Maine Beer Guy

Beer, Glorious Beer

May 10, 2012 by rurugby Leave a Comment

So I love beer. It’s liquid bread, it’s delicious. It’s “proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy.” I guess for Ben Franklin it was actually wine: “We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it.” And the delicious process of grain to beer also shows God’s love.

And wine is delicious too, amazing how yummy fermented grape juice can be.

But, beer is one of the great beverages of the world. Often fresher then local water in much of history, as boiling the water and letting it fermented was part of Ancient Egypt and part of Colonial America (as was hard cider.)

But, beer is delicious and I am lucky to live in Portland, ME. Home of 63,000 people and seriously this many breweries:

Breweries:
Allagash Brewing Company – 50 Industrial Way, Portland
Bunker Brewing Co. – 122 Anderson St, Portland
Maine Beer Company – 1 Industrial Way #3, Portland
Rising Tide Brewing Company – One Industrial Way, Suite #2, Portland
Sebago Brewing Company – 211 Fore Street, Portland
Peak Organic Brewing Company – 110 Marginal Way #802, Portland
Casco Bay Brewing Co. – 57 Industrial Way, Portland
DL Geary Brewing Co. – 38 Evergreen Drive, Portland
Gritty McDuff’s Brewing Company – 396 Fore St., Portland
Shipyard Brewing Co. – 86 Newbury Street, Portland
Bull Jagger Brewing Company – 1 Industrial Way, Portland

Looks like Casco Bay Brewing is a Shipyard brand, and Gritty McDuff’s is contract brewed by Shipyard.

I don’t think there is a city in America with more breweries and more per capita. And there are other ones nearby like Freeport brewing and arguably Sebago (most of the beer I think is made in Gorham 2 towns over).

It’s interesting in Maine, there are SO many local breweries that sometimes it’s harder to find national microbreweries and beer from other regions.

I love IPA, I love Amber, Brown, Farmhouse Ale, Saison … Beer is delicious, it’s liquid bread and it makes me happy.

And if you are ever curious about what I drink, check out my Untappd profile. Cheers!

Places in Maine that make me happy

January 21, 2012 by rurugby 1 Comment

Thought of this idea a few days ago, about places that make me happy to live in Maine.

I have quite a few, many are food related. I am starting in Portland, Maine.

Port Veritas – This is now at Local Sprouts every Tuesday at 7pm. A love of slam poetry is something that has flourished in Maine. My first exposure was Saul Williams at Pomona College in Claremont, CA in 2000, but have been heavily involved over the past year plus. (Also the first date for 2 of my now married friends). I expect to keep being involved in slam poetry, and maybe eventually get off book.

Local Sprouts — I honestly mainly go for Port Veritas poetry night, but excellent food, great price on Baxter cans ($3) and cool atmosphere. I still need to make it here for breakfast sometime.

Schulte and Herr — I made a whole blog post about this wonderful homestyle German restaurant. Lunch and breakfast only from 8am-3pm Tuesday-Sunday (dark Monday) .. I love going here for lunch for potato pancakes, and their yummy homemade rye bread with a cream cheese, sour cream spread that includes magic. The roasted beets, goulash, squash, and cucumber salad are also all awesome here. Here is the blog post: http://ed2dq.com/2011/12/03/schulte-and-herr/

Kamasouptra/Portland Public Market House — Honestly the public market house is nice and mellow, even have played some Dominion with friends there, but this place is all about the soup to me. Kamasouptra is delicious, fresh and one of the best values in town. I have not had a bad soup there, and it’s also awesome for vegetarians and vegans. Planning to go there before the TweetUp tonight (wrote this on Thursday).

Tweet-Ups: These happen once a month and involve people from Twitter getting together, great fun. I have met amazing people from this. Can find out more from Facebook or me.

Casablanca Comics — wonderful owner, great selection, I love getting the grab bag of 20 comics for $8 .. fun!

Bubble Maine-ea — Just found out last week that this is one of @griffinclubmerv’s favorites. Excellent Taiwanese food, the best Chinese food I know in Portland. Excellent, fresh and well priced. Give it a try!

