Day 8: Friends in Portland

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Good morning Portland. So the day was overcast but we still had a full schedule and most of it was driving, so it wasn't too much of a problem. It is a neat little town. We did not get to see much of it on the drive in the previous night. There are some cruise ships docked across the street from the hotel. Those are some big boats. Don't forget to get more of the visit to Portland at this blog. (Link to follow).

Maine Beer Company, Portland, Maine http://www.mainebeercompany.com/

Unfortunately, we were unable to get an official tour here. We arrived at 10 A.M. but the tour was at 2 P.M. But a tour wasn’t really needed here. The gift shop had a window that looked right out on to the production floor, so we could see everything, similar to Cricket Hill. I noticed as we drove up that there was a small crowd already there, I thought waiting for a tour. It turns out that there is an online TV show being made about craft brews in Maine, and they were shooting the episode for the Maine Beer Co. that day. We were also unable to get a tasting but Justin purchased some bottles, so hopefully we will be able to taste later.

Bull Jagger Brewing Company, Portland, Maine http://bearsgrowl.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/bull-jagger-brewing-company/

This place is located in the same industrial park as Maine Beer but on the other side. But, we were stymied here. They are shut down on Fridays.

Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, Maine http://www.allagash.com/

Justin and Tracy were excited to see this place. Now I know why. They make very delicious brews here! If you are a fan of Belgian beers try these. If you are not a fan of Belgian beers, try these, it will change you. We were a little early for the tour, so we got to talking with some of the employees about some of the other breweries and bars to go to in Portland. We also met some new friends who were also there for the tour. The couple was from Chicago and both are engineers. So they were very interested in the workings of the brewing process. Our tour started with a tasting, which was backward from the way most tour are arranged. I was looking forward to seeing their “cool ship” but it was off limits due to construction to expand the brewery. For those that do not know, a cool ship is a large tub about 3 inches deep where the beer is fermented out in the open. This way wild yeast and bacteria enter the fermentation process making some very interesting brew.

1. Allagash White, Wit Bier

Hazy gold color. Light body. Orange and coriander flavors.

2. Fluxus, Strong Golden Ale

Hazy deep gold color. Medium body. Fruit aromas. Sweet malty start with spicy hop finish.

3. Curieux, Tripel aged in Jim Beam barrels

Deep gold color. Medium body. Oaky aromas. Malt forward with fruity notes.

4. Hugh Malone, Belgian I.P.A.

Hazy gold color. Medium body. Hoppy aroma. Piney hop finish.

Rising Tide Brewing Company, Portland, Maine http://www.risingtidebrewing.com/

Lately on our tours, our guide has been either an official tour guide or one of the assistant brewers. At Rising Tide, not only did we get the tour from the head brewer but he is also the owner. Of course we went over the process, but we also got to talk to him about the business side of brewing. He told us about getting government approval for labels and recipes and having to call his congressman in Washington to get things pushed through. It was a great, 45 minutes to an hour conversation and tasting.

1. Ishmael, Copper Ale

Copper color. Medium body. Balanced malt and hops.

2. Daymark, Pale Ale

Gold color. Light body. Hoppy aroma. Spicy hop finish.

3. Entrepot, Saison

Dark golden color. Light body. Yeasty aroma. Clean crisp finish.

4. Atlantis, Black Ale

Black color. Full body. Coffee aroma. Sweet malty start with hop finish.

5. Ursa Minor, Stout

Dark brown. Full body. Smooth mouthfeel. Roasted and toffee flavors.

Duck Fat, Portland, Maine http://www.duckfat.com/

This place was highly recommended, by our guide Ashley, from Allagash, and it did not disappoint. Apparently she told all of Portland’s tourists, because this place was packed! We were on a limited schedule to get to our next tour so it was take out. But that still took about 20 minutes. Totally worth it! The French Fries are fried in duck fat. To complement that I ordered the B.G.T., a bacon, goat cheese, and tomato pressed sandwich. As with the catfish tacos…destroyed!

