The “big game” has come and gone, and we’ve scrolled through all the memes of The Weeknd trapped in his funhouse mirror room, and voted for our favorite commercials (Will Ferrell’s vendetta with Norway is our pick).
Now it’s time to focus on the next big holiday —Valentine’s Day! We think any of these beers would make the perfect gift for your sweetie. And if beer isn’t their thing, are you really with the right person? We kid…mostly.
Here’s this week’s guide to the latest beer releases, rundowns of what’s on tap, upcoming brewery events, and a roundup of Maine beer news.
Beer This Week is Sponsored by: Tigpro Stainless Fabrication
Tigpro specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of high-quality, custom-built brewing systems, tanks, process piping, and supporting equipment to the brewing industry. With more than a decade of experience, the Tigpro team can design a brewing system to meet your brewery’s unique needs.
Upcoming Releases & Events
If you like your beer tall, dark and strong, then this is going to be your week! We’ve got three Imperial Stout releases to tell you about, as well as a Triple IPA. For fans of more sessionable beers don’t worry, you’re covered too, with single IPAS, a Grisette, a Lager, and more.
Thursday, February 11
Banded Brewing Co.
32 Main St, Bldg. 13-W, Ste 102, Biddeford & 82 Hanover St, Suite 6, Portland
Session Ender, Triple IPA (10.5%)
Session Ender is a huge Triple IPA with a name that’s half-descriptive, half-whimsical. Huge hop additions intermingle with boozy sweetness and full body to create a true tonic of titanic proportions. 2021 Winter Hops include Palisade, HBC 472, Loral, and Mosaic. Loads of citrus fruits on the nose and a fruit cup medley on a background of coconut. Kumquat and key lime pie enter on the first sip and transform to bergamot and pineapple on the finish. Layers of bright fruit, with hints of vanilla and a kiss of warming alcohol.
Blaze Brewing Co.
28 Pearl St., Biddeford
One Way #8, IPA (6.7%) & Secret Field, Grisette (4.6%)
One Way #8 is Blaze Brewing’s newest entry in their constantly evolving IPA series. It was dry-hopped heavily with Amarillo and smells and tastes like peaches, Meyer lemon, and pulpy orange. It’s incredibly refreshing and perfect as a post-shoveling reward.
Secret Field is a Citra dry-hopped Grisette and a brewery favorite. It smells and tastes like creamsicles, mango nectar, and clove. Basically, it’s liquid sunshine.
Friday, February 12
Barreled Souls Brewing Company
11 Mill Brook Road, Saco
Bring Da Ruckus, Imperial Stout (14.7%)
Bring Da Ruckus is aged in Weller 12-year bourbon barrels for one year. No adjuncts, just a powerful and rich bourbon barrel-aged Stout that will hopefully bring da ruckus to your palate. This beer will be released online Friday at 5 p.m., pickups will begin on Saturday at noon.
Definitive Brewing Company
35 Industrial Way, Portland and 318 US Route 1, Kittery
Robin, Imperial Stout (12%)
Robin was inspired by Definitive Brewing co-founder Michael’s mother, Robin. The flavors are reminiscent of her famous “awesome bars,” a five-layer bar featuring graham cracker, coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts, and sweetened condensed milk.
Not only are the flavors and namesake of this brew meaningful, the can design was an important and thoughtful piece of this beer release as well. Each element represented on the can was a part of Robin’s life and is now a part of her legacy among her family and friends. The release will be happening on Robin’s birthday, Friday, February 12 in Portland, and on Saturday in Kittery.
Foundation Brewing Company
1 Industrial Way #5, Portland
Wolfgang, Lager (5.5%)
Foundation Brewing’s newest Lager, Wolfgang, is a nod to Vienna-style Lagers. Dark gold in color, malt forward with notes of bread crust, and a clean finish, this beer is a real treat for Lager lovers. They named it Wolfgang after Vienna’s most famous musician, and as an ode to the city’s unique style.
Saturday, February 13
Lone Pine Brewing
219 Anderson St., Portland & 48 Sanford Dr., Gorham
Cinnamon Toastie, Imperial Stout (8%)
Brewed with Vietnamese cinnamon and vanilla extract, this Imperial Stout delivers delicious aromas of woody cinnamon spice, cocoa powder, sweet maple, and rummy vanilla. Cinnamon Toastie’s flavors of constrained vanilla balanced by cinnamon spice, chicory, and molasses are reminiscent of Cafe Du Monde coffee, finishing in a subtle lingering spice.