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church — Love the space, love the music, love the minister, talk about this one a lot on Sundays. Glad to find a church I am connecting with again.

Hilltop Coffee — Lovely, fun coffee shop. I have spent some time here with @tripdragon gaming, and love the atmosphere. Wish this was my neighborhood coffee shop. I really miss both Freaky Bean and The French Press being down the road in Westbrook.

Munjoy Hill — easily my favorite neigborhood in Portland, would love to live there, have far too much stuff and is pretty awesome that we get the parking lot plowed here.

East End Promenade — Gorgeous views, have played some tennis here with @tripdragon, love the view of the ocean. Actually like it more from up high then down at the pretty meh East End Beach.

Mama’s Crowbar – would definitely be my local if lived on the hill. Beer only, cash only, amazing beer, amazing atmosphere. Also have a poetry reading at 9pm every Monday, wish I could go more often but just a bad time.

The Great Lost Bear — Excellent food, amazing beer. One of the best beer bars I have found in America. A place I love to take visitors too.

Saigon — Excellent Vietnamese food, excellent service. I don’t go here enough.

Thanh Thanh 2 — Excellent pho, also love the durian shake when they have it. Very informal, I come here for the pho.

Po Boys and Pickles — I love to have a combination sandwich with pulled pork and fried oysters, yummy!

Tu Casa — I love pupasas .. Just delicious .. Great place to have a mexican soda or a beer; Informal, reminds me the most of a California Taquieria of anywhere in Maine.

Full Belly Deli — honest description, I almost consider this Westbrook. I love the hot pastrami sandwich, one of the best I have ever had, delicious. The sandwiches here are huge, but so worth it.

Outside of Portland:

I wish I could have more in Westbrook but there is really three.

Hoggy’s Market — I might go here more if it wasn’t in a hard location to get out of in the Warren Circle. Excellent, inexpensive food .. I love the grilled cheese, chips extra crispy and bacon cheeseburger.

The Frog and Turtle — Other end of the culinary spectrum in Westbrook. I love the poutine and I love their steak… A place me and Lanna often go for anniversaries and occasions.

Warren Memorial Library — Currently my favorite place in Westbrook, I am there once a week. If you can’t tell I am an avid reader. See my posts every Friday.

Old Orchard Beach — I really like this beach, it’s free, it’s mellow, it’s a bit of a honky tonk. For a Jersey boy I will take this way over the much fancier, but frankly classist beaches in Scarborough. Nothing wrong with a Quebecois in a speedo.

I feel like I should have more but nothing really comes to mind right now.

I live in Westbrook, but my public life is in Portland.

What are your favorites?

Ranty rant rant rant

January 16, 2012 by rurugby Leave a Comment

When I first started blogging every day, I didn’t think Maniacal Monday would be hard.

As my wife Lanna can well attest I like to rant a lot.

But poetry Tuesday has been super easy, thoughful Thursday pretty easy, #FridayReads Friday has pretty much a template now (honestly stolen from Nick Hornby’s “Believer” column) and the Saturday Night Review has been a chance for reviews and for sometimes business related stuff.

The only other day which has been as hard has been the Spirit of Sunday.

So want to rant about?

I suppose rants can be positive as well, so want to rant about how amazing craft beer is across the nation and especially in Maine.

Was just at the fabulous Great Lost Bear and thinking about how many great breweries there are in Maine, some of which are very, very small. Such as: Marshall Wharf (Belfast, ME); Andrew’s (in the midcoast); Maine Beer in Portland, Oxbow, and of course the nationally known Allagash.

So go beer, and go Maine!

I am every day posting …

November 28, 2011 by rurugby Leave a Comment

Planning to post every day from now on.

Saw how successful my wife was with posting every day at http://www.lannaleemaheux.com and want to bring that energy to my blog.

So here is my plan as of now.

Maniacal Mondays — I like alliteration and of course the song .. Manic Monday by the Bangles — Likely to be ranty. Or could be something I have seen, experienced I want to go on about.

