Latest news with #SteveGreenlee
Boston Globe
16-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
13 great under-the-radar Maine breweries
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But there are many others worth hitting. With more than 150 breweries in operation, Maine has more per capita than any other state save Vermont (the two states keep trading spots). Advertisement Here are 13 less prominent Maine breweries that are off the beaten path yet stand out in an increasingly crowded beer scene here. Banded Brewing's large tap room in the rehabbed Pepperell Mill complex is a jolly place. Steve Greenlee Banded Brewing Co. Banded Brewing's large tap room in the rehabbed Pepperell Mill complex is a jolly place. The place was packed on a recent Saturday afternoon with couples and groups of friends gathered at picnic tables and high-top tables, in plain view of the fermenting tanks in an adjoining, open-concept room. The beer is top-notch, from the IPAs to the stouts and lagers. Advertisement Try: Jolly Woodsman, a rich and creamy stout brewed with Kenyan coffee from Portland's Speckled Ax roasters. 32 Main St., Building 13W, Biddeford Barreled Souls is literally in a cellar – appropriate, since the brewery specializes in barrel-aged beers. Steve Greenlee Barreled Souls Brewing Maine's most daring brewery, Barreled Souls is literally in a cellar – appropriate, since the brewery specializes in barrel-aged beers. The cozy room sits beneath an old house. Lounge in a chair made from an old barrel while you sip on a gose, sour, IPA or one of their extra-special concoctions – a stout aged in rye whiskey barrels or a barleywine aged in barrels that had contained St. Elmo Old Fashioned. Try: Tequila-Finished Templeton Rye Inner Space, an imperial stout aged in barrels that had held both bourbon, tequila and rye whiskey. Complex beyond belief and nearly 15% alcohol. 743 Portland Road, Saco Cushnoc makes superior IPAs, robust dark beers, complex wild ales. Steve Greenlee Cushnoc Brewing Co. Cushnoc keeps growing and has four spaces now: A pizza pub in downtown Augusta; a tasting cellar and deck out back on the Kennebec River for private events; an annex brewery and tasting room 6 miles east; and a brand-new Mexican cantina in Waterville. Cushnoc makes superior IPAs, robust dark beers, complex wild ales and more – not to mention extraordinarily good pizza. The tasting room at the annex is literally in the brewery – picnic tables and high tops sit cheek by jowl with the fermentation tanks. Try: Lawyer Up, a viscous Baltic porter infused with Ethiopian Sidamo coffee beans. 3044 North Belfast Ave., Augusta Flight Deck has one of the liveliest tasting rooms in Maine. Steve Greenlee Flight Deck Brewing Situated in a former firing range on the old Brunswick Naval Air Station, Flight Deck has one of the liveliest tasting rooms in Maine, with a sprawling lawn dotted with picnic tables, Adirondacks and cornhole boards. The brewery also serves some of the region's most creative wood-fired pizza. Downeast magazine's annual readers poll regularly names Flight Deck the best tasting room in Maine. A wide range of beers are available, but Flight Deck excels at the lighter lagers and ales. (Disclosure: My band Sons of Quint has played at Flight Deck many times.) Advertisement Try: Pre-Flight Czech, a crisp, light and refreshing pilsner that's perfect on a hot summer afternoon. 11 Atlantic Ave., Brunswick Grateful Grain could easily be overlooked. It shouldn't be. Steve Greenlee Grateful Grain Brewing Co. Housed in an unassuming cabin on a rural stretch of Route 9 between Lewiston and Augusta, Grateful Grain could easily be overlooked. It shouldn't be. Its flagship IPA, The Experience, is a great representation of the New England IPA style, and the brewery routinely trots out interesting brews such as a smoked maple porter, an imperial red ale and several stouts. This place feels like a neighborhood watering hole, and it is. Try: The Experience, a hazy and pungent IPA dry-hopped with citra and simcoe, giving it a juicy and grassy flavor profile. 26 Route 126, Monmouth Mast Landing Brewing Co. Mast Landing has two locations, and they're each worth a visit. The Westbrook tasting room is adorned with local artwork (for sale) and full of board games and cards; the huge Freeport room can get noisy, but the wonderful backyard beer garden is a great option on warm days. The tap list is huge – there are always more than a dozen beers on tap, and they're all superior. Try: Gunner's Daughter, a smooth and silky peanut butter milk stout. 