And the Winner Is

Liquid Riot Brewing has won the Great Lost Bear's Challenge for best beer in Portland Maine ... Congratulations!!!!

No Beer For Face Painters

Great Lost Bear Industrial Park Challenge

Any of you in the Greater Maine area tomorrow make your way to the Great Lost Bear for their INDUSTRIAL PARK CHALLENGE 2017.  Who will challenge Foundation Brewing Company for the trophy? Allagash Brewing Company , DL Geary Brewing , Austin Street Brewery , Rising Tide Brewing Company , Lone Pine Brewing Company , Oxbow Blending & Bottling , or One Eye Open?   One beer, One vote.  Eight breweries. One night. All the bragging rights.

The Great Lost Bear on Forest Avenue in Portland has been a steadfast supporter of Maine craft beer since pouring some of the very first pints to roll out of D.L. Geary Brewing Company in the late 1980s. It seems only fitting that the bar – which has one of the largest selections of Maine beer available in the state – would be the host of a friendly brewery vs. brewery competition.

Eight competing breweries will offer one beer on draught for $2.99, and whichever sells the most by 9 p.m. wins the challenge cup. Because it’s purely a popularity contest, getting fans to show up and drink beer is the way to success. Last year, the title (and the awesome bear trophy) were snagged by Foundation – Epiphany: If you haven’t seen this around yet, this might be your chance to try Foundation’s first real full-on IPA, Epiphany. I like this one for a lot of the same reasons I like Bisell Brothers The Substance (2015 Winner); tons of flavor without wrecking your palate. This morning, there’s been a little flinging back and forth of friendly trash talking between several of the competing breweries on their respective social media pages.

If you ask me which I’ll be voting for, the answer is several of these. Best of luck to all the entrants!

Time for the Stouts

It has been cold out recently and so it is an excellent time to break out the Imperial Stouts and similar dark beer styles and put away the Pale Ales.  One of my current favorites has to be Dark Side Corruption, an Imperial Dark Saison by my friends up at Foundation Brewing in Portland ME.  This oak barrel-aged dark ale’s kick-in-the-pants booziness (10.8 percent ABV) — plus its cozy notes of bourbon, chocolate, and toffee — warms our bellies on cold, windy evenings, preferably after a long day of wood splitting, skiing, or ice fishing.  Foundation's website describes it aptly as thus: "Dark Side Corruption is a barrel-aged dark ale brewed with roasted malts and sugars, providing flavors of rich stone fruit, chocolate, and caramel, tempered by the rich flavors of oak.  This ale shows what is possible when you turn from the light, and embrace the seductive power of the dark."  Check it out while the weather is cold and I guarantee it will take the chill off.

Let me know what favorite stouts you are drinking now.