D. L. Geary Brewing Company, Portland, Maine http://www.gearybrewing.com/

We arrived here a few minutes late and immediately got chastised by the brewer. He had been waiting for us to start drinking. We walked back with him to the production floor and he poured us a beer strait from the conditioning tank. It doesn’t get fresher than that. Like the Ship Inn, they have the brick lined copper kettles and wood lined fermenters. They also used open fermentation. This time we were able to go up on the catwalk and see it in action. Very cool to see. The brewer showed us the leaf hops that go in the percolator. He rubbed some in his hands and we smelled them, which is a socially acceptable thing when brewing. There was another couple that was also on the tour. Of we got to chatting, and somehow offered them a ride to the next brewery. They were on vacation from the Madison, Wisconsin area. The guy, Matt, is also a home brewer and was very interested in our trip.

1. Pale Ale

Amber color. Light body. Balanced malt and hops.

2. Hampshire Ale

Deep amber color. Light body. Slight roasted flavor with hop finish.

Shipyard Brewing Company, Portland, Maine http://www.shipyard.com/

With our new friends we arrived at Shipyard just too late to get on that hour’s tour so we decided to wait for the next one. The Wisconsiners took the opportunity to join the tasting so we parted ways. In the mean time we perused the gift shop and hall of fame. This tour was actually just a video describing the history of the brewery and their brewing process. Again they used the brick and copper kettles and open fermentation. We learned that there was an Englishman named Peter Austin that designed this system and installed it all over the United States. After the movie we walked down to see their bottling line. As before, this is a very noisy operation. An then, my favorite part, tasting. During the tasting, Justin was approached by another couple about his binder of notes. Turns out, they were also on a brewery tour of the region and hailed all the way from the San Francisco area.

1. Export Ale, Canadian Ale

Gold color. Light body. Crisp taste.

2. Pumpkinhead, Ale

Deep gold color. Light body. Pumpkin spice aroma only.

3. Old Thumper, E.S.B.

Amber color. Medium body. Sour aromas. Sweet malt forward.

4. I.P.A.

Amber color. Medium body. Slight hop aroma. Fruity/spice hop finish.

5. Smashed Blueberry, Porter and Scotch Ale hybrid

Dark brown color. Medium body. Blueberry aroma. Malty start with blueberry finish.

6. Barley Wine

Black color. Full body. Toffee aromas. Malty.

7. Sea Dog I.P.A.

Amber color. Light body. Slight hop finish.

8. Monkey Fist I.P.A.

Amber color. Medium body. Hoppy aroma. Fruity hop finish.

Gritty McDuff’s Brewpub, Portland, Maine http://http://www.grittys.com/portland.php

While this was not the most recommended place for dinner, it was an easy walk from the hotel. Though, easy may not be the best word. It was windy and misting. A bit treacherous on the slanting, sometimes cobbled streets. So you don’t worry, we arrived safely. I have family that live around the Portland area, so they came out to dinner with us. My cousin, aunt and her husband made the drive to visit and enjoy some of the establishment’s brews. While waiting for them we ran into our Chicago friends from Allagash who said they had also spied us at Duck Fat. Then after dinner our Wisconsin friend wanted to buy a drink so we went with them to one of the recommended beer bars down the street.

1. Halloween, Oktoberfest (tap)

Amber color. Medium body. Malt forward.

2. Halloween, Oktoberfest (nitro)

Deep amber color. Medium body. Smooth mouthfeel. Malt start with bitter finish.

3. Halloween, Oktoberfest (cask)

Amber color. Light body. Smooth mouthfeel.

4. Pub Style Pale Ale

Amber color. Medium body. Smooth mouthfeel. Malt start with bitter finish.

5. Black Fly Stout

Black color. Full body. Smooth mouthfeel. Coffee and smokey flavors. No finish.

6. Maine’s Best, I.P.A.

Amber color. Medium body. Hoppy aromas. Piney hop finish.

7. Red Claws, Red Ale

Copper color. Medium body. Balanced malt and hops. Light flavors.

8. Best Bitter, Cask Ale

Amber color. Light body. Smooth but flat mouthfeel.

$3 Dewey’s, Portland, Maine http://www.threedollardeweys.com/

Again this was not the most highly recommended place, but the guide at Shipyard said this was the best deal in town. They carry mostly local brews at a decent price. We grabbed a table with Matt and Kara and got to talking about home brewing. An interesting thing Matt does, is use gelatin to clarify his beer. I will defiantly look into that, though I normally don’t do any filtering or clarifying. After a few pints there, we called it a night. Thank you, Portland.

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