Sunday, February 14
Airline Brewing Company
22 Mill Ln., Amherst
Love, Loyalty, Friendship, Claddagh Stout (6%)
This oak-aged chocolate cherry Stout is brewed with love. A dark rich Stout provides a roast malt backbone complemented with sweet maraschino cherries and organic cacao nibs. Smoothly aged on toasted American Oak.
Release Date TBD
Marsh Island Brewing
2 Main St., Orono
Permanent Friend Zone, IPA (7.4%)
This is Marsh Island’s second “fun” collaboration after We’re Just Friends. Look for a little bit bigger beer this time around and with more dank over fruity hops to switch things up a bit.
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New Releases
A lot of this week’s new releases give off vibes of other things we love too, like coffee, a chocolate raspberry torte, and tropical fruit. Stock up for yourself, or share them with someone you love. Your call, we support you either way on the whole sharing thing.
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50 Industrial Way, Portland
Annual Beer Hearts Chocolate Event
This year, the Socially Distanced Edition was designed to send you home with two beer/chocolate pairing options to simulate the tasting room experience as devotedly as possible. Allagash is offering two of their signature, handmade bourbon barrel stave flight racks. Both of these bundles are limited, so snag them today here!
Date Night Sampler:
Heart of Hearts 375ml + 2 small 10oz chalices + 4 assorted chocolates from Havens (Coffee Caramel, Raspberry Meltaway, Hazelnut Truffle, Sea Salt Caramel) $28
At-Home Chocolate Pairing Experience:
Two tasting flight staves + 8 tasting glasses, mixed 4-pack, 8 assorted chocolates from Havens with pairing notes (Coffee Caramel w/ Barrel and Bean, Raspberry Meltaway w/ North Sky, Hazelnut Truffle w/ From Maine with Love #01, Sea Salt Caramel w/ Curieux) $75
Bissell Brothers Brewing
38 Resurgam Place, Portland
First Crack, Coffee Stout (7.5%)
First Crack is brewed with coffee from Element Coffee Roasters, Maine maple syrup, and a dash of lactose sugar. A comforting blend of morning and evening with notes of maple candy, coffee syrup, and hazelnut — arriving just in time to warm your bones for the cold nights ahead.
Bunker Brewing Co.
17 Westfield Street, Unit D, Portland
Happy Village, Tavern Style Lager (4.2%)
This freshly canned, packaging-fresh collaboration with Interboro NYC is a tribute to Lagers our dads drank and dive bars of yore. It’s brewed with corn and rice and is lightly hopped with German Northern Brewer.
Foundation Brewing Company
1 Industrial Way #5, Portland
Pretty Prisms, Double IPA (8%) & Ready, Set, Bake! Raspberry Ganache, Imperial Milk Stout (11%)
Pretty Prisms is here to bring some color and fun to your day! This Double IPA was hopped with Lotus, Galaxy, and Centennial. A rainbow of flavors from ripe melon to juicy grape sparkle and dance across the palate, flashing memories of mom’s fruit salad on a warm summer day.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, meet your new sweetheart – Ready, Set, Bake! Raspberry Ganache! This Imperial Milk Stout was made with cocoa, raspberry, vanilla, and milk sugar for a beery take on the chocolate raspberry torte. Rich, luxurious, and with an 11% ABV, it’s got a major leg up on the traditional box of chocolates or conversation hearts.
Geary Brewing Co.
38 Evergreen Dr., Portland
Irish Red Ale (6%)
Irish Red Ale is a classic representation of the Irish Red export ales that is popular in pubs, taverns, and inns all across the British Isles. True to style, this Red Ale features a biscuity and sweet caramel body and nose with just the right amount of roasted malt character lending to the red color and pleasing, slightly dry finish. Easy drinking, smooth, with a pleasant, dry finish.
Liquid Riot Bottling Company
250 Commercial St., Portland
Raspy Trouble, Sour Brown Ale (7.5%)
Liquid Riot is canning Raspy Trouble for the first time in four years! This Sour Brown Ale aged on raspberries has a sour tartness meets chocolate and dark fruit finish.
