’s an argument that Pliny’s stories of inaccessibility — it’s only available in parts of California — …
Continue reading “Does Pliny the Elder Stand Up to All the Hype?”
DAVE PATTERSON 