Back to Portland (Maine that is)!

I get out to NH every once in a while to visit Jenn’s side of the family, but the trips are typically too short and there are always so many folks to touch base with (Jenn is the youngest of eight kids) that I don’t often get the opportunity to visit with my friends from my shipyard days. That’s why I was excited about the opportunity to visit with my buddy Wayne and check out a few new spots up in Portland.

We first headed up to a new place called Novare Res, a hard to find restaurant in the heart of Old Town Portland. The bar has a great selection of imports on draft, as well as a good selection of bottled beers. It also has a selection of meats and cheeses that you can select (similar to Sputyen Duyvil in Brooklyn). And the beer, I was able to try Allagash Dubbel on cask, as well as a Hitachino Espresso Stout. The bartender was kind enough to let Wayne and I explore their beer cooler. Nice!

We stopped by Sebago brewing (it was right around the corner) and then headed over to the Great Lost Bear. I would say that this is the premier microbrewery beer bar in the Northeast. Good food, good beer, and they’ve recently added their dedicated taps for Allagash beers. Allagash specializes in the Belgian Ales (my favorite), and they are very similar to Ommegang here in New York. I’ve tried a lot of the bottled versions, but it was extra special to get these beers on draft. My sampler included their Odyssey and the Musette, but the best was to have their Black (a Belgian stout) on cask.

Our final stop (that is a after a detour to a bottle shop) was at the Run of the Mill Brewpub in Saco. The brewpub was in a nice location, in an old mill on Saco Island. I wasn’t terribly impressed with their brews, although I did appreciate the Ex-Wife Extra Bitter on cask if nothing else but for the name alone. They did have Shipyard Barleywine on draft, and the people were really friendly.

I had a great time. Exploring new areas and finding excellent beers with a buddy is awesome. Instead of telling a story that begins, “I once went…” I can begin it with “Do you remember when we…” - 4893

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." - Ernest Hemingway