920 Main St., Westbrook, and 200 Lower Main St., Freeport Advertisement Norway Brewing Co. Located in the funky little town of Norway, this brewery and pub is a popular local gathering spot where the food is as good as the beer. Drink in the inviting dining room or out back on a wooden bench under twinkle lights. There are around 10 beers on tap, and they run the gamut from IPAs to stouts to Belgian saisons. Try: Triple Stack, a strong farmhouse ale that tastes like a cross between a saison and a tripel. 237 Main St., Norway Orono Brewing Co. Just down the road from the University of Maine yet tucked away from the main drag, Orono Brewing's outdoor beer garden is a welcoming spot with a range of styles on tap and an interesting food menu that includes a truffle mushroom burger and blueberry fried chicken. OBC, as locals call it, makes some of Maine's best beer. Try: Tubular, a heavily dry-hopped IPA that bursts with notes of oranges and papayas, and Totally Tubular, the imperial version. 42 Alewife Run, Orono Oxbow Brewing Co. A farmhouse brewery that specializes in saisons and wild ales, Oxbow gives you three distinctive locations. There's the tiny cabin in the woods of Newcastle where it started, but they keep only three or four beers on tap there. There's the enormous beer garden with a dozen or so beers on tap in a 200-year-old barn in Oxford. And there's the 'blending and bottling' room on Portland's bohemian Washington Avenue, also with about a dozen beers on tap. Forced to choose, I'm heading to Oxford. Try: Liquid Swords, a barrel-aged blend of farmhouse ales that Oxbow considers its grand cru – for good reason. Advertisement 420 Main St., Oxford Sacred Profane Sacred Profane makes only two beers – a light lager and a dark lager. They're both only 4% alcohol yet robust and full of flavor. The food at their spot in downtown Biddeford – which is always hopping – is as good as the beer. Other breweries' beers are available there, but why would you want to order them? Try: Pale Lager and Dark Lager – they're both exemplars of their styles, and because they're so low in alcohol you can have both. 50 Washington St., Biddeford Sidereal makes British beers, Czech lagers, barrel-aged wild ales, sours, ciders, meads, wines and hybrids. Steve Greenlee Sidereal Farm Brewery Situated on a farm in a bucolic setting, Sidereal Farm Brewing sets high standards for itself, with a yeast lab on site and a Belgian-style open-fermentation coolship modeled after the one at Allagash Brewing Co. This small brewery makes a stunningly large range of brews: British beers, Czech lagers, barrel-aged wild ales, sours, ciders, meads, wines and hybrids. Their attention to detail is evident in every beer they make here. Try: Nice to Meerts You, an oak-aged coolship ale that is at once tart and fruity. 772 Cross Hill Road, Vassalboro Tucked away from the bustle of the Kittery outlets, Tributary has a small but inviting tasting room. Steve Greenlee Tributary Brewing Co. Maine's southernmost brewery is also one of its best. That's because it was started by Tod Mott, the former brewmaster across the river in New Hampshire who created Portsmouth Brewing Co.'s legendary Russian imperial stout, Kate the Great. His son, Woody, is now the head brewer at Tributary, and the high Mott standards carry on. Tucked away from the bustle of the Kittery outlets, Tributary has a small but inviting tasting room where you can sip anything from pale ales to a baltic porter or Belgian ale while your friends go shopping. Advertisement Try: Biere de Miel, a saison brewed with honey and inspired by those originating in the Provence region of France. 10 Shapleigh Road, Kittery Trinken specializes in German beers and makes them all to perfection. Steve Greenlee Trinken Brewing Co. Trinken specializes in German beers – hefeweizen, dunkel, schwarzbier, kolsch, weizenbock – and makes them all to perfection. They do offer IPAs (of course), and they're very good, but you can get those anywhere. Locals frequent the cozy tap room and meet up for open-mic events while sipping beer styles not commonly offered by microbreweries. In warmer weather, bands play while crowds gather on local picnic tables. Try: Silversterpfad, a flavorful and slightly bitter Vienna Lager that holds up well against – and maybe outdoes – the famous one with Samuel Adams on the label. 144 State Road, West Bath Steve Greenlee is a journalism professor at Boston University. He can be reached at greenlee@
Boston Globe
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A guide to Rhode Island's 7 best breweries
