2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, OH (July 7th, Brewery Stop #29)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, OH (July 7th, Brewery Stop #29) (recovered post) The 29th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland Ohio. We did a considerable amount of driving after leaving Boston the day prior stopping at Rochester NY. We continued through NY state up to Niagra Falls and then made our way west along Lake Erie to Cleveland where we stopped for lunch at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Their production facility is quite large, located across the street from the restaurant/taproom and we were able to find parking in that lot. Lots of semi-trucks and loading docks speak to the amount of distribution they do. I’ve had their beers in the mid-west, but not quite to the west coast yet. You’ll find that during the summer months, they have a lot of people eating at the restaurant/patio that takes up almost the entire front of the block. We decided not to wait for a table there and went inside and were pleasantly surprised to find a table available shortly after walking around. They have a couple of different …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Harpoon Brewing, Boston, MA (July 5th, Brewery Stop #28)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA (July 5th, Brewery Stop #28) (recovered post) The 28th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Harpoon Brewery in Boston Massachusetts. After a great 4th of July visit with family in rural Maine, we said our goodbye’s and drove down to Boston to find some lunch and give this well known brewery a try on the 5th. We first stopped at Pauli’s in the North End for a quick sandwich that was just awesome, I had a Lobster grilled cheese! We did walk around a bit after to take in this historic Italian neighborhood, then drove in a few circles trying to get to Harpoon (damn you one way streets). We weren’t sure where to park, as their lot was completely full and it was located in the middle of an industrial area. I have a little bit of concern about how popular they are and having such a small parking lot. We ended up finding parking a few blocks away and plugging a meter. If you’re in Boston and want to go there, I suggest you try to catch a brewery tour …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Lively Brewing Company, Brunswick, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #27)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Lively Brewing Company, Brunswick, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #27) (recovered post) The 27th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Ebenezers Brew Pub & Lively Brewing Company in Brunswick Maine. After a full day of sampling and driving around Portland, we headded back north and decided to stop at one more brewery along the route. Ebenezers is a well known taphouse with a reputation for having unique and hard to find Eurpoean beers, so we wanted to check them out since they also brew their own beers. The brewing production is along the back of the building, next to the bar/taproom area. As it was early in the evening, we didn’t have any issues getting a table. We ordered up some samples of their beers and chatted with the server a bit about their facility and brewing. They were happy to find out we were coming up from Portland and decided to give them a try, as they are sort of left out of the Portland scene. Their food menus looked pretty decent, and their beer list was extensive beyond their own drafts. We ordered up …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Foundation Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #26)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Foundation Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #26) (recovered post) The 26th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Foundation Brewing Company in Portland Maine. This was the fifth and final brewery in Portland that we stopped at on the 3rd. It’s across the street from Allagash Brewing and gets a lot of the overflow and beer fans either before or after their visit across the way. They only had three beers available when we stopped by, and they don’t offer any food so we ordered up and hung out for a few minutes. As you can see, they do have a patio area that’s dog friendly and typically busy during the summertime. The employee working the bar was interested in what we thought of their beers and the brewing scene as we had experienced it. The range of nano-to-full scale breweries with support for all of them is a great thing to experience. We overheard some conversation about their expansion and desire to distribute/can/bottle their beers more than they had at that point. The few that we tried were interesting, focusing on wild-fermentation and …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Austin Street Brewery, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #25)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Austin Street Brewery, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #25) (recovered post) The 25th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Austin Street Brewery in Portland Maine. This is a nano-brewery with a 10 barrel system located in an industrial park, basically across the street from Allagash Brewing. Their beers change pretty quickly, and they only have a few on draft at any time. The brewers, who started out as home brewers, are there most days so you can chat with them about the beers they make and get a quick tour. The taproom/bar is at the front of the brewing space, it’s got only a few seats and primarily has outdoor seating. We only learned about this brewery from the information sheets we got at Allagash regarding a festival that was happening later in July, so we were happy to stop by and give them a try. The one thing that we noticed is that people would stop at Allagash across the street before coming here, then stop here for additional beers. It’s a great way to get overflow business and acknowledgement from beer lovers, to …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #24)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #24) (recovered post) The 24th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Allagash Brewing Company in Portland Maine. After lunch, and a few breweries in downtown Portland, we drove out to the west end of town where Allagash is located. It wasn’t terribly hard to find, it’s in a large industrial complex with a few other smaller nano-breweries located towards the entrance to the complex. This was one of the top breweries that we visited on the roadtrip, and one with some of the highest expectations that were all met and exceeded. As you can see from the photos, the brewery has a large parking lot and during peek visiting seasons (summer time), they have someone outfront to greet you. We didn’t know what to expect, I thought it was the valet or something, but it’s someone to help with the explaining how their taproom works and what you’ll find inside. They also offered parking suggestions when the lot gets full, which it almost was when we arrived. The taproom is spacious, lots of tables and a large …

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