Shipyard– The Incestuous Brewer of Maine

Sorry for the break in posts, I have been very, very busy, but I wanted to get back and finish up the Maine breweries. As you may recall from my earlier posts, I was dismayed to learn that Shipyard is the brewer for many of the most popular Maine beers, including Sea Dog and Belfast. Obviously from the size of their facility, Shipyard is the biggest brewery in the state and has a great location not far from downtown Portland. However, the fact that they are the brewers of so many Maine beers really ruined the day for me. If you are wondering how I found this out, I actually contacted Belfast to see if there was any way to tour their facility and Belfast told me just to go to Shipyard as the beers were brewed there anyway. How disappointing!

The original Shipyard is a little place in Kennebunk, Maine, called Federal Jack’s. If you can deal with the hordes of tourists in Kennebunk on a nice day, then I suggest a stop at Federal Jack’s. If you can get a seat next to the window overlooking the water, then it has some great charm. If you get seated toward the interior, expect to be crowded in with all the other tourists. The beer here is a mixture of Shipyard and Sea Dog and the sampler is huge.

You have to stop before leaving Maine at Shipyard in Portland. Why? Because they brew all the beer. You can also get all your beer goodies here since they make so many of the other brands. However, you don’t actually get to tour the facility, though. I would have thought they would have at least allowed you to look on the line through some glass windows. You have to watch a really awful 15 minute video before the sampling. They have a sampling bar toward the back of the gift shop where you get about 4-5 samples depending on the number of people. It is all free, so you can’t really complain, but they don’t really go out of their way to treat you special. The videos run on the hour; however, we were there on a busy day so they started half hour showings. At least in this regard, they accommodated their customers.

Top view of finished sampler from Federal Jacks

Finished sampler from Federal Jacks

Listing of the beers on the sampler at Federal Jacks

Beer descriptions from Federal Jacks.

Marshall Wharf Brewing Company– A Rare Gem

We found Marshall Wharf Brewing Company quite by accident in Belfast, ME. We went to the local Chamber of Commerce to ask if there was any way to visit Belfast Brewery (before we were told by the staff at Belfast to just go to Shipyard as they brew their beers anyway). The woman at the Chamber seemed quite perplexed by our question but said that there was a sign that said brewery almost right across the street from their location. She had never been but had heard from someone that the beer was quite good. Well, that someone was not wrong.

Marshall Wharf Brewing Company is what I expect of a local brewery. It was hidden away in the basement of an old warehouse/wharf in downtown Belfast. They did nothing but beer and nothing was fancy. The proprietor was a bit of a character but knew about beer and had great suggestions on other local breweries. She let us taste all her beers without even charging a tasting fee– she seemed just happy to share her craft. The beers were all great. By far, this was the most consistent brewery I had been too in quite a while. Every beer was equally well done.

I would highly suggest a stop at this brewery. If you are going to be staying in the area, I would suggest a growler or two, for a take home treat. This was a great find!

A Few More Maine Wineries

Today, we finish up with the Maine wineries.

We start with Shalom Orchard which makes a few wines from the organic fruits grown on the property. We actually got to the winery late and before they actually opened for season by a day, but the friendly staff opened the winery for us. In light of this, I hate to say that the wines here were just awful. I wouldn’t actually waste my time stopping at this one again when there are much better wineries just a few miles away. These wines were so bad I actually thought they may have been stored improperly or subjected to very warm temperatures. I always feel obligated to buy something when the staff is so nice, so I purchased some homemade organic applesauce that I haven’t yet opened. I am really hoping that this is much better than the wine.

Our next stop was Cellar Door Winery‘s tasting room in Freeport, Maine. The tasting room is lovely and very nicely decorated. The problem here was the wine. The wine was very good but a quick peek at the tasting sheet shows you that the vast majority of the grapes used in making the wine are from major wine growing regions out West. Therefore, I am not really sure I would qualify this as a Maine winery. I really feel that if I am visiting a local winery– I want to buy local. I want the grapes to be grown nearby. I understand that most varieties of grape will not grow in the cold climate of Maine. Therefore, use the other products you have available as other local wineries have done. This winery does do a good blueberry; however, it was a bit sweet for me.