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A craft beer enthusiast could easily spend a long weekend in Rhode Island and drink nothing but outstanding local brews. To help you choose, here is a guide to seven of the best. Advertisement Screaming in the Woods Vol. 1, a roggenbier, or German rye beer, at Buttonwoods. Steve Greenlee Buttonwoods Brewery You'll often find owner and head brewer Morgan Snyder hanging around, inconspicuously pulling tap handles on the 14 or so beers he keeps on tap. While a lot of breweries devote half or more of their taps to IPAs these days, Buttonwoods keeps the mix lively — a Belgian witbier, a dark mild English ale, an Italian pilsner. I was pleasantly shocked to find a roggenbier (when was the last time you had a German rye beer?) on tap recently. Advertisement Try: Hip Hop Is Dead, a perfectly cloudy double IPA, or something less mainstream, like the delicious Screaming in the Woods Vol. 1 roggenbier. Buttonwoods Brewery, 50 Sims Ave., Providence The Long Live Beerworks tasting room in Providence. Steve Greenlee Long Live Beerworks The two-story tasting room with exposed brick and modern decor, sited in a rehabbed factory complex in Providence's West End, is bohemian yet classy. If you belly up to the bar, be prepared to chat, because the bartenders love to engage visitors in conversation. Settle in with one of Long Live's higher-octane offerings. You'll find a bunch of double IPAs on tap, along with an off-the-charts pastry stout or two and possibly a barleywine. There's simply too much to choose from here. Chewy Bites imperial stout with coconut, caramel, and vanilla at Long Live Beerworks. Steve Greenlee Try: Black Cat Sees All, a luscious and juicy double IPA, or Nanaimo Bites (when it's available), an over-the-top imperial stout made with graham cracker, pecan, cacao nibs and coconut. If the latter is not available, any of Long Live's pastry stouts demand attention. Long Live Beerworks, 40R Sprague St., Providence Advertisement A flight of four beers at Moniker Brewery. Steve Greenlee Moniker Brewery The small tasting room gets crowded and loud on weekend evenings, but it's a fun and lively place. In warm weather they open the garage bay doors to let in the fresh air, and outside there are tables under heaters where you can gather as well. Try: Gerauchert, a German smoked Helles, or Debut Single, an uncommonly good cream ale. Moniker Brewery, 432 West Fountain St., Providence Obsidian Currants, an imperial stout brewed with currants and raspberries, at Proclamation Ale Co. Steve Greenlee Proclamation Ale Company Rhode Island's most daring brewery, with an enormous range of styles and a huge tap list. If you're tired of IPAs and brown ales, you can get an imperial stout with black currants and raspberries, a Belgian quad with red wine must or an oak-aged ale with cherries, juniper berries, lime leaves, and orange peel. Try: For Keeps, a dark, woody biere de garde, or Obsidian Currants, a tart, berry-flavored imperial stout. Advertisement Proclamation Ale Company, 298 Kilvert St., Warwick A flight of four beers at Pivotal Brewing Co.'s tasting room in Bristol. Steve Greenlee Pivotal Brewing Co. Pivotal's locally renowned dry-hopped double IPA, Hello My Name Is Pivotal, is among the dankest beers I've had and a gold standard of the DIPA style. Unfortunately it wasn't on tap when I visited recently, but plenty else was. Fourteen beers were offered in this gigantic two-story former factory that has been rehabbed and filled with funky artwork and shabby chic decor. One can easily imagine corporate events and weddings in this room. Try: Hello My Name Is Pivotal, or whichever IPAs happen to be on tap. Pivotal Brewing Co., 500 Wood St., Building 111, Bristol An ESB and a smoked dark lager at Ragged Island Brewing Co. Steve Greenlee Ragged Island Brewing Co. This may be There are lots of beers on tap here, and they're all good, from IPAs and stouts to more niche offerings like an ESB (extra special bitter), a schwarzbier, a Vienna lager, and a smoked dark lager. Try: The ESB and the Smoked Dark Lager — too many smoked beers are either far too subtle or choke you with barbecue fumes. This smooth, delicious one gets the balance right. Advertisement Ragged Island Brewing Co., 54 Bristol Ferry Road, Portsmouth Tilted Barn is Rhode Island's first farm brewery. Tilted Barn Brewery Tilted Barn Brewery The prettiest setting of any brewery on this list is I didn't think any brewery in Rhode Island would ever match the quality of the IPAs made by the likes of Tree House, Trillium, or Maine's best breweries until I tried Tilted Barn's. Every IPA made here is best in class — and there are a lot of them. If IPAs aren't your thing, there's usually a great lager, porter, or Belgian on tap as well. Try: Cactus, a soft and earthy IPA, or The Chosen One, a juicy double IPA that explodes with notes of mango and pineapple. Tilted Barn Brewery, 1 Helmsley Place, Exeter Steve Greenlee is a journalism professor at Boston University. He can be reached at . Tilted Barn beers.
