DL Geary & Maine Beer Company

Beer Blogger Josh Christie is writing a series of articles on Hop Press about beer in Maine. His first piece profiles D.L. Geary Brewing and the Maine Beer Company.

Today, I’ll introduce you to two craft breweries here in my hometown of Portland.  There’s a lot of history and potential in these two breweries – DL Geary Brewing is the oldest craft brewery in the state at about 24 years old, and Maine Beer Company is the newest.  I’ll start filling in the rest of the chronology next week.

DL Geary & Maine Beer Company

Beer Blogger Josh Christie is writing a series of articles on Hop Press about beer in Maine. His first piece profiles D.L. Geary Brewing and the Maine Beer Company.

Today, I’ll introduce you to two craft breweries here in my hometown of Portland.  There’s a lot of history and potential in these two breweries – DL Geary Brewing is the oldest craft brewery in the state at about 24 years old, and Maine Beer Company is the newest.  I’ll start filling in the rest of the chronology next week.

Imbibe: America's Emerging Beer Mecca's

The January/February issue of Imbibe magazine list Reno, Austin, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St Paul and Portland as their Fab 5 of America’s emerging beer mecca’s. Portland beer blogger Luke Livingston from Blog About Beer is quoted in the article which calls out Allagash, Geary’s, Gritty’s, Maine Beer Co, Sebago, Shipyard, Downeast Everage, RSVP, Great Lost Bear, Novare Res, and Three Dollar Deweys as evidence of Portland’s beer meccaness. The article isn’t available online but you can pick-up a copy of the magazine at Longfellow Books.

Imbibe: America’s Emerging Beer Mecca’s

The January/February issue of Imbibe magazine list Reno, Austin, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St Paul and Portland as their Fab 5 of America’s emerging beer mecca’s. Portland beer blogger Luke Livingston from Blog About Beer is quoted in the article which calls out Allagash, Geary’s, Gritty’s, Maine Beer Co, Sebago, Shipyard, Downeast Everage, RSVP, Great Lost Bear, Novare Res, and Three Dollar Deweys as evidence of Portland’s beer meccaness. The article isn’t available online but you can pick-up a copy of the magazine at Longfellow Books.

Hangover Cures

The Press Herald’s Meredith Goad has pulled together some hangover cures suggested by local restaurants.

Arlin Smith, the general manager at Hugo’s, discovered that if he added a perfectly poached egg, the Duckfat poutine makes an excellent hangover cure. The cure caught on, and now the whole staff swears by it.

“It fills your belly,” Smith said. “It’s got the grease that coats the lining of your stomach. It’s got the starches going. It’s perfect.”

Koelschip at Allagash

Portland Psst uncovered a blog post published today by The Atlantic about Allagash’s experimentation with the traditional koelschip fermentation.

The future of American craft beer sits in a shed on the industrial outskirts of Portland, Maine. Built by the Allagash Brewing Company in 2007, the shed holds the country’s first commercial “koelschip,” a shallow, 15-barrel steel pan used to cool down beer wort–and expose the beer to naturally occurring yeasts that float in through the shed’s open stained-glass windows.

Collaboration Brewing

Allagash’s head brewer, Jason Perkins, was quoted in a recent article in The Atlantic about creative collaborations between brewers.

In both cases, says Jason Perkins, the head brewer at Allagash, “The fun of it was a huge part of doing it,” but it was also “a great opportunity to work with someone from across the pond,” particularly two of the most respected breweries in Belgium. The Belgians brought their mastery of Old World techniques, while Perkins and Allagash brought their skills at finding new and unique ingredients to tried and true styles.

#2 Brewery of the Decade

Allagash is in the #2 slot in Paste magazine’s list of The 25 Best American Breweries of the Decade (via a post from A Blog About Beer).

Allagash is like a little slice of Belgium without those pesky language barriers. Using Belgian yeasts and coloring brilliantly inside the style lines as with their flagships White, Dubbel and Triple, what really makes this Maine brewery special is their series of barrel-aged beers, led by Curiuex, Interlude and Fluxus—the latter of which includes sweet potatoes and black pepper in its recipe. We’re also impressed with tweaks to standards like the quad Allagash Four that blends four malts, hops and sugars.

Shipyard Wins Silver

According to A Blog About Beer, Shipyard recently received recognition for their XXXX IPA at a competition in Sweeden.

Of course it’s always a treat to see local boys doing well, so I was pleased to hear the news this morning that Shipyard’s XXXX IPA (the third installment in the brewery’s four-beer-strong Puglsey Signature Series) recently won a silver medal at the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival in the “Ale Modern Style 6% and Above” category. According to the Shipyard press release, the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival is one of Europe’s largest trade and consumer shows and Shipyard was just one of ten U.S. breweries to medal at the festival.