Breakwater Vineyards and Farm was another stop on our whirlwind wine tour. This winery was in a lovely locale with the tasting room located within a beautiful manor style, colonial home. The wines here were all very good and I would recommend this as a stop if you want to try some Maine wines. My only complaint was that the staff here seemed a bit pretentious. The mead here was actually drinkable by someone, like me, who is not a fan of mead.

Speaking of mead, our last stop was at a meadery. The Fat Friar’s Mead is located within the basement of the owner and brewers basement. There is no real tasting room here but the owner is very friendly and willing to give you a quick tour of how he makes the mead. Not being a fan of mead, I don’t feel that I can make a judgement about the quality of the product. There was an interesting mead done with peppers that we thought would be very good as a vodka substitute for a bloody mary

A Few Maine Wineries

I thought today I would move away from breweries and highlight a couple of the Maine wineries that we visited.

Dragonfly Farm and Winery was our first winery and it is located in Stetson, Maine, not too far from Bangor. The winery tasting room was very small and very cozy, located off the main house of the owners and winemakers. As with most of the wineries in Maine, most of the wines were fruit based ones. Here the most unusual wine was the plum wine which was done in a German style instead of the Japanese style most commonly seen here in the U.S. Many of the wines were too sweet for my taste but the members of our group who enjoyed the sweeter wines seemed to enjoy them.

Our next stop on that same day was the Winterport Winery which is housed with the Penobscot Brewery. I actually tasted the beers here because I had a feeling that many of the wine offerings would be too sweet for me, since, once again, they were mostly fruit based. I did try a dry pear, a cabernet sauvignon and a dry blueberry. All were reasonable but nothing stood out as extraordinary.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, we visited a total of 6 wineries which resulted in my earning a wine guild hat. Other wineries to follow in the next entry….

Black Bear and the Bear Brew Pub, Orono, Maine

For this brewery we head up to Orono, Maine, home of the University of Maine. This brew pub was located a few blocks from campus and had a very college feel that made me a bit nostalgic for my days in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The beers from Black Bear Brewery were all quite good and many are available throughout the state at local bars and restaurants. I found that I was particularly fond of the Demon Stout. This is quite unusual for me, as I am generally not a stout drinker. I don’t know if several of the stouts in Maine were particularly good or the weather was conducive to stout drinking. While we were there, the highs were only in the 50s with a constant drizzly rain. By the time we made it to Black Bear, we had endured several days of this miserable weather. When I think stouts, I think wintery weather and sitting by a fire. Perhaps that is why as the week wore on, I found myself drifting more and more to the stouts and porters on the menus.

Bar Harbor Brewing Company– The Best Blueberry Wheat

Our next stop takes us to the very touristy town of Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is as far north as most tourist go in Maine, a bit tacky, and known primarily as home to Acadia National Park. However, this little tourist town is also home to some very good beers.

We were told the story of Bar Harbor Brewing Company when we arrived at the tasting room. The brewery was started many years ago by husband and wife homebrewers. After the beers became quite popular locally, a local restaurateur bought the small company and its recipes. However, the new owner knew little about beer and the quality declined. The owners of the nearby Atlantic Brewing Company went back to the original owners, got the original recipes, and started brewing the beers as they were originally intended.

The small tasting room is located in downtown Bar Harbor a few blocks from the water. It is a hidden gem with some of the best beers in Maine. It greatest jewel is the blueberry wheat. Unlike most fruit beers, the taste of blueberry here is subtle and adds to the flavor of the beer. The blueberry is strong on the nose but not on the tongue. The rare thing here is the fruit complements the beer. This not a fruit beer in which you can have just one, but you could easily enjoy a few on a hot summer day.

The tasting room also features beers by Atlantic Brewing Company which is located just a few miles down the road. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit Atlantic as they were not yet open for season. We did purchase a 6 pack of several of their brews while visiting the tasting room at Bar Harbor Brewing Company. All were quite good, as was the one sampled in the tasting room, and I would recommend the Atlantic brews if you should see them on the menu.

Best blueberry wheat we had!

