So last week we discussed the good people of Maine and their love of shots. But it would be a real shame not to talk about their beer and how much of it I guzzled on our trip. It’s a blog about beer too so it kind of makes sense right? Good, I’m glad we agree.

Now as I mentioned we stayed in the fine town of Bar Harbor, which is up there in Maine. Way way up there. So far up there that if you squint you can almost see Canada. But my point is because we spent most of our time in Bar Harbor we drank a lot of their local brews, namely the offerings of the Atlantic Brewing Company. Now the greatest thing I found about the Bar Harbor is that every bar, and I really do mean every bar, has good beer on tap. At the very least all the bars we hit had Bar Harbor Real Ale on tap which is made by the good people at Atlantic Brewing. Most have this and a few other offerings from the brewery. It’s like the life blood of the town, if they ever stopped making it I think Bar Harbor could close and everyone there would die. And it’s pretty tasty to boot. The wife and I had a chance to get out to the brewery for a tour and it was mighty fun. I’d suggest also giving their Special Old Bitter a sample also, it’s tasty to the max. The Mrs. Beer and Joe went pretty gaga for their Blueberry Ale also. Just about every brewery up there makes a beer with blueberry in it but we both thought this one was the best.

We also found Shipyard Brewing and Gritty McDuff’s offerings on tap in a lot of places. Shipyard we get down in the New Jersey way so I have to admit I didn’t drink a lot of their beers but we did make it to the brewery in Portland. They put on a good tour and I picked up a bottle of Smashed Pumpkin. before heading out. We got to sample last years
batch which had been ageing and I have to admit I’m pretty excited to crack this one open.

I did drink a good amount of Gritty McDuff’s though. I became a big fan of their IPA during our time there and I’m going to miss being able to grab a four pack of it at the local store. We also got to hi their brewpub in Portland and I had what might have been the hottest wings my tender little mouth has ever partaken in. I was a mess.

Seadog was another brew pub we hit up in Bangor with a hearty selection of brews that helped me pass out during the hour long ride back to our place. I thank them for that, my wife hates them now though.

Allagash makes a strong showing up there also. If there’s a beer we saw almost as much as the Real Ale it was their white ale. Which is hella good son and cracking a few in the afternoon while downing seven or eight lobsters is pretty freakin awesome.

By the end of the week I’m pretty sure my liver was angry with me. The fact that there’s so much good beer on tap up in Bar Harbor was both a good and a bad thing. Good in the fact that you never had a shortage of good drinking options and bad… well probably for the same reason. The good news though is we made it home alive and I’ve only gotten the shakes three times since our return. I’m pretty excited.

I love Disney World, it’s by far my favorite place ever imagined, yeah I said it. It’s the happiest place on earth after all. But it doesn’t serve beer. Well alright Epcot does but still it’s a rough scene if you want to get a few in you, which I normally do.

Dogfish Head Brewery and Eats on the other hand serves beer, lots of beer in fact. And more importantly it’s all really wonderful. In fact you can get beer there that you can’t find in your local beer store. Beers that are being tried out and maybe one day will make it in a bottle, but maybe not. And for that fact alone Dogfish Head is my second favorite place on earth. Now I should be clear that there’s actually three locations, two of which I’ve been two. But the one in Rehoboth Beach holds a special place in my heart, mostly because it’s the original location where it all started and is only a few miles away from the brewery.

So a couple weeks back on our way home from Virginia my wife and I decided to stop at the brew pub. Actually we decided to make it our stopping point on the way home. We’d get into Rehoboth late on Saturday, stop at the pub for lunch on Sunday and head on home. But the moment we got into the car on Saturday I made it my mission to make it there in time for beers. What followed was a 6 hour drive into Delaware which landed us directly at the bar around 11 at night. We opted to go straight there and check into the hotel after which I thought was a good move.

