Maine

Maine is a beautiful state full of coast line, forests, delicious eats, and more!

This blog focuses on 3 regions: Maine’s MidCoast, Grafton Notch Area, and Bangor/Orono. My recommendations for the Portland area + Acadia and Bar Harbor are below:

Maine’s MidCoast:

This region I think of as the little fingers of Maine that drop down into the ocean—between Brunswick and Camden essentially. I spent an afternoon in this area and absolutely loved it, and definitely intend to plan another trip to explore more! I highly recommend meandering this area, and these two spots are both gems:

• Glidden Point Oyster Farms: An awesome spot for oysters in Edgecomb. This farm is located on an idealic setting with river views and chill vibes. You shuck your own oysters, and there is a food truck for more eats and a drink menu. They also do tours. Very cool experience!

• Oxbow Brewery: The Newcastle Farmhouse location of Oxbow has a great setting on a pond in the woods. They have just a handful of taps + frequent food trucks and live music. There is also an Airbnb onsite.

The Grafton Notch Area:

This region sits along the New Hampshire border and is full of mountains and lakes.

• Grafton Notch State Park is the main draw here and for good reason! There are a lot of nice trails here and the Appalachian Trail ends here too.

  • Table Rock Trail Loop: I actually did this as an out-and-back trail on the AT instead of the loop because the reviews noted the loop version would not be ideal for a dog. The AT route is 2.5 miles long with 955ft of elevation gain and takes about 1.5 hours to complete. It is a steady climb up to a beautiful viewpoint and an amazing hike! Highly recommend.

  • Old Speck Mountain Trail is another popular choice in this area, but rain prevented me from tackling this one—let me know how it is if you go!

• Stay at Western Maine Yurts: These yurts are very nice with a ton of privacy, cozy vibes, a nice bath house, and are located near Bethel.

• Bald Mountain & Speckled Mountain Trail: This hike is 4.6 miles long with 1,600ft of elevation gain and takes about 3.5 hours to complete. You first come to Little Concord Pond which is more like a lake and has canoes available. Then you will get to Bald Mountain which has nice views of the pond below and surrounding area. Speckled Mountain is quite a journey to get to, with the last half mile being very steep, but there are great sweeping views from the top.

• Step Falls Preserve Mahoosuc Land Trust: This is a unique spot to soak in the Bear River. This trail is a good reference point, and note that Google Maps is just slightly off for the trailhead.

• Oxbow Brewing’s Oxford Beer Garden location is in this area as well! They have a beautiful outdoor space and a pizza-focused menu.

Bangor and orono recommendations:

Overall I was not super impressed by this region, but it is a convenient gateway if you are continuing on to New Brunswick, Canada!

• Orono Brewing: A good brewery with a very nice outdoor space. They also have a tasty food menu.

• Marsh Island Brewing: A solid brewery just off the river.

• Chimera Coffee: A nice spot for coffee and pastries in Bangor.

Where in Maine are your favorite spots? Let me know in the comments! Cheers —Alexis

July 2021

Y’all. July was insane. I visited Columbia South Carolina, Portland Oregon, Hood River Oregon, part of the Oregon Coast, Bend Oregon, Seattle Washington, Boston Massachusetts, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, and had some killer beers at home in Charlotte in-between. Trying to narrow down this list of my top beers in July was ridiculously difficult after visiting 65(!) new breweries in July, a few of which are some of the top breweries in the country. Check out my top beers in July below:

Everything from Great Notion Brewing in Portland, OR

Hi it’s me, already cheating for choice number one. It is impossible for me to pick one favorite beer from Great Notion that I had—I visited two of their taprooms and had a flight at each, so I had 10 beers on tap and 4 beers in cans throughout my trip. Some highlights were: Carnibaal Smoothie-Style Ale with raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cotton candy, and marshmallow flavor that is a collaboration with @baabaabrewhouse, Orrerey Imperial Pastry Stout, Big Papaya Fruited Sour with papaya, Shepherd of the Forest Imperial IPA with Strata, Galaxy, Citra, and Vic Secret, and The Mad Batter Imperial Stout with chocolate, vanilla, almonds, and coconut.

