Category: Beer

Portland Beer Week & VitaminSea

| Posted in Beer, Profiles

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about Portland Beer Week. Portland Beer Week is is taking place November 4-11.

The inaugural year of beer week was well received, but in a lot of ways, beer lovers say, it was kind of like Restaurant Week with beer as an add-on. This year Stevens, who owns The Thirsty Pig on Exchange Street, and her fellow beer geeks have structured an impressive line-up that is overflowing with nearly 60 events. And they did it all in barely two months.

Also in today’s paper is a profile of VitaminSea, a company that sells energy bars and other products that are made with seaweed.

Right now, company founders Tom and Kelly Roth have reached capacity with the number of SeaCrunch bars they can make in the licensed commercial kitchen in their Buxton home. They’re currently churning out about 1,000 bars a week of the mixture made from almonds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries, kelp and maple syrup. Yet, sales of the bars keep growing and the company plans to introduce two new flavors in the coming weeks, Blueberry (with dried blueberries and dark chocolate) and S’mores (with milk chocolate and marshmallows).

Baxter Brewing

| Posted in Beer

MaineBiz has published an article about Baxter Brewing and its founder Luke Livingston.

Two years in, Luke Livingston is doubling down on Baxter Brewing Co.

By 2014, he plans to nearly triple staff, quadruple production and brew around the clock to reach new markets across New England. A $2.5-million expansion to start this year will max out the company’s Bates Mill brewery in Lewiston, allowing the can-only facility to produce over 1 million gallons of beer.

New Wave of Maine Brewers

| Posted in Beer

Today’s Press Herald includes a feature story about the new batch of beer brewers (Maine Beer Co, Oxbow, Rising Tide, Bull Jagger, etc) and  related ventures (Novare Res, Bier Cellar, etc.).

The late 1980s and early 1990s brought Geary’s, Gritty McDuff’s and Shipyard, now the granddaddies of the industry in Maine even though they’re still much smaller than “big beer.”

The growth of the industry has paved the way for more competitors and more specialization. A second wave of “beer geeks” is brewing small batches at home or in tiny rented spaces, using unconventional ingredients to develop a diversity of flavors that could only be dreamed of two decades ago.

Speckled Ax x Allagash = James Bean

| Posted in Beer

Speckled Ax and Allagash Brewing are collaborating on the production of a bear to be called James Bean. The coffee infused beer combines Allagash Tripel with a blend of Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Natual coffee. According to the Speckled Ax Facebook page,

This batch is headed for bourbon barrels later today, and will be ready for drinking in a few weeks. Subtle, clean coffee and fruit nose, with sweet, yeasty tropical fruit and mild, clean coffee flavor.

Sen. Collins Brewery Tour & Reviews of LFK & Downtown Lounge

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

Today’s Press Herald includes a review of the Downtown Lounge,

The stew satisfied me. It came with thick hunks of potatoes, celery and carrots, corn kernels and sliced onions, with a slide of garlic bread for dipping. The chicken chunks were massive. It was somewhat zesty, creamy, hot and wholesome, and was something I would strongly recommend and order again.

a review of LFK,

All in all, though, I thought LFK was a funky little addition to Portland’s bar scene, and one I’ll add to my roster of drinking places.

and a report on Senator Collins’ recent visit to three Portland breweries.

While the U.S. senator from Maine did enjoy some beer at Allagash, Maine Beer Co. and Geary’s — nowhere near a full bottle at any one of them — her primary purpose seemed to be to pick up some information about what is becoming a major business in Maine.

Review of Joe’s, Organic Study, Portland Brew Fest

| Posted in Reviews, Beer, Farming

Today’s Press Herald includes a front page article that examines why people buy organic in light of a recent study that found no difference in nutritional value,

“I tend to buy organic because of the impact conventional farming has on the environment and the pesticides that are in a lot of conventionally grown food,” said Anna Korsen of Portland, who shopped Wednesday at the farmers market in Monument Square with her 2-year-old son, Arlo Korsen-Cayer. “I don’t want that in my body or my family’s bodies.”

Today’s paper also contains a report on last week’s Portland Brew Festival, and a review of Joe’s NY Pizza.

For additional reporting on the organic foods study listen to this report from MPBN.