Beer Maine-iac

I’ve expressed my love for Allagash Gargamel before and said I’d let you know when it was released after I secured my stash.  Sure enough, the limited release was Thursday, May 7^th, at the brewery in Maine.  I wasn’t able to get up there until Friday but heard about some beer aficionados driving all night to camp out at the brewery as early as 3am in order to get their share.  I also heard many of those beer geeks (I use the term lovingly!) tried bribing the UPS driver, local bums, anyone who would spend a few minutes to help them secure more than the 2 bottles per person max.  I called on some twelfth cousins 11 times removed or whoever and have locked up my supply of Gargamels in a vault at an undisclosed location.  Ok, ok, it’s my basement.  And I know a few of you would trade your left nut, your first born, your first born’s left nut, but I’ve got plans for mine!  The blend was changed slightly since I first tried it at the Extreme Beer Fest, but it’s so balanced and tasty.  We’ll see how well it ages.

I also took a tour of Allagash, which is much larger than I originally thought.  In keeping with the environmentally conscious behavior Portland, Maine is known for, the entire (bright blue) building is 100% wind-powered.  An interesting tidbit from the tour was when Rob was trying to come up with a name for the brewery, he chose Allagash from a list of various suggestions because he liked the way it sounded, and someone remarked “after the river in Maine, right?”  Rob, a native of Massachusetts replied “oh yeah, that’s the reason…”

Allagash’s new cool ship (“koelship”) is stored in a specially designed “shed” outside the large building hosting the brewing operations.  The cool ship will be used for brewing 100% spontaneously fermented beers in the tradition of the Belgian Lambics.  After the mash and hops are boiled, the hot wort is pumped to a cool ship (a large, open tray) instead of being cooled in a sterile environment with a brewer’s yeast culture added.  The hot wort remains in the cool ship overnight cooling down to around 60 degrees Farenheit.  Windows are left open in the room where the cool ship is located allowing the cool Maine air with natural bacteria and wild yeast to cool the wort.  These natural yeasts and bacteria will ferment the beer rather than the yeast added by the brewer.  The wort is pumped back into a brewery tank a day later.  Spontaneous fermentation will begin in the barrels within one to three weeks and the beer will be fermented at least a year, possibly with the addition of fruits, before it is bottled.

Highlight of the Allagash tour- the “mandatory” tasting beforehand!  We went through six of their classic Allagash brews before Kate corked open a couple of Gargamel to indulge us.  The samples are decent sized (about 2 ounces on this day) and served in nice Allagash glasses instead of the occasional plastic Dixie cups some brewers try to use.

Just an hour away from Allagash, I finally got a chance to visit Ebenezer’s Pub, often noted as the best beer drinking bar in the America and one of the top in the world.  What a selection!  It’s so unbelievable that in this tiny little town, this is one of the few choices locals have for food and drink.  And unbeknownst to them, they are sitting amongst some of the finest and rarest Belgian Ales ever offered.  I even spotted a few I’ve never seen, and having drank my way through Belgium, including stops at Kulminator and t’Brugs Beertje, I’m pretty acquainted with many hard to find Belgian beers.  Ebenezers serves 5 ounce samples of either 5 or 15 beers, paddle style. My sampler included Abbey de Forest, Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout, Balthazar, Het Kappitel Abt, and Bier du Boucanier Red. They were all pretty interesting though I wasn’t really a fan of the ginger, coriander, and cardamom in the Balthazar. I also cracked a bottle of Fantome Strange Ghost, a kitchen sink of spices, T’smisje Catherine the Great Imperial Stout (smells like little babies and tastes like rainbows- OK, I have no idea but it was good), and La Moneuse Saison, a crisp, well-balanced farmhouse ale with a little hop.

This was also the weekend the Struise brewers were out visiting Ebenezers’ Chris Lively to go through some final details before opening the Pannepot Café in Brunswick this June, a collaboration between Struise and Lively.  The pub will offer over 300 bottle-conditioned ales and 30 taps in addition to Belgian-inspired food.  The website is still a work in progress but you can be sure I’ll keep checking to see when opens so I can make it up there.

If you do venture out into literally smack dab in the middle of nowhere Maine, the Old Saco B&B is located minutes from Ebenezer’s and has a great reciprocal relationship. If you find yourself imbibing a little more than would be safe to drive, an Ebenezer’s employee will take you back to Old Saco and after your delicious (included) breakfast in the morning, someone from Old Saco will haul your hungover ass back to pick up your car.  That’s my idea of a good time!