Port Veritas Poetry Tuesdays — I go to the Port Veritas reading at Local Sprouts on 650 Congress Street in Portland, ME most Tuesdays at 7pm. Amazing, amazing reading and the big one in town. There is also the Rhythmic Cypher reading with music accompaniment at Slainte on Sundays at 8pm. And the Monday night smaller reading at Mama’s Crowbar one of the best beer and dive bars in Maine,at 9pm. This one is mellow and without a microphone.

Wildcard Wednesday — Something that could only come from the crazy brain of Edmund Charles Davis-Quinn, or just doesn’t fit in the other categories. — thinking may be Vonnegut related this week.

Thoughtful Thursday — Something I have been thinking about deeply .. Planning to write about homelessness this week.

Friday Reads — My thoughts on some books or readings I have done, and what I am reading or plan to read. Goes along with the excellent #FridayReads hashtag on Twitter. — Planning a piece on Kurt Vonnegut’s “A Man Without A Country” this week.

The Saturday Night Review — Could be a review of anything … Restaurants, movies, the week’s news, CDs … Thinking of a longer review of “The Muppets” this week.

Spirit of Sunday — A deeper thought, either about spirituality or something in the larger world.

The November Beer review

November 17, 2011 by rurugby Leave a Comment

Thought it was time to give some of my thoughts on recent beers I have had.

Always interested in trying new beers, also have some wines I have recently.

Tried a few tonight to start with:

Stone IPA (CA) which I have had before, lovely and very nice IPA. Enjoyable, nice balance. 89/B+

Moat Mtn. Czech Pilsner (NH) … Very nice beer I haven’t had before at the Old Port Sea Grill. Very drinkable pilsner, nice richness, excellent value at happy hour for $3 .. 88/B+

What I am having now is a Narragansett Porter (RI) which is really, really lovely. Narragansett is a traditional regional brewer known for Narragansett Lager, which is a nice drinkable everyday beer. This is a delicious beer, micro or regional. 2nd Narragansett “Micro” Beer which I have really enjoyed (Narransett Bock 90/A-). Makes you wonder what is a micro vs. macro .. wouldn’t surprise me if Harpoon is a bigger brewer.

The Porter has lovely color, nice mouthfeel, good richness and an excellent finish. 91/A-

Most of the rest of these beers are from brewing notes or my head.

Sam Adams Latitude IPA 87/B+ .. nice, very drinkable IPA .. one of Sam Adams beers I have enjoyed the most .. Another is the Boston Lager 84/B

——————

This next group is a taster run at the Great Lost Bear a couple weeks ago.

Best of the tasting going away (of 5) was the Brooklyn “The Companion” Wheatwine. Lovely beer, nice balance. Don’t feel the alcohol that strongly. Very nice. 10% ABV (92/A)

The worst: Geary’s Oaked Hampshire Ale (cask) 72(C-) .. this might be a generous grade. Beer just tasted of oak chips. The Oak hurt the balance, the warmth didn’t help this beer at all, odd oaky flavor. An experiment that failed. Oak does not make everything taste better. (Chardonnay has been destroyed by being overoaked in my opinion). And I give the Cask Hampshire usually an 89/B+ and non-cask 83/B.

Geary’s Hudson Red Ale (82/B) Very sharp, high bitterness, interesting richness, hard bitter notes, some complexity. Could be a much better beer for a different palate I think.

Abita Turbodog …. 78/C+ (LA) .. Not my thing, dark, not bad .. I have found most of the Abita beers very disappointing. Especially with the very high quality of Maine/New England beers.

Peeper Ale (Maine Beer Company) .. 88/B+ — Lovely beer, very nice. Found more hoppiness in bottle then on tap. Would drink more beers from Maine beer if they were less the $5 per 16.9 oz bottle. Favorite Maine Beer Company beer is Lunch (94/A)

========

One more bonus rave for the Albero Spanish White Sparkling wine. Was only $5 at Trader Joe’s and simply delicious. If you are looking for a good, inexpensive Champagne give it a try. Nice balance, very drinkable (and had no hangover) 91/A- … Miles and miles ahead of other similarly prices Champagnes/Sparkling Wines in Maine like Andre.

So that’s the post. Plan to do these whenever I do some tastings.

