Earth Eagle Brewings

 

 

Visited here with JLindros on a trip up to Portland. Almost immediate regret. Parking looks to be a pain as the parking on one side of the building is for the home brew shop only and parking on the other side, by the door, is for residents only. Table set up is a bit odd as they're awfully close to the bar, and bar seats themselves are basically a metal colander with a little bump in the middle. Very, very strange. The place also appeared to be quite dirty/grimy like they were trying to mask that with the dim lighting mid day.

There seemed to be a decent selection of beers and ciders on tap, as well as three bottles to go, however every. single. beer. was utterly terrible. Not only infected tasting but just plain dirty ala dirty tap lines. It's one thing to have a bad beer out of 6 but for all 6 to have the same disgusting issues is not coincidental.

Service was lackluster; while the bar tender was friendly enough she never once checked back to see if we were enjoying our beers (we weren't) or inquire as to why we'd only taken a few sips of each. On top of that she wound up charging me full price for a half pour. Did not have food but they did offer some. Overall this was a really, really disappointing experience and if given the chance to return I would rather wait outside than go through this all over again.

It's a weird place in general. Built into an old building so the setup is strange. Parking is tough as you basically need to park on the street in downtown Portsmouth. Tables are strewn about like a labyrinth and you have to twist between people to get around. Old wood pillars are everywhere, and it seems like you're in a really old pub.

Servers were friendly but didn't seem that knowledgeable. THey had maybe 10 beers on tap, all their own except a cider from another local place. A mix of styles few IPAs, and some really unique unusual styles like a roggenbier, kolsch, and a gruit, which would have been awesome had they made the beers well. Unfortunately the beers themselves are mixed bag. A couple times I've gotten good beers, but other times not so much. THis past time was pretty bad as all the beers seem like they had some off flavors, dishsoap at times, weird fruity qualities others, and strange rotting flavors. So I think they have dirty tap lines or their dishwasher is really old and does a terrible job.

Didn't try the food this time, but in the past I remember them having pretty good food.

I haven't been here since they were just a home brew shop and massage parlor, glad to finally get to check out the place that makes all the fine beer I've had elsewhere. Somewhat industrial space with a small square bar area as you walk in. There's an outside beer garden with twice the space and most tables have shade. A dozen beers on tap and only one gruit today. I had a great strawberry blond and a really nice stout here today. They have food looks like dogs and sandwiches. We didn't try any but they looked interesting. Cans and bottles to go. Seems priced in line with the area. Most taps $6 North country cider is $8 a can for some reason. Id go back for the beer or to try one of the hot dogs.

4/14/19 funky little place with a very eclectic vibe, experimental brews and low-key feel. I'm impressed by the variety, not in numbers, but in choice of styles.

 

Rude staff. Mediocre beer is being kind. Cramped space, Walls are lined dust covered dead animals. Meat goes with beer, not in it.

 

 

 

Intimate feel to it. Folksy and that is nice. Nice menu and an interesting mix of their own drafts, eclectic, and local brews from NH, Me, and Ma. I didn't know much about gruits and got great info from the young man behind the bar. Tried the Rhus Juice, sumac with chokeberries and found it to be quite good. Just a really neat Tmosphere and I would, and will, come back here when I am in the area.

Hard to find, pain to park, but a worthy stop. Small...ok tiny...taproom that serves food. We did a flight of six beers nicely explained by the server. Nit your every day beers with gruit being a favored style. Interesting use of non-hop biter in and flavoring agents. The food I am rating by look and,talking with patrons - looked great and people were happy. Pretzel was fantastic - piping hot and chewy. Service was attentive and pleasant. Find it, plan the visit around lunch. Cool place.

 

 

Tiny room. Have a handful of Earth Eagle beers on tap with another handful of rotating guest taps and bottles. They also serve food and liquor. Since it's so small, it gets crowded very easily.

 

 

Cozy location in downtown Portsmouth, usually with 5 or so of their offerings on tap (rotating selection) along with a few from other craft breweries. Food is great, selection on the beer side can be a bit limited with some of their preferred styles being a bit off the beaten path. But if you've done any research prior to walking in you should already know what you're in for. Parking can be a pain. Best bet is the nearby parking garage which is less than a 5 minute walk. Definitely gets busy and space inside is at a premium but it's worth it.

 

Earth Eagle is one of my favorite breweries in the area. Though known for their unique gruits, they offer a great selection of not only their beers but a number of other breweries in the area. The atmosphere is great and have the friendliest people working there. My favorite beer there is the Chiefy Leroux, a Belgain Ale.

 

Small, comfy place. First time ever in Portsmouth without my wife and kids, I was able to forsake the Portsmouth Brewery and try a different place for lunch. I was glad I did. Different beers, including some gruits, and an eclectic food menu. Cool place!