Now by the time we got there the kitchen was closed. We were able to get a couple small pizzas but I was all about the beer. Their Chicory Stout might be one of my favorites so I started out with that sucker. It has a great coffee flavor with a big chicory punch to it. I’ve managed to find it in bottles recently but that’s a different post all together. But for me the best part of the night was getting to try their Wet Hop American Summer. Sure it’s a little late to be drinking a summer beer but it’s one of those I mentioned is only available at the brewpub so I wasn’t going to pass it up. It made me want to make a baby and it turns out it actually went on tap in October so it’s not a summer beer after all. Maybe a little misleading as far as a name but it’s a big hoppy lager, light and refreshing but still packs a nice hop back to it. I was a big fan.

The next day we headed over there for lunch. I should point out that the night before we actually closed the bar at 2 AM, something that’s pretty rare for my wife and I. But the next day we ended up having the same waitress. Awkward maybe but still kind of nice that most of the staff remembered us. The wife and I ordered a couple sandwiches and then I went to finish off the rest of the beer list. The 90 minute IPA is pretty easy to find around me but still it’s always a little better from the source. It also went pretty nicely with my jerk chicken sandwich which was lighting my mouth on fire. I had another chicory stout and then went for the other rare brew on tap. Their Black Thai is an Imperial Stout brewed with edamame and Thai basil. It is then fermented with a lager yeast and 250 pounds of pureed Oregon blackberries. In short it kicks ass. All around a great brew. Smooth and dangerous, you’d never know it’s an imperial. Finished off the meal well.

So spreading out the drinks over two days turned out to be a pretty good idea. The wife and I took the ferry back to NJ and by that time I had sobered up enough to finish off the drive. Everyone was happy! If you get the chance make the trip, it’s maybe not the best vacation spot for the middle of December but to a beer fan it’s worth the effort. Happy travels!

The wife and I recently made a trip out to California and spent a great deal of time driving around taking in some of the states wondrous sights. By this I of course mean a bunch of breweries. Oh sure we saw the Pacific Coast Highway and Disneyland and all that fun, but what a glorious sight it was to walk god knows how many blocks in an unknown section of San Francisco and finally arrive at the 21st Amendment Brewery. I was even more excited to find out that my wife and I had stumbled into their Oktoberfest celebration. Oh joy of joys.

Now when I say Oktoberfest I should clarify. There was no Oomph band running around but there was a dandy makeshift grill going on outside with sausages to boot and the wait staff was frolicking around in their lederhosen and beer maid outfits. But most importantly their Oktoberfest beer was on draft, and the Oomph music was on the sound system. But I would be happy in a dark alley with a homeless person if they serve a tasty Oktoberfest beer and 21st Amendment does indeed. A decent amount of malt without being too overpowering, a good beer to drink with dinner and slosh around in a liter mug. I was in the door only 5 minutes and already giddy. Unfortunately there were no liter mugs.

My wife was happy to find that the Watermelon Wheat was still available at the brewpub. It isn’t on tap but available in cans, which 21st Amendment is proud to serve most of their beers in. You’d never tell it wasn’t fresh from the keg and the beer is really great on a summer day or as it was the day we visited on a 65 degree San Francisco fall day. Me on the other hand opted for the IPA after my Oktoberfest excursion, which was mighty tasty. From there it becomes a bit of a blur, cause ya know, I like to party. But all the beers I tried that day were spot on.

The food was a big hit with the little lady and I as well. I didn’t think I would find good wings on the west coast but way to prove me wrong fellas. You win! The fish and chips use red snapper, which was a nice touch and tasted like they had just been caught from whatever ocean is out there. I have no idea if red snapper comes from the ocean. All around good times.

After dinner I had a nice little buzz going and we walked around the area a bit. Turns out it’s right near the ball park so you can tie one on and then go watch the baseballs get hit into the airs and such. Or as I did try to take pictures of the ballpark in little to no sunlight on my cell phone and send them back home to people. Good times all around and I’d hit this spot again next time we’re in San Fran.