Mainely Brews– Don’t Waste Your Time

Today we move on to one of the worst experiences of my Maine adventure– Mainely Brews in Waterville, ME. The service here was beyond dismal and I would highly suggest that you not waste your time visiting this brew pub. We stopped in for an early dinner around 5 pm with a group of 6 people. Almost everyone in the group ordered a light dinner consisting of menu items that should be simple to serve and already prepared. Most of the group ordered either the chowder or chili which should have required nothing more than placing the required amount in a bowl. We waited over an hour and still never got served. We were told the hold up was due to a graduation party taking place in a side room. However, even that party consisted of less than 20 individuals. I can only imagine what this place is like on a busy night.

Because of this experience, I can’t say anything about the food, except don’t expect to get served. The beers were marginal at best with none of them leaving any distinct memory. They did have several other local brews on draft– other than their own. I would suggest sticking with the good ones from Shipyard, Allagash and other great Maine breweries.

Interestingly, this brew pub was also not on my list of breweries on the Maine Beer Trail. This leads me to believe that they are not or weren’t members of the Maine Craft Beer Association. Therefore, another reason not to stop at this brew pub is that it won’t help contribute to your free prize for visiting sites on the beer trail.

We left after tasting the sampler and didn’t bother to wait for our food. The only good thing I can say about this brewery is that the location is cute– it is located in an old post office on the main street in town. It has ambiance inside with the original doors still bearing names of parts of the post office. However, the ambiance doesn’t make up for the service.

The Liberal Cup and Run of the Mill Public House

The Liberal Cup and Run of the Mill Public House are combined in this blog because they are another of Maine’s incestuous brew pubs. I had no idea on these two were basically the same until I was told by a truly independent brewer. I must say that the fact that these are owned by the same people and carry the same beer was a bit disappointing. They both had so much character and charm that I wanted to see them show that in their beer selection.

The Liberal Cup is located on the main street in Hallowell, Maine. The town has so much character and looks like a fall back to the 1800’s. The brew pub sits in an old rowhouse surrounded by local restaurants and shops. The feeling within the pub is homey and makes me nostalgic for my times in Old Town Alexandria. The atmosphere is so homey in fact that you can imagine sitting inside on a cold day with the snow falling outside while having a rich, dark porter.

The Run of the Mill Public House is also located in a historic building but in Saco, Maine which is much closer to Portland. Here the brew pub is located in an old mill house. The atmosphere is still charming, but not so much so as at The Liberal Cup. In both locations, staff and patrons seemed friendly, making the place even more enjoyable. Next to the Run of the Mill is a small university so I imagine that during the school year the place is hopping with local college kids.

While the locations are unique, the beers unfortunately are not. The best beer of the lot was the Bug Zapper Super Lager. I am generally not a lager fan and I really wanted to like the other beers, especially the for Richer or Poorter and the Ex-Wife Extra Bitter. By far, these beers had the most creative names of the Maine breweries I visited and I always like to give extra points for creativity. However, I didn’t find that the tastes stood up to the creative names.

Gritty McDuff’s– Freeport and Downtown Portland

Next on the list is Gritty McDuff’s. We stopped first at the Freeport location. The atmosphere here reminded me of a crab house. I liked the long tables with minimal decoration and simplistic style. However, I would really suggest the downtown location if you want to get a great atmosphere.

The downtown location is apparently the original. It sits in an older 1800’s rowhouse in on historic Fore St. in Portland. If you have read my blog, you know I am originally from the DC area. This location reminded me of the pubs and restaurants in Old Town Alexandria, which gave me a nostalgic feeling. It was also a Saturday night when we visited and it was packed with people and a local band. This location felt more like part of the community than the Freeport location.

As for the beers at Gritty McDuff’s, they are adequate. Nothing particular stood out to me. I enjoyed an IPA at the downtown location but was not overly impressed by the taste or amount of hoppiness. The atmosphere really made this location for me. I would recommend that you stop by the downtown location on a busy night for the atmosphere and not necessarily the beer.

Sea Dog Brew Pub

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?

The Beer Bloggette

A blog for women who like beer (and the men who love both)