Not your father's brew pub, nor his craft beer. Not your hipster buddy's PBR bar, either. A different place.

Palate expanding, pioneering brewer of gruits and funky ales. Combined with the homebrew shop next door, this is a beer geeks kinda place. With the jump to being a brewpub, they've added good food and good guest taps.

Come with an open mind. Talk with the staff about the beer. You will learn something. You will enjoy beer differently.

Swung by today for the first time.... Very comfy vibe.... dimly lit but warm and welcoming... In off the street, bang a right, and you're in.... bar to the left.... a few small tables to the right and in the center... Some big wooden beams, and an old corrugated tin roof.... throw in some chintzy white Christmas lights.... funky, indeed.... Service was solid, with some former Ports-Brew employees.... They had 6x of their own on tap, plus 5x foreign offerings... I tried a full pour of an old ale, and a small sample of another (weizenbock).... Not overly impressed with quality right off the bat. May have to stop in again to try some more offerings.... Did not try any grub, but it did look good... We'll see about a return visit.... Prosit!!

4.08/5 rDev -8.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | $$

296

 

 

 

Ok, so, Let's start off the bat by saying the beers are solid. Not world changing, not mindblowing. But part of the reason for that is the spirit of experimentation that's seen in what they produce. Yes, there's an IPA or two, but there was also an anise milk stout. it may not blow your mind, but there will almost certainly be something you've never even thought of in a beer. Also, it's worth noting that they specialize mainly in Gruits and do quite a range of them.

Now, onto the food. Oh my, the food. The menu is tiny, but locally sourced and unreasonably delicious. If it's on the specials board, i would urge you to get the Figgy Pig which is Manchego cheese, Porchetta, Bacon, and Fig jam on sourdough pressed in a panini press. Un-effing-believable.

The decor is funky, the service was amazing (Kate is awesome!) not to mention frequent live music. The space is tiny, but doesn't read as cramped but rather as cozy and welcoming. The crowd that gathers has a convivial vibe to it.

Be warned, it is down a side alley so can be hard to find if you don't know what you're looking for. They own a homebrew shop that's on the main road, the brewery is down the alley to the right. You can get into the bar through the homebrew shop or the side door.

 

 

It took us awhile to find this place as it's buried inside a larger building with no direct entrance off the street. But as it turned out that's a big part of the vibe which provides the feel of an exclusive hangout like a home bar that you invite your friends to hang out in. It's small enough that everyone notices everyone who comes in, and there's no chance that you'll go off to a corner to be left alone. And on the night we were there, the people who were coming in were very friendly and very into the beer. They didn't have a huge taplist but everything they had was interesting and of high quality. I'd never sampled much in the way of gruit's before, but Earth Eagle specializes in these beers and I found the two selections to be quite good. Great bartender providing excellent service and product knowledge. Overall, my expectations were high going in, and they managed to exceed those expectations.

A slice of Brooklyn in Portsmouth. Amazing food and amazing beer and now cocktails! Seriously - this is one of my favorites for the food, the atmosphere, the beer, and the people. What a treat to have a place to hangout with friends and crush a few pints. They pour their own beer and now have a great assortment of guest taps. Can't go wrong with Earth Eagle.

 

vibe; we went on a monday, quiet, but friendly help and customers, people who travel from brewery to brewery seemed to swing through, everyone easy to talk to
quality; we tried every beer and most food, all spot on or interesting and delicious if there was no definition
service; awesome on a monday, can't speak for busier times but the waitstaff and bartender both came to our table to take orders/explain the menu/ask about us
selection; 6 beers in house - a sour, a delicious half-wheat they don't classify as anything in particular, an interesting gruit aged in oak, a delicious hoppy farmhouse, a rye, a wheat, they just kicked a vanilla porter before we got there, as well as 4 guest taps to round out what they had, a pilsner, a classic belgian, a stout, and i don't remember one,but everything else so memorable
food; absolutely perfect selection of well executed beer food; duck pastrami reuben, boar sausage pepper and onion, awesome chili and nachos; bacon and fig grilled cheese; quality charcuterie, macv and cheese specials to name only what i got or considered... everything was not just great but perfect

 

 

Very interesting place in a great little city that is worth exploring. The beer is high quality and they have some exciting and styles that are quite different than other breweries of this size. They are known for their Gruit and they had one on tap when I visited. It was flavored with grilled rhubarb which added a slightly tart and bitter flavor which was quite nice.

They have a limited by good quality food selection that always includes something strange. On my visit the strange option was kangaroo tacos. Seemed interesting but I went with an all beef frankfurter covered with beer braised onions and homemade baked beans. It was tasty and low cost.

Good place, good beer, good vibe. Cool logo and merch. Worth a visit.

Love this place, my go to spot!