Mast Landing Brewing Company
920 Main St., Westbrook
Digital Paradise, IPA (8%) & Islands, IPA (6.8%)
Digital Paradise, a Triple Dry Hopped IPA, is the perfect escape — a paradise of Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops that requires no travel. Digital Paradise pushes dry hopping to the triple to pack a massive flavor punch into a modestly ABV-ed beer.
Islands is a clean and bright Double Dry Hopped IPA that will mentally transport you offshore. Brewed with Azacca, Centennial, and Simcoe hops for a refreshing, tropical flavor profile.
Nonesuch River Brewing
201 Gorham Road, Scarborough
DDH Double Pivot, DIPA (8%)
DDH Double Pivot is Nonesuch River’s first Double NEIPA and it is hazy, chock full of citrus, and with big juicy flavors. The Double Dry Hopped adds an abundance of aroma yumminess. At 8% ABV, this beer will get you where you are going and what a smooth ride it will be.
Sebago Brewing Co.
616 Main St., Gorham
No Comply, IPA (7.2%)
No Comply is a West Coast-style IPA, canned for the first time to honor Mike “Heavy Metal Cripple” Norton, a longtime Sebago Brewing friend who passed away in 2020. This is one of Sebago’s highest-hopped beers ever, using about five pounds of hops per barrel of beer. That’s more than three times the amount that goes into Sebago’s Frye’s Leap IPA!
Side By Each Brewing Co.
1110 Minot Ave., Auburn
Rare Triple Belgian Tripel, (10.6%) & Fruit Loopholes Orange Mango Sour (4.7%)
Rare Triple Belgian Tripel is bready and aromatic, with fruity and peppery notes from a distinctive French yeast. Just enough European hop character balances the soft Belgian malt character. Strong, but dangerously drinkable.
Mango and blood orange lend their tropical and citrus character to Fruit Loopholes Orange Mango Sour, a clean, tart, light sour.
On Draft
Help support local breweries while sampling these flagship beers and rising stars. Here’s a taste of what you’ll be able to enjoy at select breweries this week.
Baxter Brewing Co.
120 Mill St., Lewiston
- Logger Road, Lager (3.9%)
- Stowaway IPA (6.9%)
- Couple More Miles, IPA (5.9%)
- Ted’s Red, Red IPA (6.5%)
- Coffee Dunkel, Lager (6%)
- Pink Fruits for Pink Boots, IPA (6.9%)
Lone Pine Brewing
219 Anderson St., Portland
- Sapphire Unicorn, Double IPA (7.8%)
- Portland Pale Ale (5.2%)
- World’s Best Boss, Stout (7.7%)
- Tuxedo T-Shirt Cannon, IPA (7.7%)
- Holy Donut Dark Chocolate Toasted Coconut, Imperial Stout (10.5%)
- Choco Tuesday, Pastry Stout (8%)
Norway Brewing Company
237 Main St., Norway
- Stoneheart, Farmhouse Ale (6.5%)
- Maine State of Mind, Pilsner (4.5%)
- Impersonator, Pilsner (5.9%)
- Rye’d & Terpy, IPA (6.3%)
- Inglorious Bastard, Farmhouse Ale (6%)
- Scandi Land, IPA (6%)
Maine Beer in the News
A new arcade bar is opening, the Maine Brewers’ Guild is working to help ensure Maine brewery employees, and Maine Beer Company is recognized for its commitment to good beer and sustainability. Speaking of Maine Beer Company, we heard that they are brewing their 600th batch of Lunch TODAY! The first-ever batch was brewed in March 2011, almost exactly 10 years ago. Cheers, Maine Beer!
Local companies taste success with Good Food Awards
Maine Beer Company and Ragged Coast Chocolates have been recognized for their exceptional attention to sustainability and the quality of their winning products.
Maine Brewers’ Guild seeks benefits provider for members
The Maine Brewers’ Guild is in the market for a health and dental benefits provider for 1,500 people who are employed at its members throughout the state.
Drip City Arcade Bar Opens in Waterville
With all of the business closings we have seen over the last 12 months, it is always great to see the opening of a new business.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Maine Beer This Week! If you own a brewery or other beer business and would like to be featured in upcoming issues, please email us to learn more.
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