— Edmund

The End of Zuccotti Park/The Beginning of?

November 15, 2011 by rurugby Leave a Comment

The raid happened.

With cowardice and at 2am, it happened.

Sad to say, but it was a matter of time.

Huge police presence, absurd police measures.

The Brooklyn Bridge closed until 6am, press removal, head injuries for City Council members, madness.

The Zucotti Park camp is over.

So what’s next.

The #Occupy movement has already moved across the US and across the world.

People are actually thinking about inequality.

That the rich with interest income or hedge funds that have capital gains only pay 15% federal taxes (no payroll tax) and that the average wage earner pays around 22%.

The GE has great profits and no taxes with a tax refund, but Joe’s Smoke Shop pays full taxes, Harry’s Barber Shop, Jim’s Cafe, the lifeblood of American Main Streets.

The amount to police against the #Occupy movement is astounding. Oakland, Atlanta, Denver, and now New York.

With this wither #Occupy, no, not at all.

Keep writing about inequality, keep protesting, keep writing officials. Get involved in local politics, change the Democratic party locally first, change the Republican party locally first. Realize that Tip O’Neill is right and all politics are local.

Keep pushing for change, keep pushing for change.

The Zucotti encampment is over, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a dozen that take over for it.

I wonder what’s next, I think it is something bigger.

This feels like the start of something, not the end.

— Edmund

May Day

April 29, 2006 by rurugby 2 Comments

Wife thought I should explain the ratings again so here is an excerpt from my book.. the blog for it is http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com …

Tim thanked the gentleman and kept going. He gave the Porter a 90 and the IPA a 92, on the Wine Specatator/Cigar Afficiando scale, 90-95 being excellent, 95-100 superb, 85-89 very good, 80-85 good, 76-80 above average, 70-75 average, 65-69 fair, 61-65 not good, under 60 horrible…. He didn’t think there would be too much under the 80 range today… for Tim a bud might be a 72, a coors a 76, a Guinness a 92, 95 in Britain, he hoped to find some beers he would be happy to get in the 94+ range, such beers were rare and wonderful.

Enjoyed some Bass Ale (86), Stone Coast Knuckleball Bock (87) and Casco Bay Riptide Red (83) tonight …

It was nice to meet some alums of my wife’s high school — Foxcroft Academy, in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine …

And happy May Day … the days are only getting longer from here.

edmund davis-quinn

Brooklyn Sampler Present

January 1, 2006 by rurugby 1 Comment

My dad gave me a very nice gift for Christmas … a Brooklyn Beer Sampler …

Sipping a Brooklyn Brown Ale right now (88) .. its nice and quite tasty …

I also have one of my favorite beers Brooklyn Chocolate Imperial Stout (93) .. although this years is more bitter then I remember …

There is also some Brooklyn Lager (87) .. which is an absolutely outstanding beer with pizza …

The sampler also has Brooklyn Monster Ale (94) … Which is a 10% alcohol neo-Barleywine … Its yummy stuff but very, very rich… realize you are drinking 2 beers not one.

Great gift and a great brewery (too hard to find in Maine unfortunately.) …
Cheers and Happy New Year!

edmund davis-quinn

Great Lost Bear– 30 November 2005

December 5, 2005 by rurugby Leave a Comment

Maine Beer Notes

11/30/5

4 tasters (5 oz) .. Great Lost Bear, Portland, ME ….

First one is one I reviewed highly earlier on bottle …. Smuttynose IPA (NH) … 92 … very yummy, clean, nice hoppiness .. .. quite lovely beer ….
Would recommend on tap or bottle….

Second is another I have had before .. Sheepscot Pemaquid Ale (ME) … pretty good stuff … 88… good stuff … pretty rich …

Third … Anchor Steam X-Mas Ale (CA) … very distinctive taste … its growing on me ..… generally a big fan of Anchor Steam … I think I prefer on memory now Anchor Steam (90) and the Porter (92) .. … Not sure how to rate it … I think it’s in the 85-86 range … I will go with 85.5 ….

