Maine Beer Company started brewing their first commercial batch of beer in the summer of 2009. It was founded by two brothers, David and Daniel Kleban, in Portland, Maine. Maine Beer Company became one of the first craft breweries to start-up in the Maine market for quite some time. Their ‘maine’ focus was on quality ingredients and getting only the freshest beers in the hands of the consumer. Their first beer was an American Ale called Spring Peeper, now known as just Peeper Ale. The demand quickly outweighed the supply and the brothers were on to a new facility and location in Freeport, Maine. They opened in the 2012/13 time frame and began brewing some of the best and freshest beers I’ve ever had. Being in Virginia, I’m lucky to be right on the end of the southern part of their distribution line. I have sampled the majority of the Maine beers that come down this way and some of my favorites are Lunch, Mo, Another One and the original Peeper Ale. If you can get your hands on any Maine beers, do as the bottle says and ‘drink it fresh’. You will not be disappointed. Anyways, on to the review.
Maine Beer Company – a tiny beautiful something (5.5% ABV, Bottle Date: 11/25/2014)
Served in a cold pint glass
Appearance – half a finger of off white head, golden haze, lot of orange and tangerine colors
Aroma – citrus zest, grassy hops, orange and tangerine, piney
Mouthfeel – medium body, orange citrus coats the mouth, piney hops tickles the tongue
Taste – huge citrus notes, not overly bitter, smooth on the palate, combination of the creamy citrus and subtle hops really defines this beer
Finish – smooth bitter notes from the El Dorado hop variety, smooth dry finish, absolutely love the heavy orange notes, would consider this an easy drinking summer (well any season for that matter) beer coming in at 5.5%
Personal recommendation for Food/Cheese Pairings: pork chops, grilled eggplant or portobello, grilled chicken. Blue cheese, sharp white cheddar, perhaps a sweet mascarpone to go with the huge orange and tangerine notes.
Overall: 9.3/10
This was one of the best Pale Ales I’ve ever had – super, super fresh and extremely easy to drink. Using the single hop variety, El Dorado, really sets this beer apart from other Pale Ales. When too many hop varieties get thrown into the batch, you lose some of the key elements of the ingredients and hide some of the individual notes of each strain. Don’t get me wrong, there are beers that benefit from that complexity and work well when they are done right, but the simplicity of this beer is what makes it amazing. Definitely world-class and shares the same motto as the company, ‘Do what’s right’.
Now I just need to get my hands on their Double IPA – Dinner.
Cheers!
bitesnpints 