Have you recovered from your St. Patrick’s Day festivities yet? While we tend to drink local, we do fess up to enjoying at least a Guinness or two (or four) yesterday to celebrate this day when we’re all a little Irish. However, now we’re ready to spend the rest of the week enjoying the best of what Maine brewers have to offer.
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
IPAs, IPAs, and more IPAs are on the menu this week, with new releases coming at ya from Ambition Brewing, York Beach Beer Company, Definitive Brewing Company, and Battery Steele Brewing. There’s also a Pale Ale releasing this weekend to benefit a great cause — finding loving homes for senior dogs. Awwwwww!
Thursday, March 18
Ambition Brewing
295 Main St, Wilton
Fore! Bogey Edition, IPA (6%)
Welp, they overshot their beloved session IPA and it came out at a 6% ABV. Oops! The good news is that at Ambition they celebrate mistakes! Thus, this “Bogey Edition” IPA was born.
York Beach Beer Company
33 Railroad Ave, York
Dancing Madly Backwards, IPA (6%)
Dry hopped with Vic Secret and Cashmere, Dancing Madly Backwards features peach and tropical fruit notes (and dare we say a hint of Ginger Rogers?).
Friday, March 19
Definitive Brewing Company
35 Industrial Way, Portland and 318 US Route 1, Kittery
Sunbelt Shake, Double IPA (9%), Behind the Light, American IPA (7.4%) & Euphoric Nights Double Layer Cake, Sour (6.7%)
Sunbelt Shake contains strawberries, bananas, vanilla, and lactose. This 9% beer is a big and desserty Double IPA that tastes just like a classic strawberry banana milkshake. Behind the Light is double dry-hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. This beer tastes and smells like freshly sliced cantaloupe, tropical fruit juice, and FruitStripe™️ bubblegum. Euphoric Nights Double Layer Cake is chock full of passionfruit, raspberry, marshmallow, and vanilla and tastes like a celebration! Available Friday in Portland, Saturday in Kittery.
Saturday, March 20
Battery Steele Brewing
1 Industrial Way Units 12 & 14, Portland
12oz Triple IPA & Abstract Object, Milk Stouts
The brewers at Battery Steele have successfully crammed 16 ounces of flavor into a 12-ounce can. Their new beer, aptly named 12oz Triple IPA combines a rich, velvety mouthfeel with explosive flavors from generous hop additions of Strata, Idaho Gem, and HBC 586. Expect huge notes of strawberry, melon, pineapple, and grapefruit. All three Abstract Object Milk Stout variants will also be joining the Saturday release. If you like Coffee Stouts, Vanilla Stouts, or just a good ol’ Milk Stout, you definitely won’t want to miss out on this release!
Island Dog Brewing
125 John Roberts Rd., Unit 15, South Portland
Silverhound Pale Ale (5%)
Old Dogs New Digs and Island Dog Brewing are teaming up for a very special beer release fundraiser. $10 from every 4-pack of Silverhound Pale Ale sold will be donated directly to Old Dogs New Digs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and displaced senior dogs find loving foster or forever homes. Volunteers from the organization will also be on hand on Saturday from 12-4 p.m. and Sunday from 12-3 p.m. to discuss fostering and adoption options, as well as offering a raffle and other fundraising opportunities.
New Releases
We don’t think it’s a coincidence that a lottttt of Stouts, from Dry Irish Stouts to Imperial Milk Stouts, were released recently, and we are here for it! We’ve also got Pilsners, A Special Bitter, and a Brown Ale benefitting women in brewing to spill the tea on.
Battery Steele Brewing
1 Industrial Way, Units 12 & 14, Portland
Golden Path, Bohemian Pilsner (5%)
Golden Path Bohemian Pilsner combines Czech lager yeast, floor-malted German pilsner malt and a blend of Saaz and Mittelfrüh. The result is a crisp, clean, clear lager that’s ushers in the spring vibes.
Baxter Brewing Co.
120 Mill St., Lewiston
Coastal Haze, Hazy IPA (5.9%) & Muddy Boots, Trail Mix Brown Ale (7%)
There are many things that are distinct to Maine, from our coastline to our people. This isn’t a place where a little haze gets in our way. When the path seems unclear, Mainers always come through. Coastal Haze was brewed for those moments. It’s carefully crafted with a bright citrus aroma to honor the spirit of adventure and the ruggedness of our distinct state.
Muddy Boots is a tale of doing the right thing because it feels right. This trail-inspired Ale was born from the inaugural brew of Baxter’s first president. Originally called Bear Bait, three short years later Baxter had the opportunity to unite the Pink Boots Society, an organization founded and fueled by the education of women in beer, with their newly named female president and the beer was reborn as Muddy Boots — a beer to be enjoyed alongside whatever path you may be headed on.
Flight Deck Brewing
11 Atlantic Ave., Brunswick
Shuckin’ Lucky Black Oyster IPA (7.2%)
Shuckin’ Lucky Black Oyster IPA is brewed with American hops, dark roasted malts and 30 pounds of moondancer oyster shells and has notes of chocolate, citrus, pine, and a subtle briny finish.
Footbridge Brewery
25 Granary Way, Boothbay Harbor
Danny Boy, Dry Irish Stout
Danny Boy is a nitro-charged traditional Dry Irish Stout. It has a smooth silky balanced bodied with gentle toasted notes.
