The recent collaboration between Purple House chef Krista Kern Desjarlais and Allagash Brewing is the subject of a new article in Forbes magazine.
“Beer can be hoppy or bitter, and sugar can mask a lot of that,” Desjarlais says. “With the coolship beers and sour ales I have been using, the fruit undertones come forward and marry beautifully with the dairy in the ice cream custard.”
A new Czech-style lager-exclusive brewery and ‘tankpub’ called Sacred Profane Brewing (website, instagram) is under construction at 50 Washington Street in Biddeford. Brewer Brienne Allan, formerly with Notch Brewing and a co-founder of Brave Noise, is launching the new brewery.
The restaurant will offer a menu of classic beer hall fare and a state-of-the-art beer service system engineered by Czech firms Lukr and GS Technik. The system will be the first of its kind in North America, enabling the team to provide a unique beer drinking experience.
“Our friends in the Czech Republic say that the brewer brews the beer, but the tapster makes the beer,” says Allan. “And we agree 100% that how you maintain and serve the finished beer is just as important as how you brew it.”
Working along with Allan will be a team that includes Michael Fava, the former head brewer at Oxbow Brewing, as the director of operations at Sacred Profane, as well as Carson James and Erin Sheehan, the co-founders of Lorne Wine in Biddeford, who will be heading up the food, hospitality and marketing programs. The team hope to open Sacred Profane by early July.
For more information on the beer program listen to the latest episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—the section on Sacred Profane runs from minute 34 to minute 38 in the recording.
Here’s a look at the draft food menu:
House Smoked Oyster – $18
saltines/mustard/onion
Pickled Curds – $8
Pilot bread crackers
Cretons – $12
Toast/mustard/sweet pickles
Chowder – $14
Smoked haddock/cream/potato/bacon
Ham Plate – $12
Country ham/pickle/garlic Mayo
Pult Tartare – $14
Dry aged beef/mustard seed/yolk/bacon/toast
North Haven Oysters – 6 for $16, 12 for $28
Mignonette classique’/lemon
Crab Louie – $18
Toast
Salad – $10
Little gem/ranch/pulverized dorito
Chicken Sorta Montreal Style – $18
Mashed potato/gravy/freezer peas
Schnitzel – $20
Pork steak/potato salad/maple mustard
Poutine – $16
Previously frozen French fries/curds/gravy
Curry Wurst – $18
House curry sausage/fries/mayo/ketchup
“Meat” Loaf Sandwich – $16
Bunch of veg in the shape of a loaf/Fish & Whistle milk bun/mayo/giardeniera/cucumber salad
Lobster Themidor – MP
Lobster/bernaise/fries
Maple Calvados Ice Cream – $8
A Parlor ice cream exclusive
Maine Beer Company has made a $100,000 gift to the University of Southern Maine to establish the Brewing Up Opportunity Internship-Scholarship Fund. The fund will “provide access to education, on-the-job training, and mentoring to help develop a new generation of beer industry professionals.”
Maine Beer Company co-founder and USM Alum Daniel Kleban noted, “Our hope is that this collaboration with USM creates an access point into craft beer and expands the understanding of what a career in this industry can be, while at the same time cultivating the industry’s next generation and changing the narrative of who makes up that community.”
The fund will support USM students across multiple disciplines, who wish to pursue careers within and connected to the craft beverage industry, with internship-scholarships awarded to individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations, first-generation college students, or students coming to Maine from an international location.
For additional information see this article in Mainebiz and information on the USM website.
The Press Herald has published a report on Maine-produced nonalcoholic beers.
Nonalcoholic beer is currently having, it would seem, a moment. Or, if we look at Maine’s brewing history, a revival. In previous decades, the production of nonalcoholic beer (which legally means a beer with no more than 0.5% ABV) was dominated by brands from multi-national and mass-market breweries. But today, we now have local options that drink much more like craft beer than the infamous O’Doul’s.
This week’s Portland Phoenix reports on Rupee Beer which was developed by brothers Van and Sumit Sharma in conjunction with Alan Pugsley the co-founder of Shipyard Brewery.
With [Alan] Pugsley’s help, the brothers took a year to do test brews, figure out what ingredients they wanted, and finally settle on a product: Rupee Beer, which Sharma described as a refreshing and smooth lager, light on the carbonation and brewed to pair well with traditional Indian food.
The brothers’ family founded Bombay Mahal in Brunswick and operate Tandoor in Portland’s Old Port.
To learn more about Rupee Beer visit their website: www.rupeebeer.com.
Good Beer Hunting has published a report on a recent visit to Portland.
If I have a problem, it’s time: There’s not enough of it, and I can’t eat and drink everywhere I want to. On the drive up to the city, soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “Folklore,” I kept doing mental Tetris, unsure of how I would fit everything in. And so I stand on the corner of a crowded street, the smell of Thai-style fried chicken in the air, my feet angled in the direction of my last stop—one of the best beer bars in the world. In an alternate reality, this is how I would spend every Friday night. “I could live here,” I think, for perhaps the thousandth time.
The article highlights: Allagash, Eventide, Bissell Brothers, Crispy Gai, and Novare Res.
Stars and Stripes Brewing Co. (website, facebook, instagram) has leased the space formerly occupied by Lio at 3 Spring Street where they plan to open a second location.
Stars & Stripes opened their original location in Freeport in November 2018. They anticipate launching their Portland tasting room this spring/summer where they will serve wine, prosecco on tap and light food options in addition to their own beer.
Allagash was named the 2021 Brewery and Brewer of the Year by the Great American Beer Festival in the 15k – 100k barrels segment of the industry.
In a statement to the Press Herald founder Rob Tod shared his thoughts on the award,
“We love what we do and care deeply about the quality of the beers we make, and we’re honored and humbled to be recognized for that,” Rob Tod, the founder of Allagash, said in a written statement. “It’s been a particularly challenging and enlightening year and a half. But we’ve been able to weather the storm and, from our perspective, come out on the other side even stronger. Being honored at GABF feels like validation for all of the hard work we’ve put in.”
Hi-Fidelity Beer (website, facebook, instagram) has launched a $7k crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. to help open the doors at their East Bayside low/mid ABV brewery.
Owners PD Wappler and Dante Maderal have leased Unit 6 at 200 Anderson Street where they are planning to launch with a 3 barrel system. The Hi-Fidelity Beer tasting room they will serve their own house beers as well as a variety of liquid refreshment with non-alcoholic options such as coffee, tea, and house-flavored seltzer.
The tagline for Hi-Fidelity is “our beer, your space”. They envision operating a tasting room that melds a traditional brewery tasting room and a public space that will appeal to the members of the Portland arts community.
Maderal was formerly a brewer at Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, and Wappler is a musician. They hope to open Hi-Fidelity Beer by the end of this summer.
MaineBiz has published an article on a new crop of Maine breweries and the approaches they’re taking to differentiate themselves.
With the count now up to 150 breweries in Maine, new craft beer makers are seeking to differentiate themselves from the pack in creative ways, with a focus on niche styles and offering more than just beer.
Playing off a sense of nostalgia for favorite childhood treats, Odd by Nature Brewing, which opened recently in Cape Neddick, focuses on ice cream IPAs, candy beers and pastry stouts. The brewpub also offers beer cocktails.
One of the businesses mentioned in the article, Lucky Pigeon Brewing Company, has announced they plan to open on August 20th. Lucky Pigeon will be Maine’s first dedicated gluten-free brewery. They are located in Biddeford.