Prost! International Tap House is now open!

Prost! is open! I was driving by yesterday and was kind of shocked to see people going inside. I guess they had a "soft opening" (industry term for a bunch of people getting drunk) on Friday night.

I paid Prost! a visit because I really wanted to see how they crammed those 100 taps behind their relatively small bar. Oh, and I also wanted to see what they had on tap, how much beer costs and if the staff actually had to wear Oktoberfest-ey costumes.

Prost! had 70 or so of their 100 beer lines up and running. I was told that their "soft opening" killed quite a few kegs. The place is nice inside and pretty cozy. Lots of shiny new wood and LOTS of shiny new taphandles! They had quite a few Belgians on tap which I found surprising and they had NO Miller, Coors or Bud on tap. That REALLY surprised me. Oh and yes, the staff were in costume.

I had a Chambly Noire from Unibroue up in Quebec. They had three of their beers on tap. Prices for the most part are decent, some are higher and some are lower than Novare Res and GLB. A couple of surprises were Weyerbacher Hops Infusion and Aventinus. Overall they have a shit ton of beer on tap and everything is fresh right now. 

My only complaint is that the place doesn't have much personality (yet?). It seems like the owners didn't show a lot of love when they re-did the place, but more just wanted to open a bar with a slightly gimmicky German theme with more beers on tap than any other bar in Maine. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice and new but it just lacks a certain persona that the GLB and Novare Res both have. But what it lacks in character it does make up with selection. Lets hope quality AND quantity go together at Prost! for a long time to come.

Novare Res Opens Today at 4pm!

The taps will start flowing at 4pm today! Don't miss your chance to say that you had one of the first beers ever poured at what should be a great beer bar here in Portland. If you can't make it down today, Friday will be the grand opening. Cheers!

Novare Res will open on Wednesday, May 21st

Wednesday, May 21st will mark the day that the Old Port here in Portland will finally have a bar that takes its beer seriously...very seriously.

Thats right, its official. Novare Res will begin pouring at 4pm on Wednesday with a Grand Opening on Friday the 23rd.

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Clear your calendars and start thinking of excuses to get out of work early on Wednesday.

Big A has landed in Maine!

Picked up two bottles today at Whole Foods in Portland. I've also heard that Downeast has it in stock now as well. I've waited a long time for this year's release. Hops shortage, schmops shortage!

To read the brewer's notes about this monster of an IPA go HERE!

Cadillac Mountain Stout now in six-packs

Its true. The world famous Cadillac Mountain Stout is now available in six-packs. Its also being contract brewed by Geary's in Portland. My guess is that you can plan on seeing a whole lot more of it around than you used to (as compared to not that long ago when it was only available in bombers).

With the change in packaging also comes a bit of a tweak with the recipe since the original yeast and water are not being used over at the Geary's brewery. I am not sure how much different its going to taste. I'll need to go and find a bomber and pick up a six and do a taste testing. 

Also now available in sixers are Thunderhole Ale and Harbor Lighthouse Ale.
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New owner, new location, new look, new website coming, what will it mean for Bar Harbor Brewing Company? Only time (and taste) will tell...

North Coast is now in Maine!

Welcome to Maine!

Pretty exciting news for those of us living in Maine! Check the local shelves and coolers and you'll see that North Coast's beers are now being distributed here in the Pine Tree State.

If you haven't had a chance to try any of these beers from Fort Bragg, California than you are in for a treat, they are all good.

Now, you no longer need to leave the state to get:

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SIX PACKS

Red Seal Ale - a nice, easy drinking, hoppy pale ale.

Old #38 Stout

Blue Star - wheat beer

Scrimshaw Pilsner

Acme Pale Ale

Acme IPA

FOUR PACKS

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout - effing awesome!

