TRAVELS for BEER by Bill Washawanny
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Travel adventures in finding and tasting the great beers of the world 

   

Allagash Brewing Company was our reason to visit Portland, Maine.  We came across their beers in Florida, and have been hooked ever since.  Most are available in the 750 ml size.  It was a very rainy day when we had the opportunity to visit the brewery.  The tour was simple, but complete, with a tasting at the end.  Nina and I were able to taste a couple of beers that are not available readily for us.  They warmed us up on this wet cool day!  Later that evening, just by chance, we again met brewer and owner Rob Tod at a local restaurant. 
The Allagash Brewery is located in a small industrial park just outside the main center of Portland.  The brewery was ultra clean.  In their cooler was a stack of used Jim Beam wooden barrels.  Inside the barrels was one of Allagash's Barrel Aged Beers, Curieux.  Curieux is French for curious.  The Triple Ale will cellar and age for 8 weeks in the barrel.  The beer will round out, mature, and take on new flavors of vanilla and hints of bourbon.  When bottled, Curieux will be 9.5-10.5% alcohol.  After the tour, in the brewery shop, we were able to purchase some bottles to take home and store in our cellar.

$1 Lookie, $2 Feelie, and $3 Dewey!  That's their slogan...$3 Dewey's Ale House located in the Old Port section.  When you walk in you feel immediately at home with the warm wood floors, brick walls, and plenty of beer signs.  Behind the bar they have thirty beers on tap and plenty by the bottle.  The beers are from around the world with an emphasis on the local brews such as Shipyard, Allagash, Sabago, Bar Harbor, and Geary's.  The Shipyard Fuggles was a pleasant surprise being a well rounded IPA with just the right amount of hops.   Nina enjoyed the Sabago Red, which was good beer to begin a beer tour with.