Foundation Brewing Company
1 Industrial Way #5, Portland
Mocha Mocha, Imperial Milk Stout (11%)
Foundation Brewing’s newest Imperial Milk Stout is everything we love about coffeeshop drinks, in beer form. Rich, dark coffee, cacao, and vanilla are cushioned by creamy milk sugar, making Mocha Mocha the definition of tall, dark, and delicious.
Foundation has also created a limited mixed Milk Stout 4-pack, which includes: Double Double an Imperial Milk Stout with coffee and vanilla (11%), the aforementioned Mocha Mocha, Let’s Do Brunch, a French Toast Milk Stout with coffee, vanilla, and cinnamon (6.5%), and Ready, Set, Bake! Raspberry Ganache, an Imperial Milk Stout with raspberry, cocoa, and vanilla (11%).
Liquid Riot Brewing Company
250 Commercial St., Portland
Mocha Stout, Imperial Milk Stout (9%)
Brewed with coffee from Tandem and Ghana cacao nibs from Valrhona, this Mocha Stout is smooth, rich, and creamy.
Lone Pine Brewing
219 Anderson St., Portland & 48 Sanford Dr., Gorham
Slush Punch v2, Imperial Sour Ale (7.5%)
The newest member of the Slush Punch family, Slush Punch v2 is deep orange-gold and opaque in color with no yeast remnants. Brewed with peach, mango, tangerine, and lactose, it possesses clear, expressively tart aromas of subtle tang, peach cobbler, and orange rind. Charmingly sour in flavor upfront, Slush Punch v2 settles into sweet fruit notes, including a dominant orange character that mingles with a subtle mixture of peach and mango.
Mast Landing Brewing Company
920 Main St., Westbrook
Let Go, Imperial Stout (9.2%) & Saturday Morning Yard Sale, Double IPA (8.1%)
Dessert waffles — nature’s gift to those sweet of tooth. When it’s on your plate there’s no way you’ll Let Go, and since a certain yellow boxed breakfast company wouldn’t answer Mast Landing’s calls, they went ahead and made their own liquid dessert waffles. Vanilla beans and maple syrup are the toppings to this luscious Imperial Stout that we think provides the perfect after-dinner treat.
This recent cold spell has the folks at Mast Landing thinking about spring skiing — with all its ups and downs. Together with their pals from Orono Brewing Company they created Saturday Morning Yard Sale, a double IPA with Nelson Sauvin, Strata, and El Dorado, to celebrate all the excitement that can be found on the slopes.
Nonesuch River Brewing
201 Gorham Road, Scarborough
Mixed Berry Seltzer (4.2%)
Mixed Berry Seltzer is full of real fruit flavor and on tap now at Nonesuch.
SoMe Brewing Company
1 York St., #3, York
Morning Whoopie, Coffee Milk Stout (6.3%) & Angry Inch, Dry Irish Stout (4%)
SoMe Brewing used espresso roast coffee from Anthony’s Cafe to create Morning Whoopie, a roasty take on their Whoopie Pie Milk Stout. Brewed every year for St. Patrick’s Day, Angry Inch is their Dry Irish Stout served on Nitro. Slainte!
XOTA Brewing Company
721 Main Street Waterboro
XOTA’s Special Bitter (6.3%)
XOTA’s Special Bitter is an extra-special Bitter with an American twist. XOTA used a combination of American Nugget and American Fuggles to balance out the English floor malted Maris Otter barley. This beer is traditionally served on the warmer side and from a cask, so let this beer warm up a bit to let the flavors shine.
York Beach Beer Company
33 Railroad Ave, York
Extra Long Weekend, Pale Ale (5.7%)
Extra Long Weekend is a deliciously fruity take on York Beach’s Long Weekend Pale Ale, and pushes the pineapple to the extreme.
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.
Island Dog Brewing
125 John Roberts Rd., Unit 15, South Portland
- Captain Tucker, Cream Ale (4.3%)
- Iron Bison, Chocolate Milk Stout (4.2%)
- Berliner Weisse, Sour Ale (4.2%)
- Blueberry Sour (4.8%)
- Toasted Dawg Maple Cream, Imperial Stout (10.8%)
- Unit 15, Saison (6%)
Mast Landing Brewing Company
920 Main St., Westbrook
- The Good Light, Saison (4.7%)
- Make Light, IPA (6.3%)
- Islands, IPA (6.8%)
- Saccarappa, IPA (7%)
- DASH, IPA (7%)
- Everybody/Everywhere, Kolsch (4.8%)
Rising Tide Brewing Company
103 Fox St., Portland
- Zephyr, West Coast India Pale Ale (6.5%)
- Waypoint, Coffee Porter (5%)
- Strata, IPA (6.3%)
- Cherry Squadron, Sour (5.7%)
- Seacrow, Schwarzbier (5.1%)
- Cow Island, Milk Stout (6%)
Maine Beer in the News
Baxter Brewing Brings Back ‘Muddy Boots,’ Honors Women’s History Month
In honor of Women’s History Month, Baxter Brewing Company has just released this year’s batch of Muddy Boots Trail Mix Brown Ale.
Bill to extend cocktails to-go heads for Governor Mills desk
It would extend cocktails to-go until September 2022.
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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