Pranqster - Belgian-style ale

Old Stock Ale - 12.5% strong ale

Cru D'Or - Organic Belgian Dubbel (at Whole Foods)
Old Plowshare - Organic Stout (at Whole Foods)

BIG BOTTLES

Brother Thelonious - Belgian Style Abbey Ale

Le Merle - a saison

Rye PA on tap at Gritty's in Portland

Ben Low’s Rye PA went on tap this past Monday. It will only be around for a brief period of time before this special seven barrel batch is kicked. Make sure to stop by and give it a try!
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From the Gritty’s site:

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Brewer Ben Low’s latest small batch creation is Rye PA, a strong, deep amber ale made with 12% rye malt for a truly unique flavor.

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Here’s what Ben has to say about it:

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“It’s got about 12% Rye Malt, which should give a really distinctive flavor. I’m expecting some pepper-like spiciness. It’s a pretty strong beer, finishing up somewhere around 6.3% ABV. It’s also a fairly hoppy beer, with a lot more late-addition aroma hops than we usually use. The aroma hops are Cascade and Saaz (the Cascade is to give it some American IPA flavor, the Saaz to complement the spiciness of the rye). It will also be dry-hopped in the conditioning tank with Cascade and Saaz.”
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Check out Ben's brewer's blog HERE!

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Maine Beer Writers' Guild formed

Three of us that write/blog about beer here in Maine got together last week and established the Maine Beer Writers' Guild.

The Maine Beer Writers' Guild will give beer writers here a chance to meet, drink some good beer and discuss items of importance (i.e. beer).

The Guild's goals are to promote better beer writing and celebrate Maine's craft brew culture. Membership is open to any writer of beer-related content (electronic or print) who resides in Maine.

If you're interested go HERE!

Its nice that this news corresponds with what will be my 100th post on Beer, Maine & Me. I always like to celebrate a milestone with good things (see Harvest Ale) and this is definitely a good thing.

Current Maine Beer Writers' Guild Members:

Beer, Maine & Me

Blog About Beer

BeerBloggers

Think Beer

Chris Sweet - Writer for Ale Street News

Sean Sweeney - Writer for Yankee Brew News

Portland Beer Bars Update v.3.0

One more update...

Novare Res Bier Café - (188 Middle St.)

Open and awesome.

Prost! International Taphouse - (446 Fore St.)

Open, go HERE!

Pannepot Café 

It appears that this project is on hold. I don't know anything more at this time. Pray to the Belgian Beer Gods that this happens sometime in the future...

Saco Brewpub no longer an "if" but a "when"

Quite some time ago I heard about a new brewpub opening in Saco on re-developed Brick Island. At first I heard it was to be up and running by January 2008 and then by mid-February. After not hearing much of anything for quite some time I sort of gave up on the idea and figured it had fallen through. I was disappointed but thats the way the world of brewpubs seems to work, sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't. 

Recently, however, I picked up the February/March issue of Yankee Brew News and there on the cover was an article by Sean Sweeney called "Missionary Man" that brought back my faith in the Saco brew pub.

I was very happy to read that Geoff Houghton, owner of the Liberal Cup in Hallowell, will be responsible for the ownership of the Saco brewpub and Nate Duston (head brewer from the recently bought out Casco Bay Brewery as well as longtime employee at the famous BridgePort Brewing Co. out in Oregon) will be the head brewer. This means not only new beer for Maine but it also means new good beer! 

If you haven't made it to the Liberal Cup go check it out. Geoff has some great beers and there is always something new on tap (its also home to one hell of a great turkey sandwich)! It really is a great little place with very comfortable pub feel to it!

 

The Liberal Cup in Hallowell

The Saco brewpub is now slated to open in "mid-2008" and my hope is that it will resemble the Liberal Cup in as many ways as possible! Mid-2008 also means summertime so lets hope they have some outdoor seating planned as well!

Best of luck Geoff and Nate! We all look forward to the fruits of your labors!!! 

Pannepot Cafe to open in Portland this April...let the countdown begin!

UPDATED HERE!