More Belgian Touring

In Brunswick, Maine this time. At the Lion's Pride. What a wonderful beer experience!

Saturday Beer Plan

Visited Belgium by way of Canada. Started with the Fin du Monde, the terrific Tripel from Unibroue. After confirming that the Monde was not finis, followed up with a Belgian strong ale--the Maudite. Damned! It was good. Then had the Arrogant Bastard. The West Coast Bastard topped the Unibroue, in my opinion.

There was an interlude after that, an interlude that included other beer. As a result, I can't really comment on the Saison other than to confirm it was consumed.

2$ Tuesdays

Yeah, I know it's Friday--I been busy, ok?

The Port City Music Hall is a beautiful venue that features some terrific music: local, regional, and beyond. Read about it in more detail here.

Beyond the music, though, they have a great deal on Tuesday nights: pay the 2$ cover and all their draft beers are $2. And they have some great beer. Like the Victory Hop Devil (the tap is pictured here with a pleasantly surprised and moderately buzzed beer locavorian, who, at least on this evening, included Downington, Pa as local, provided that it was poured locally. And it was.)

Our Little Jewel of a Beer City By the Sea...

....gets some nice (and appropriate) recognition in the Atlantic. You can read about it here.

Not to be picky, but Geary's seems slighted. At least they had a recent glowing review for their HSA in the prestigious Beer Locavore!

My Go To Beer

Malty, hoppy, goodness. Consistently pleasing. And, frequently available. They might even have it at the fucking Thatchers (ok, that's a stretch--you're probably in Harpoon IPA land there).

For a different take on the old stand-by the GLB has the HSA on cask now. It's great. Frothy malty hoppy smooth good stuff. But the rest of the extensive menu at the GLB can prove distracting. I wandered in yesterday and had a cask conditioned HSA. It was great, but then I found myself wandering in Yellow Snow.

I need to figure out a go to food for those times when I'm with a group and appetizers are being ordered and I'm so hungry I could eat at the Thatchers. What's the secret? Do I special order? Ask them not to deep fry the quesadilla? Why is everything deep-fried and covered with cheese, anyway?

Local Taverns

George's Tavern had a long history as a classic working class bar. Its successor, Awful Annie's, was just plain awful. The current occupants of the same location (a third of the way up Munjoy hill), the bar soon to be known as Mama's Crowbar, is well worth the trip. Here's why: a small, esoteric, terrific draft beer selection supplemented by a tremendous offering of bottled beers. A trip there earlier this week found the 4 taps filled with the Allagash Black; Rogue Yellow Snow; their signature beer, Allagash Curieux (yellow); and, straying from the color scheme, Anchor Steam, one of the world's great session beers.

If I still lived on the hill I'd be a regular. As it is, the Crowbar is worth the trek from the West End. The 5 K roundtrip hike is probably just what I need to walk off the black and yellow.

There's live music and lively discussion and beer (nothing else to drink except maybe cider). There's a restroom. And a piano. They could probably rustle up a bag of chips if you asked politely. It's cash only. And it's a nice addition to the Portland bar scene.

Problems in Belgium

InBev, the Belgium-based, Brazilian-funded multinational corporation that owns, among other brands, Anheuser-Busch, reported quarterly profits of $1.55 Billion in their most recent earnings announcement. That's Billion, with a "B". Not good enough for the greedy suits, though, so they've announced plans to shitcan many of the people who make the beer. The people who make the beer are pissed off about this, and have protested by giving the beer away (free is an appropriate price for Budweiser), among other acts. You can read about it here.