Mainely Brews

Bar, Eatery

1 Post Office Sq
Waterville, Maine, 04901-6651
United States

(207) 873-2457 | map
mainelybrews.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.88
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
10
pDev:
17.01%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Cavanaghty:
Photo of Cavanaghty
Reviewed by Cavanaghty from Maine

3.13/5  rDev -19.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
Stopped by this place with a few friends from the area. Not a bad spot if your in the area. Food was ok with a decent size menu. Service was ok from the wait staff, but we were also on the patio and it is a little more laid back out there I guess. They had a very large selection of brews, including what looks like 6 exclusively brewed beers from Black Bear Brewery in Orono, ME that are only served at Mainly Brews. I would probably go back to this place again with my friends when in the area. But not a place you would go out of your way to go to.
Jul 05, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of illpass78
Reviewed by illpass78 from Maine

4.88/5  rDev +25.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Great spot in central Maine. Nice selection of taps and a solid "pub food"-type menu. Black Bear brews are the house beers here and some appear aliased in a way that is slightly confusing but not really a big deal.
Nov 22, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Sep 15, 2014
Photo of kfoss99
Reviewed by kfoss99 from Maine

3.69/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Mainely Brews is the best pub in Waterville, therefore on a bell curve it should get a 5. But, I want to be a little more critical than that.

Mainely Brews is located in the basement of the old, granite Post Office at the corner of Elm and Main. Therefore, it is dark and has low ceilings and it seems a little bit dirty. But, what do you expect from the basement of a building built in 1911. It really makes for a great pub atmosphere.

The crowd is good, especially at Thursday night trivia. The wait staff is always nice, but service is usually slow. This isn't unusual for any place in Central Maine.

Their house brews, brewed by Bear Brew in Orono are good and very affordable. They usually have a house pale ale, peach hefeweizen, light ale, blueberry ale, red ale, porter, and stout. I am especially fond of the Drop Dead Red and Post Office Porter.

In the past year or so, Mainley Brews has added a nice selection of guest taps. About eight rotating taps of high quality brew. I've had some Maine Beer Company offerings, as well as, Allagash Black. If you or your friends are into it, they have a Pabst tap and a Bud Light tap.

The food is solid pub food. They also serve pizza in the evening and have a good selection of daily lunch and dinner specials. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all have a food special that makes a trip in worth it.

The house brews are a great value and the prices for everything else are on par for the area.

Like I said, Mainely Brews is the best bar in the area . It's worth a visit if you're from away or add it to your regular rotation of spots if you live in the area.
Jul 19, 2014
Photo of LandRoverErik
Reviewed by LandRoverErik from New York

4.45/5  rDev +14.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75
Had the most incredible Lobster Roll there. Had to be close to 2 lbs of claw meat. Great service with friendly attitudes. Great music (if you're into Phish)! Tried 3 of their house brews, all were great. I go to Maine once a year, and I always look forward to returning here.
Apr 21, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Cheld from Maine

Apr 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by MJSawyer from Minnesota

Nov 14, 2013
Photo of Durge
Reviewed by Durge from Connecticut

3.43/5  rDev -11.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
Just had dinner with the family here and was looking forward to trying some of their own brews. The place is located in the lower floor of an old building (former post office I think) which opens out onto the main street in the middle of town. It looks inviting and is kind of different. On this Tuesday night we walked into a busy, lively place, loud and bustling with movement. After a fifteen minute wait to be seated and listening to a good group of blues musicians while I eyed the beer menu I studied their menu. They listed 7 standard brews from their brewpub and had what appeared to be a couple specialty brews available this night. Well, by time we got seated and I could interrogate our waitress for more beer details, the first words were that they only had three brews available tonight and they were fruit laden or some other variety devoid of hops or anything else respectably brew worthy. Fortunately they had Kennebec River's IPA on as a guest tap. Unfortunately, it wasn't too great as chronicled in my review. But it was a beer that made it down the hatch and that allowed me to otherwise enjoy a very good meal and a fun, family friendly atmosphere. The music was good. The place was kind of loud for the dining experience. It's pretty much one big room with the bar running into the dinning area with booths and tables. The bar is pretty good size and the bandstand is right near it. They had a good number of taps which looked like it included about 10 macro types including Guinness and Newcastle and some of the usual American standards. Bottled brews were no better from what I could see. Being a brewpub it's difficult to accuse it of not being a "beer bar", but I did not get the feeling from anyone here that this place was known for, or concentrated on their beer. It was just an added gimmick to complement what is obviously a very popular drinking hole and eating establishment. It's a fine place to stop, friendly, lively, and good eating, but don't go out of your way if your craving a "beer" experience, like I did.
Aug 11, 2010
Photo of HoorayBeer
Reviewed by HoorayBeer from Washington

3.94/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5
I love this place when I am home, there is nothing for great micro's out of central Maine. So I hide in this place, Mainely Brews. Depending on the night, there is live music, usually bluegrass, jazz, or blues. There are a few pool tables, some dart boards and lots of places to sit. Lights are dim and the beer is great.
Mainely Brews carries; Magic Hat # 9, Shipyard Export and Summer Ale, Smuttynose WeizenHeimer, Bar Habor Blueberry, Geary's Hampshire Special, along with two in house brews; Two Cent Bridge Ale and Headstash Ale, both are good brews and I recommend trying them if you stop in. In all, nothing spectacular, but I love this peice of home.
Aug 30, 2005
Mainely Brews in Waterville, ME
Place rating: 3.88 out of 5 with 10 ratings