Maine Trip – Part Two: Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME

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Allagash Brewing Company, Beer, Beer Review, Maine, New England

Our second stop along Industrial Way was Allagash Brewing Company, one of my favorite “classic” craft beer breweries.  Founded back in 1995, they’ve been consistently serving up some of the best Belgian-inspired brews the New England area has to offer.  Picking up the beer was super easy, after ordering from the road the no contact curbside pickup only took a few minutes.  We did, however, linger in the parking for a little bit longer than that to pick up a pair of delicious lobster rolls from the Bite into Maine food truck that frequents the brewery.

My first beer out the gate from them was their iconic Allagash White.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one since it’s been listed here before, but if you’re not familiar with this one do yourself a favor and try it out.  Checking in at 5.2%, this Witbier is easy drinking with light notes of orange peel, coriander, and wheat.  It has been a long time goto of mine, so we picked up a 12 pack to stock the fridge with.  It was definitely a good decision.

Beer number two was North Sky, a new to me 7.5% Belgian stout.  It poured a dark brown/black looking body topped by a thin off-white head.  Taste-wise it offered creamy, light roasted notes throughout with hints of dark fruit sweetness on the finish.  The beer had low carbonation and a super smooth body that made it really easy to sit back with and enjoy both outdoors and in.  I was a big fan of this one and enjoyed a few of these under the stars.

My third and final beer from Allagash was, well, one I’m not ready to share yet.  It’s not something I really need to hype by being all secretive or anything, let’s just say that the time is not yet right.  Before I get to that one, though, I do have one more brewery experience to share at the end of the week.

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Maine Trip – Part One: Definitive Brewing Company, Portland, ME

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Beer, Beer Review, Brewery Visit, Definitive, Maine, New England, Portland

It feels like it’s been ages since my last visit to a new brewery, but here we go again!  To celebrate our 10th Anniversary my wife and I made our way up to Isleboro, Maine last week to socially distance at a guest house on a beautiful seaside estate.  Along the way there and back we stopped off at a few breweries that, combined with some much needed time off, got me back in that blogging feeling.

Our first stop on the way up was along Portland’s legendary Industrial Way, the current (and former) location of many of Maine’s most popular breweries.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and the brewery corridor was pretty active, but fortunately the various establishments and their patrons looked to take distancing and mask wearing seriously.  While we didn’t have time to visit all the breweries clustered together (funny how a child and a pandemic can change your priorities), I did manage to assemble a nice collection of brews to enjoy during our stay on the island.

For today’s post I am going to first report on the new (to me) place we visited, Definitive Brewing Company.  It opened up in 2017 which was a good two-plus years after our last visit to the area but occupied some familiar territory across the street from Allagash Brewing Company.  Though I only purchased beer to go, they did look to have some nice outdoor beneath tents they had set up in the front and rear of the lot.  I side stepped all this, however, for the side pickup window to collect the cans I pre-ordered from the road.

My first taste of the brewery was an 8.3% NEIPA called Particles.  It poured to a hazy, dark yellow body with a fluffy layer of foam across the top and gave some huge tropical aromas on the way into the glass.  Taste wise it offered up some nice tropical and kiwi notes upfront and finished with an assertive, hazy bitterness highlighted by hints of lemon.  Overall it was a solid example of the style that I enjoyed drinking.  I could easily see someone giving this higher lower marks depending upon what they look for in their NEIPAs.

My second brew from them was a 7.2% dessert stout appropriately named Stuffed.  Officially labeled as a double milk stout, the beer was conditioned atop “chocolate sandwich cookies” and certainly drank as such.  It poured thick and in the glass had a black colored body topped by a thin tannish head that was quick to dissipate.  It smelled chocolately and slightly sweet and tasted of thick cream and chocolate upfront, a doughy cookie middle, and a light roasted chocolate finish.  Its medium-plus body carried the big flavors well and managed to not be so thick that it made finishing the beer a chore.  I would definitely recommend this as tasty and satisfying dessert stout, though I really can’t imagine drinking more than one in a sitting.

My third and final brew from Definitive was Bass Reflex, a 7.0% DDH NEIPA hopped with Citra, Cascade, and El Dorado.  It came out of the can to reveal a cloudy pineapple-juice colored body topped by a foamy white head that left distinct lacing on the glass as the beverage went on.  It had some big tropical aromas that carried through to the opening taste before arriving at a hazy, resinous bitterness on the end.  The body was standard for the style and had a pleasant fluffy feeling that I really enjoyed for reasons I can’t fully explain.  I really liked this one and found it very on point for the style.

And that wraps up things for today.  Later on this week I’ll take a quick look at the second brewery we hit up.  Stay healthy my friends!