Portland, ME Guide

[Os]

so what are chances I can get cans at Bissell on Saturday before the Allagash dinner?
and bottles at Oxbow tasting room on Sunday (or that same Saturday if need be)?

also, best spot for lunch?

 

[JBP]

so what are chances I can get cans at Bissell on Saturday before the Allagash dinner?
and bottles at Oxbow tasting room on Sunday (or that same Saturday if need be)?

also, best spot for lunch?

Bissell: guaranteed as long as you get there before or shortly after opening. Wouldn't push it past a couple hours at most though. There will be anywhere from 50-75 people in line at open.

Oxbow: unlikely unless they announce a new release between now and then. Bottles are rare there these days.

 

[JBP]

Lunch is subjective but some obvious choices for me would be:

Duckfat
Nosh
Otto
Pai Men Miyake
Central Provisions

 

[Os]

Lunch is subjective but some obvious choices for me would be:

Duckfat
Nosh
Otto
Pai Men Miyake
Central Provisions

no food at Nova Res?

 

[JBP]

no food at Nova Res?

Some small plates and pub style options. It's perfecty acceptable food if you just want to stay there, but not a food "destination" per se.

 

[Os]

Some small plates and pub style options. It's perfecty acceptable food if you just want to stay there, but not a food "destination" per se.

gotcha... thank you sir!

 

[JBP]

OsLovesBeer (or anyone else) interested in setting up an IP trade that weekend for some Oxbow bottles feel free to PM me. Primarily looking for lambic and barrel-aged wild/sours/saisons.

 

[seedavid]

I posted in the ISO:FT section, but didn't get any replies.

I'm an NJ guy looking for a trade partner to swap Carton cans for Bissell Brothers cans, perhaps in an ongoing type of way. If anybody is interested definitely PM me.

 

[tehzachatak]

New Oxbow bottle called "Crossfade" coming soon.

 

[Brez071]

New Oxbow bottle called "Crossfade" coming soon.

Yeah, saw that on... I wanna say IG. Anyone have info on it?

 

[tehzachatak]

Yeah, saw that on... I wanna say IG. Anyone have info on it?

I have none besides from the same place you saw it!

 

[JakeAustin]

Yeah, saw that on... I wanna say IG. Anyone have info on it?

Brett Saison, but you didn't hear that from me

 

[JBP]

JakeAustin do you think we will see your bourbon barrel sour porter soon? Looking forward to trying it whenever it is ready.

 

[tehzachatak]

Looking forward to trying it whenever it is ready.

Not that I'm saying you're implying otherwise, but this is how I feel about all of JakeAustin's beers!

 

[JakeAustin]

JakeAustin do you think we will see your bourbon barrel sour porter soon? Looking forward to trying it whenever it is ready.

Actually just tasted it yesterday. Tasting real nice, vinous, dark fruit character is quite enjoyable. Nice solid background vanilla notes. Sourness is taking longer than I thought for sure. At this point I would call it a tart porter. Got a couple options to speed things up, or just let it sit all summer in the heat and let the lacto do it's thing.

 

[JBP]

Man I am glad I did not try to go to the Dinner release. Holy **** that line. Absolutely ridiculous. It has gotten more and more crazy each time. W.t.f.

 

[lucas1801]

Man I am glad I did not try to go to the Dinner release. Holy **** that line. Absolutely ridiculous. It has gotten more and more crazy each time. W.t.f.

Glad you sent me a dinner cuz **** that ********. Beer is truly stupid

 

[Phin1]

There`s better things to do than wait in line for an overpriced IPA, such as catch lobsters or drink some beer at Novare.

 

[tehzachatak]

There`s better things to do than wait in line for an overpriced, overrated IPA, such as catch lobsters or drink some beer at Novare almost anything else.

FTFY

 

[CoinStarChange]

Man I am glad I did not try to go to the Dinner release. Holy **** that line. Absolutely ridiculous. It has gotten more and more crazy each time. W.t.f.

**** is bonkers.

 

[JakeAustin]

Not sure if this is appropriate to post here, or if anyone cares: but we'll(Austin Street) have couple cases of our 100% brett IPA for sale on Saturday before the Allagash event. Not sure I'll make a public post or not, but if you come by just ask and we should have a bottle or two available.

 

[tehzachatak]

Not sure if this is appropriate to post here, or if anyone cares: but we'll(Austin Street) have couple cases of our 100% brett IPA for sale on Saturday before the Allagash event. Not sure I'll make a public post or not, but if you come by just ask and we should have a bottle or two available.

Lawnmower gonna last till then?

