Category: Beer

Two New Breweries: Newscapes and Idiomatic

| Posted in Beer, Openings, Under Construction

Maine beer fans will have two more breweries to choose from.

Newscapes Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) recently launched in Portland. The brewery was launched by Jeff Curran and is located at 163 Washington Ave. You can learn more about their line-up of beers on their website. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 8 pm.

A new brewery called Idiomatic Brewing (website, instagram) is under development. The founders have a decade of combined industry experience in Maine and elsewhere. Their first three beers will be Ninety in the Shade (4.6%, lager), Missed the Boat (6.2%, American IPA), Sliced Bread (6.3%, dubbel-style ale). Launch timing and location details are still TBD.

Brew for Ukraine

| Posted in Beer

Oxbow Brewing is taking part in the Brew for Ukraine (website, facebook) Victory Beer Series launched by Pravda Brewing in Lviv, Ukraine.

Pravda is making their recipes and label art available for their dry hopped strong ale, Belgian tripel, American red ale, Belgian witbier, and Ukrainian imperial stout.

Oxbow began brewing a version of the Belgian witbier at 4 am Tuesday morning and expects it will be available in six weeks. The proceeds will be donated to aid Ukrainians fleeing from the war.

Other Maine brewers: please drop us a line if you’re also taking part in Brew for Ukraine.

Brewery Kitchens

| Posted in Beer, General News

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article on the development of food programs at Maine breweries.

Maine Brewers’ Guild Executive Director Sean Sullivan agrees. “Just from the perspective of how to diversify your business to meet the needs of the customers, it makes sense. How about a little food with the beer? It’s a way to make a more sustainable business.”

Forbes = Beer x Ice Cream

| Posted in Beer

The recent collaboration between Purple House chef Krista Kern Desjarlais and Allagash Brewing is the subject of a new article in Forbes magazine.

“Beer can be hoppy or bitter, and sugar can mask a lot of that,” Desjarlais says. “With the coolship beers and sour ales I have been using, the fruit undertones come forward and marry beautifully with the dairy in the ice cream custard.”

Sacred Profane Brewing in Biddeford

| Posted in Beer, Under Construction

A new Czech-style lager-exclusive brewery and ‘tankpub’ called Sacred Profane Brewing (website, instagram) is under construction at 50 Washington Street in Biddeford. Brewer Brienne Allan, formerly with Notch Brewing and a co-founder of Brave Noise, is launching the new brewery.

The restaurant will offer a menu of classic beer hall fare and a state-of-the-art beer service system engineered by Czech firms Lukr and GS Technik. The system will be the first of its kind in North America, enabling the team to provide a unique beer drinking experience.

“Our friends in the Czech Republic say that the brewer brews the beer, but the tapster makes the beer,” says Allan. “And we agree 100% that how you maintain and serve the finished beer is just as important as how you brew it.”

Working along with Allan will be a team that includes Michael Fava, the former head brewer at Oxbow Brewing, as the director of operations at Sacred Profane, as well as Carson James and Erin Sheehan, the co-founders of Lorne Wine in Biddeford, who will be heading up the food, hospitality and marketing programs. The team hope to open Sacred Profane by early July.

For more information on the beer program listen to the latest episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—the section on Sacred Profane runs from minute 34 to minute 38 in the recording.

Here’s a look at the draft food menu:

House Smoked Oyster – $18
saltines/mustard/onion

Pickled Curds – $8
Pilot bread crackers

Cretons – $12
Toast/mustard/sweet pickles

Chowder – $14
Smoked haddock/cream/potato/bacon

Ham Plate – $12
Country ham/pickle/garlic Mayo

Pult Tartare – $14
Dry aged beef/mustard seed/yolk/bacon/toast

North Haven Oysters – 6 for $16, 12 for $28
Mignonette classique’/lemon

Crab Louie – $18
Toast

Salad – $10
Little gem/ranch/pulverized dorito

Chicken Sorta Montreal Style – $18
Mashed potato/gravy/freezer peas

Schnitzel – $20
Pork steak/potato salad/maple mustard

Poutine – $16
Previously frozen French fries/curds/gravy

Curry Wurst – $18
House curry sausage/fries/mayo/ketchup

“Meat” Loaf Sandwich – $16
Bunch of veg in the shape of a loaf/Fish & Whistle milk bun/mayo/giardeniera/cucumber salad

Lobster Themidor – MP
Lobster/bernaise/fries

Maple Calvados Ice Cream – $8
A Parlor ice cream exclusive

Brewing Up Opportunity Internship-Scholarship Fund

| Posted in General News, Beer

Maine Beer Company has made a $100,000 gift to the University of Southern Maine to establish the Brewing Up Opportunity Internship-Scholarship Fund. The fund will “provide access to education, on-the-job training, and mentoring to help develop a new generation of beer industry professionals.⁣”

Maine Beer Company co-founder and USM Alum Daniel Kleban noted, “Our hope is that this collaboration with USM creates an access point into craft beer and expands the understanding of what a career in this industry can be, while at the same time cultivating the industry’s next generation and changing the narrative of who makes up that community.”⁣
⁣
The fund will support USM students across multiple disciplines, who wish to pursue careers within and connected to the craft beverage industry, with internship-scholarships awarded to individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations, first-generation college students, or students coming to Maine from an international location.

For additional information see this article in Mainebiz and information on the USM website.

Nonalcoholic Beer

| Posted in Beer

The Press Herald has published a report on Maine-produced nonalcoholic beers.

Nonalcoholic beer is currently having, it would seem, a moment. Or, if we look at Maine’s brewing history, a revival. In previous decades, the production of nonalcoholic beer (which legally means a beer with no more than 0.5% ABV) was dominated by brands from multi-national and mass-market breweries. But today, we now have local options that drink much more like craft beer than the infamous O’Doul’s.

Rupee Beer

| Posted in Beer

This week’s Portland Phoenix reports on Rupee Beer which was developed by brothers Van and Sumit Sharma in conjunction with Alan Pugsley the co-founder of Shipyard Brewery.

With [Alan] Pugsley’s help, the brothers took a year to do test brews, figure out what ingredients they wanted, and finally settle on a product: Rupee Beer, which Sharma described as a refreshing and smooth lager, light on the carbonation and brewed to pair well with traditional Indian food.

The brothers’ family founded Bombay Mahal in Brunswick and operate Tandoor in Portland’s Old Port.

To learn more about Rupee Beer visit their website: www.rupeebeer.com.

Good Beer Hunting Portland Visit

| Posted in Beer, Reviews

Good Beer Hunting has published a report on a recent visit to Portland.

If I have a problem, it’s time: There’s not enough of it, and I can’t eat and drink everywhere I want to. On the drive up to the city, soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “Folklore,” I kept doing mental Tetris, unsure of how I would fit everything in. And so I stand on the corner of a crowded street, the smell of Thai-style fried chicken in the air, my feet angled in the direction of my last stop—one of the best beer bars in the world. In an alternate reality, this is how I would spend every Friday night. “I could live here,” I think, for perhaps the thousandth time.

The article highlights: Allagash, Eventide, Bissell Brothers, Crispy Gai, and Novare Res.

Stars & Stripes in the Old Port

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

Stars and Stripes Brewing Co. (website, facebook, instagram) has leased the space formerly occupied by Lio at 3 Spring Street where they plan to open a second location.

Stars & Stripes opened their original location in Freeport in November 2018. They anticipate launching their Portland tasting room this spring/summer where they will serve wine, prosecco on tap and light food options in addition to their own beer.