Fourth …. Harpoon 100 Barrel Stout .. Pretty Good stuff .. 87 … yummy .. drinkable … Nice rich taste .. good stuff.

I like it …

The best of the Group is the Smuttynose :)P

2nd Group of 5 … The first was Cape Ann’s Fisherman’s Brew (MA) … Clean, good very nice taste .. nice beer .. 86

Allagash White Beer (91) … very distinctive, yummy beer .. like it better on tap than on bottle (85) . Had some in the bottle on Saturday and it was nice but not spectacular …
Very nice, very distinctive beer .. it is a white so has an almost sour taste.

Allagash Double Brown Ale … Yummy, very, very good rich .. gave at 89 at the Bear but will give it an extra point for a 90 .. Allagash is a great brewery and I will try any of their beers …

Stella Artois. .not bad .. 81 … to me a very, very overrated beer .. some call it the Bud of Belgium … a little sour .. its OK …. I am not in the cult of Stella .. prefer most other Belgians or American Trappist-style ale

Atlantic Bar Harbor Blueberry … To me this was the best of the night. I really like this beer, there are blueberries in the beer and it gives it a sweet quality, very, very yummy. A nice ale with blueberries in the flavor. Very Good/Excellent .. 93

I also had a round of 3 Cask Conditioned Beers .. One really surprised me….

The Shipyard Old Thumper Ex. Spec. Ale (cask-conditioned) … Pretty good … yummy … maybe 2 points better then non Cask .. 86 .. Its nice .. not spectacular…

Sheepscot Boothbay Bitter (Cask) … rich, nice body and flavor … Quite good, tasty stuff .. 88

The real surpise was the Geary’s Hampshire Special Ale .. I am not a huge fan of this in bottle (80) … But the cask tastes much, richer and smoother .. .its a totally different beer and a very, very good one … 90 … Its a full 10 points better on Cask then in bottle… I was really surprised how much I liked this …

Most likely to order the Allagash Double Brown, Atlantic Bar Harbor Brewery Blueberry (highest rated of the night) and the Geary’s Hampshire on Cask, all are very good beer… I was also a little surprised how much I liked the Allagash White on Tap….

Always love going to the Bear, hopefully the internet will work next time.

edmund davis-quinn

edmund

MMM Old Rasputin

November 25, 2005 by rurugby Leave a Comment

So my dad picked up some beers for Thanksgiving.

One was absolutely excellent .. the others were mediocre/old/not so good …

First I went to Rookies and tried some of the Shipyard Prelude Ale (ME) … It was pretty yummy stuff and a very solid winter ale … 85 … My dad would give it an 82

My dad had some Shipyard Old Thumper Special Ale …. Which is one of the better Shipyard brews .. I would give it a 87 and my dad special guest reviewer an 85 …

The real star of the weekend so far has been Old Rasputin: Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, CA … This is one of the yummier beers you will find anywhere.. It is full rich and quite yummy … It is very strong at 9% alcohol by volume… and very very good … I would give it a 95 and my dad would rate it similarly …

Really, really good .. .I also had some Cole Porter by Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, ME yesterdy which was very good but not as rich as the Old Rasputin .. 92

My dad also picked up some DeGroen’s beers by the Baltimore Brewing Company in Baltimore, MD. … I couldn’t tell if this variety pack was old or just not very good … The Marzen tasted not terribly fresh and a little flat .. It was OK but I would expect a lot more from a micro .. 71 …

I also had some Pils which was quite mediocre today .. 75 … It was OK and I would drink some more … I am wondering again if the case was a little old …. Its possible the turnover was not very high in Allentown, PA where I picked the stuff up.

I passed 50,000 words yesterday and am now in the 51,200 range … The novel is going very, very well.

Thanksgiving was great and I really enjoyed having the family come up, my parents from Allentown, PA and my sister and brother-in-law from Stony Brook, Long Island, NY …

Its great to spend time with family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

edmund davis-quinn

p.s. In really bizarre news there was an Edmund Davis (no relation) who shot his brother today in Portland, ME …

http://wcsh6.com/home/article.asp?id=28938

This is beyond weird .. I wish the Davis family well for this tragedy on Thansgiving.

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