V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
MOL, I find Lagunitas very overrated (GASP, BLASPHEMY!).
Went to Maine with my girlfriend this weekend for a cheesemaking class at a small family-owned creamery in Cumberland. Ended up going to Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell (aka the place voted as "best beer bar in the world" many times over who has a really good relationship with many Belgian brewers such as De Struise et al) with her aunt and cousin... service was initially horrible but once we were taken care of and felt accommodated it was much better.
Had an Italian gose and a new beer made by the Lively Brewing Co. (aka Ebenezer's co-owners' own new brewing venture out of Brunswick, ME) which was called "Hoppy Bogart". It was a 4.5% session IPA with a twist... it was fermented entirely with French farmhouse ale yeast for a weirdly "bier de garde"-esque farmy and rustic back-end. Super interesting, very hoppy and nuanced on top of the light funk and chewiness from the yeast... loved it. My bacon cheeseburger was crazy good too (two thick hunks of local sharp cheddar instead of boring cheese slices, ftw!). Overall, was satisfied, but I'll go in and get bar service next time instead of going with a party because the wait was horrendously long (like 20 minutes for someone to come notice us, blah).
Later that night Ashley and I struck out alone to a place called Bray's in Naples where we were staying with her aunt for the night. One of the best bars I've been to in quite some time... eclectic and interesting taplist, but I was interested in what wasn't on the list, namely a tap-handle for Founders with a small post-it reading "BOLT CUTTER"! So I asked for a glass of that, and the bartender assured me "that ain't no normal Founders", to which I responded "I'm familiar, I'll take it." After finishing that (and after Ashley finished her Blithering Idiot by Weyerbacher), I spied a few bottles of Founders KBS on the top shelf of the bottle fridge in my peripheral. $10 a bottle, but sooooo worth it... what a fantastically lush, intense and smooth brew. My second time having it and I can't say enough good things. So, overall, I had a great time
Went to Maine with my girlfriend this weekend for a cheesemaking class at a small family-owned creamery in Cumberland. Ended up going to Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell (aka the place voted as "best beer bar in the world" many times over who has a really good relationship with many Belgian brewers such as De Struise et al) with her aunt and cousin... service was initially horrible but once we were taken care of and felt accommodated it was much better.
Had an Italian gose and a new beer made by the Lively Brewing Co. (aka Ebenezer's co-owners' own new brewing venture out of Brunswick, ME) which was called "Hoppy Bogart". It was a 4.5% session IPA with a twist... it was fermented entirely with French farmhouse ale yeast for a weirdly "bier de garde"-esque farmy and rustic back-end. Super interesting, very hoppy and nuanced on top of the light funk and chewiness from the yeast... loved it. My bacon cheeseburger was crazy good too (two thick hunks of local sharp cheddar instead of boring cheese slices, ftw!). Overall, was satisfied, but I'll go in and get bar service next time instead of going with a party because the wait was horrendously long (like 20 minutes for someone to come notice us, blah).
Later that night Ashley and I struck out alone to a place called Bray's in Naples where we were staying with her aunt for the night. One of the best bars I've been to in quite some time... eclectic and interesting taplist, but I was interested in what wasn't on the list, namely a tap-handle for Founders with a small post-it reading "BOLT CUTTER"! So I asked for a glass of that, and the bartender assured me "that ain't no normal Founders", to which I responded "I'm familiar, I'll take it." After finishing that (and after Ashley finished her Blithering Idiot by Weyerbacher), I spied a few bottles of Founders KBS on the top shelf of the bottle fridge in my peripheral. $10 a bottle, but sooooo worth it... what a fantastically lush, intense and smooth brew. My second time having it and I can't say enough good things. So, overall, I had a great time
I like Lagunitas quite a bit. Generally their bombers are more reasonably priced than most for comparable beers. Hairy Eyeball, Brown Sugga, Gnarleywine, Shutdown ale, etc, are all solid IMO, and NightTime was one of the best american black ales I've had.