 

[JakeAustin]

Lawnmower gonna last till then?

Ya Lawn Mower goes on sale at noon that day. It should be around for a couple weeks since we have about 275 bottles. The Brett Loves Hops is officially sold out but I set aside a little for people coming in for the WF event. That's the sort of beer I want to get into the right hands.

 

[tehzachatak]

Ya Lawn Mower goes on sale at noon that day. It should be around for a couple weeks since we have about 275 bottles. The Brett Loves Hops is officially sold out but I set aside a little for people coming in for the WF event. That's the sort of beer I want to get into the right hands.

Oh word, I must have misread, thought Lawnmower was this weekend. Really stoked to try that one. Will have to make sure to make it over early for Brett Loves Hops!

 

[mcwalsh]

Hi all!

I'm taking a trip to Portland this coming weekend. What are the crowds like at Bissell, Austin St. and Foundation on Saturdays? I realize with Memorial Day there will be more tourists (such as myself!) descending upon the area, so it might be hard to predict.

Also, does Allagash usually have bottles that are brewery only?

Thank you!

 

[tehzachatak]

Hi all!

I'm taking a trip to Portland this coming weekend. What are the crowds like at Bissell, Austin St. and Foundation on Saturdays? I realize with Memorial Day there will be more tourists (such as myself!) descending upon the area, so it might be hard to predict.

Also, does Allagash usually have bottles that are brewery only?

Thank you!

Bissell - usually busy, as they usually/always have cans on Saturday. But it's not like a Hill Farmstead kinda wait, or something. Maybe you'll wait in line for 15 min if it's really busy. Foundation has never really been that bad when I've been there, but if they're doing an Epiphany can release maybe it'll be a little nuts as that beer has gotten very popular. Austin Street has never been that bad either.

But the nice part about all four being literally right next to each other (Allagash/Bissell/Foundation/Austin St.) is that the crowds just kinda balance out a little.

Allagash sometimes has brewery only bottles. At this point they almost always have at least one, often two of their small format 375 mL releases. Sometimes they only have ones that have also gone to distribution (e.g., Midnight Brett). Sometimes they have brewery only ones (Coolship series, Farm to Face, etc.). The brewery-only non-coolship beers tend to sell out very fast.

EDIT: Didn't see you said this coming weekend. Last Friday, they still had Coolship Resurgam and Mattina Rossa bottles (and maybe Century Ale as well?) But those have gotta be on their last legs, and I don't think you'll see anything new by this weekend, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

I would recommend trying to make a reservation now if you want to do an Allagash tour (which IMO you should, one of the best brewery tours in the country even if you've seen a billion of them.)

 

[mcwalsh]

Thanks for the helpful response! I don't mind a "short" wait like the one you described at Bissell. It'll be worth it. Eager to check out all three of those guys.

I've done the Allagash tour the last time I was in Portland (before the other three breweries were there) and had a good time. It looks like they're all booked for Memorial Day weekend, so I might just pop in to see what bottles they have. I actually was able to snag a Mattina Rossa at a store here in CT. They only received six! Very lucky.

A different question: I'm going to need a downtown beer bar to watch the Rangers/Lightning playoff game on Sunday night. Is there one you guys can suggest that has more/better TVs for sports than others and still has a nice beer list?

 

[tehzachatak]

Np. Make sure you go grab your flight at Allagash too- the flights have had really good stuff recently, usually a couple special releases/limited releases in each one.

I'm not gonna be very helpful on the beer bar/sports combo... Rivalries is where I have often gone in the past for big sports games but the beer list is not ideal (not terrible).

 

[mcwalsh]

So you don't need to be part of a tour for the Allagash flight? That's pretty sweet! Thanks.

 

[Brez071]

Thanks for the helpful response! I don't mind a "short" wait like the one you described at Bissell. It'll be worth it. Eager to check out all three of those guys.

I've done the Allagash tour the last time I was in Portland (before the other three breweries were there) and had a good time. It looks like they're all booked for Memorial Day weekend, so I might just pop in to see what bottles they have. I actually was able to snag a Mattina Rossa at a store here in CT. They only received six! Very lucky.

A different question: I'm going to need a downtown beer bar to watch the Rangers/Lightning playoff game on Sunday night. Is there one you guys can suggest that has more/better TVs for sports than others and still has a nice beer list?

Nosh is probably your best bet. Good food, good beer and 3 flat screens (if not already on, you can just ask the bar to change to it)

Edit: wanted to add a few more options that likely would have the game on - Thirsty Pig, Little Tap House, Slab