Yeah, Maine had delicious lobster, pretty coastline and picturesque lighthouses. Any guidebook can tell you that. But what we found on a recent trip to the northern state was an array of excellent breweries and bars. And, of course, blueberry beer.
Bar hopping in Portland
We arrived in Portland in the afternoon on the last day of the trip. This harbor town’s compact size makes it perfect for bar hopping. A few hours later, we had to pull ourselves away from the bar stools and make a mad dash to the airport — cramming random camping supplies into our bags (only to have them searched by confused security guards).
Here’s where we went:
The Great Lost Bear
While driving through the outskirts of downtown Portland, I glimpsed a mural of a bear painted on the outside of a building. The painting promised beer — 60+ taps worth of it. We pulled into the parking lot. This, I soon discovered, was the Great Lost Bear bar, proclaimed one of the top ten US beer bars by Forbes and voted #4 on BeerAdvocate.com’s Top 50 Places to Have a Pint 2003. It’s rotating tap list and a menu of beers broken down by style, present an amazing array of choices. The bar also has five-ounce taster glasses are available for a buck apiece.
Novare Res Bier Cafe
At the Great Lost Bear, we met two guys responsible for local beer site Portland Taps. While, I thought we had already hit upon the local mecca of beer bars at Lost Bear, they directed us to another bar in the middle of downtown: Novare Res.
It took us 45 mintues of wandering around in the extreme afternoon heat to find the beer garden and bar, which was tucked behind some downtown boutiques. But it was worth it. Novare Res boasts more than 250 bottles of beer and 25 rotating taps from around the world. It’s cellar-like atmosphere makes you feel like you’re drinking in some Medievel catacomb. While it doesn’t match Lost Beer in quanity of taps, it like a fine restaurant, limits its menu to the outstanding.
Maine’s Blueberry Beer
Lobster is not the only food that is everywhere in Maine. Walk into any coffee shop, bakery or supermarket and you will see wild blueberries. Mainers put blueberries in everything from the standards, pies and tarts, to the unusual, beer and sodas.
Most beer snobs quickly turn their noses up at any beer containing fruit –unless it comes from Belgium. But I really enjoyed trying different versions of theblueberry beer. During our five days in Maine, we sampled several blueberry beers. The two that stood out were the Sea Dog Blue Paw Wheat Ale and Atlantic Brewing Company’s Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale.
Blue Paw:
This brew had a lot of blueberry both in its aroma and initially taste. But I was left wanting in the end because of it’s thin body and watery aftertaste. Since it is a wheat beer, I suppose it is intended to be light and refreshing, but with so much blueberry flavor packed in this beer, I was really expecting something a little more substantial.
Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale:
This was almost the exact opposite of Sea Dog’s Blue Paw. It’s a solid ale with a good malt backbone and a nice medium body, but with only a subtle hint of blueberry. I should note however, that I later had this brew on tap at the Atlantic brewery and it had a lot more blueberry flavor.
Here’s a list of stores in Northern Virginia where you should be able to find Maine’s blueberry beers.
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[...] Novare Res Bier Cafe and The Great Lost Bear in Portland, Me.: With the help of the guys from Portland Taps, we found these two amazing beer bars. Great selection, great atmosphere (Novare Res had a cellar quality; The Great Lost Beer bar was like a log cabin in the Great North Woods). Post here. [...]