Let’s start our Maine adventure with a trip to Sea Dog Brew Pub in South Portland.  We started here because it is literally 5 minutes from the Portland Airport and I had read reports that the food was quite good.  The location is very convenient and roomy.

I am not a big fan of the fruit beers but I do like the Sea Dog Raspberry Wheat and Blueberry Wheat.  I find them a bit too sweet for drinking more than one, but I do think they are great summer beers, especially for those who are not big beer fans. One member of our group enjoyed the blueberry wheat even though she generally hates beer.  The other Sea Dog brews are adequate and generally true to the type. One of our group got a bourbon barreled ale that was quite good.

The food at the brew pub complements the beer and is a bit better than standard pub fare. I would highly recommend stopping at one of the three Maine Sea Dog Brew Pub locations for a lunch or quick dinner.  I was impressed by the variety and types of foods available on the menu. You can easily find something for everyone, including several traditional Maine and vegetarian options.

We actually ended up visiting this location twice. The second time in order to get that elusive Maine Craft Beer Trail signature. During this visit, we arrived later in the evening, about 10:30 pm.  There were quite a few people there on a Saturday night and it seemed to have a laid back, friendly atmosphere. Therefore, I would also recommend this location for a late night cocktail.

Now for the disappointing news about Sea Dog, Shipyard, Belfast, and several other Maine breweries— they are all incestuously related.  Sea Dog is brewed by Shipyard at their Portland brewery, as is Belfast. In fact, when I emailed Belfast to see if they did any brewery tours I was told to go to Shipyard in Portland as the beer was brewed there anyway. After learning this, I realized that many of the beers I sampled through the state were actually the same beers with different names or served on tasting trays of several breweries. I had to wonder why the names were repeating and why they tasted so much the same. For me, this ruined the craft beer experience. At what point do you brew so many beers by so many sister companies that you are no longer a craft brewery?