Native/Wild Estate Honey From Oxbow Blending and Bottling in Portland, ME

Native/Wild Estate Honey is a Spontaneously Fermented Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale with Maine grains, aged hops, well water, and estate honey. We enjoyed everything we tried at Oxbow and the highlight was definitely this bottle. Duckfat also has a location onsite to pair your beers with some killer fries.

Everything from The Ale Apothecary in Bend, OR

It is impossible to choose again here, so why not just talk about all of the beers? Ale Apothecary is a super unique little spot in Bend where all of their beers are 100% barrel aged, wild fermented, and naturally carbonated. I had every beer available when I visited: Pear Sauvie with @meccagrade barley and rye malts, @sauvieislandhops Crystal hops, and pear juice; Sahalie malted barley & wheat and @goschiefarms Cascade hops, house lactobacillus culture, aged up to 1 year in oak barrels then a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels; Walking Fish dry-hopped brew transferred onto freshly harvested Crystal hops from @sauvieislandhops; Sahati barley & rye malts with @goschiefarms Cascade hops brewed in a fallen spruce tree; Farmhouse with barley, rye, wheat, and oats aged in barrels 3-4 months, dry-hopped in the barrel, and naturally carbonated with Oregon honey.

Twice the Daily Serving From Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

I always love this series from Trillium! This version of Twice The Daily Serving is a Berliner Weisse with blackberry, plum, and raspberry. Visiting Trillium was incredible and of course we left with a plethora of cans for the rest of our time in New England! I enjoyed this one with the sunset over the bay in Southwest Harbor, Maine near Acadia National Park.

Speling van het Lot VIII.ii: Schaarbeekse On A Toast (Medium) - Blended & Alive (Season 17|18) Blend No. 47 From Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Lot, Belgium

Did you get all of that? 3 Fonteinen always produces some of the best Lambics around and this one was no exception! It was incredibly smooth and had a nice hint of cherry without being overwhelming. Here is their description of this brew: Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 8th version features the maceration of Schaarbeekse cherries on charred/toasted barrels. This Schaarbeekse On A Toast has macerated for 265 days on a fresh 1,000 liter medium toasted French oak barrel, in a proportion of 1 kilo of Schaarbeekse cherries per liter of Lambic. After the maceration, the fruit Lambic was blended with young Lambic for a continued fermentation in the bottle.

Pear Mary 2019 From Cascade Brewing in Portland, OR

Cascade is a must visit in Portland! I absolutely loved getting to taste a bunch of their Sours and hanging out in their patio space. My favorite beer I had was Pear Mary 2019, a blend of sour blond ales aged in oak wine barrels then naturally fermented with juice from Northwest-grown pears and infused with fresh rosemary. I also enjoyed Chêne des Fous 2018, Apricot 2019, Garden Party 2017, and Belmont Street Bramble.

Double Dry Hopped Fort Point from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Fort Point is Trillium’s classic juicy Pale Ale, and the DDH version of it was absolutely incredible. It is the classic Fort Point recipe with Columbus hops and then double dry hopped with Citra hops.

Eleanor from Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle, WA

Eleanor is a Farmhouse Ale refermented on elderberries with Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. It has a berry body with notes of cinnamon, clove, and earthy flavors. Fair Isle was my absolute favorite stop in Seattle! They specialize in creating mixed-culture Saisons and they absolutely crush it. I can’t wait to visit them again in the future!

The Purple Kriek From de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, OR

The Purple Kriek is a Spontaneous Wild Ale aged in oak barrels with black and red raspberries and Montmorency and Morello cherries. de Garde is a must visit on any trip to Oregon! They are consistently ranked one of the top breweries in the country, with good reason.

Back in the Zone collaboration From Mast Landing Brewing in Westbrook, ME and Orono Brewing in Orono, ME

Back in the Zone is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Mosaic, and Rakau hops. Mast Landing’s IPAs were absolutely stellar. I loved everything at the taproom outside of Portland, Maine and luckily they were on tap at several spots in Bar Harbor as well!

CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH TO SEE MY TOP BEERS OF August!
CHEERS —ALEXIS