Maine

Wineries and breweries in Maine.

Black Bear and the Bear Brew Pub, Orono, Maine

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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.

Bear Brew Pub, Orono, ME Tasting Menu for the Black Bear Brews Black Bear Sampler

Mainely Brews– Don’t Waste Your Time

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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.

Mainely Brews, Waterville, ME Sampler at Mainely Brews Finished sampler at Mainely Brews

The Liberal Cup and Run of the Mill Public House

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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.

Sampler at the Run of the Mill Public House What was on tap at the Run of the Mill Public House Sampling Notes from Run of the Mill Public House Finished sampler at Run of the Mill Public House Run of the Mill Public House Run of the Mill Public House Hallowell, Maine Hallowell, Maine The Liberal Cup Tasting Menu at The Liberal Cup Atmosphere at The Liberal Cup Tasting at The Liberal Cup Tasting finished at The Liberal Cup

Maine– The Wine and Beer Trails

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Well after a bit of a lapse, I am back with new tales to tell.  This series will take us to Maine. I had hoped for a week of outdoor activities and wildlife adventures but the weather did not cooperate– the temperature hovered around 50 degrees, which would have been bearable had it not also rained constantly.  Therefore, my outdoor adventure turned into an indoor one and I decided to make the most of my time in a state with several wineries and breweries. 

A word to the wise– before you start hitting the wineries and breweries find yourself a copy of the Wine Trail of Maine and/or the Beer Trail of Maine brochures.  Both of these brochures provide very useful information about the locations and hours of the wineries and breweries in Maine.  In addition, you can get your brochures checked off at each winery or brewery to get a free gift.  If you are going to visit, you might as well get some free swag, right?

Attached to this blog is the picture of the hat I got for visiting 6 wineries.  This was a great gift because you can get this at any winery after you get your sixth stamp.  The beer trail gives a hat for 5 and a t-shirt for 10. You get a prize pack if you can hit all of them. I managed to get in 10 (well really 11 because I got the brochure late). You have to send away for the shirt so I will be interested to see what I get in the mail in a few weeks. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be highlighting the breweries and wineries I visited while in the area.  For some like Sea Dog and Gritty McDuff’s, I actually hit two locations or two times so I will just combine those in the same post. 

This should be a good series as I was impressed by many of Maine’s breweries. The wineries were not as impressive but still a good place to spend time on a cold, rainy Maine day.