Category: Beer

Allagash FV13 in Top 25

| Posted in Beer

Allagash’s FV13 is at the top of the Wine Enthusiast list of the Top 25 Beers of 2013.

This is Allagash’s first foray into the world of foudre (giant oak tanks used for aging) beers, and man, did they come out of the park swinging! FV 13 is a blend of wild yeasts and bacterias, a malty base beer and, “about four years of patience.” The brewery’s patience was rewarded, as the finished beer is a masterpiece, complex and layered yet nuanced and balanced. Initial aromas are tart and vinous, with upfront scents of sour cherry, plum and citrus supported by accents of lightly-toasted oak, walnut shells and forest floor…

Allagash had also been recognized by the publication back in 2011 when they came in 10th on the list for their Allagash Trippel Reserve.

Home Brew City

| Posted in Beer

In time for Portland Beer Week, the Portland Phoenix has published a feature story on the robust home brew culture in Portland. The article also touches base with 3 home brewers that are currently making the leap to the pro leagues: Austin Street, Bissell Brothers and Foundation Brewing.

It seems there’s always more, and there is: Up-and-comers like Bissell Brothers Brewing, Austin Street Brewing, and Foundation Brewing Company (see sidebar) will be opening up shop on Industrial Way. One benefit of the craft beer boom is home-brewers are getting more attention. “With the amount of breweries that have opened over the last five years or so, people’s palates have just exploded,” says home brewer Gregg Carine. “It’s reviving people’s interest in beer — both drinking it and brewing it.”

Portland Beer Week

| Posted in Events, Beer

Today’s edition of the Press Herald includes an article about Portland Beer Week and a comprehensive calendar of all 75 PBW events.

Portland Beer Week begins Friday and runs through Nov. 10. It’s only the event’s second year, but last year’s Beer Week was so successful there was never really any question that it would have an encore. Allison Stevens, owner of the Thirsty Pig on Exchange Street, owns the event and began meeting last January with about 10 other organizers to evaluate the best and the worst from last year and plan activities for this year.

For more information check out the Portland Beer Week website.

High & Mighty Moving to Portland?

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

the Press Herald What Ales You column reports that High & Mighty Beer Company is considering moving to the Portland area.

“We are exploring opening a small Farm to Table Brewery Restaurant in the Portland area. We are looking to have this completed in the next couple years. Our hope in doing so is to help maintain farm land as we believe it was meant to be; as farm land. We’d like to have this as an extension of High & Mighty, but you never can really predict what the future holds.”

Brewers and the Shutdown

| Posted in Beer

The Press Herald has published an article on the impact the shutdown is having on brewers.

An obscure agency known as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau – a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury that oversees breweries – has furloughed all but 35 of its 483 employees since Oct. 1. That means no one is available to approve new breweries or what are known as certification of label approvals, which any beer must have before it can be sold. The applications for the certification typically come in at a rate of about 400 per day.

Maine Brew Bus & Dave Geary Interview

| Posted in Beer, People

This week’s edition of The Forecaster includes a double article about the Maine Brew Bus,

The tour visits three of Maine’s leading breweries: Allagash Brewing Co. off Riverside Street, where the visit begins with a tour and ends with a tasting; then to Maine Beer Co. in Freeport for a beer sampler and snack, and finally to Rising Tide Brewing Co. in East Bayside, for a final tasting.

and containing an interview with Dave Geary.

Geary, who lives in Cape Elizabeth, said the brewing scene has changed dramatically in the years since he began building his brewery in 1984.

“There we no real road maps, how-to guides,” he said. “All of our equipment is custom made. These days you can buy it off the shelf, turn-key operation, if you’ve got enough money.