My first Lunch!

Maine Beer brews what I consider to be "elegant" beer. Lovely, balanced beverages.

 

holding out until dinner

 

Totally Jealous! Congrats!

 

I had my first Lunch about 2 months ago and thought it was utter crap. To each their own but the most mediocre local IPA from the most mediocre local brewery is on par with Lunch. Another One is excellent. Lunch is as utterly average as it gets.

 

Wouldn't go that far myself but I'm with you that Another One is the superior beer and doesn't get the credit it deserves. Also much more available day to day relative to Lunch though it is becoming a little harder to find with how they've began to allocate it.
Experiencing Dinner 5 hours after hitting the bottle on the last release was life changing though, the golden standard of balance in a hoppy beer.

 

Thought Lunch was merely ok. Plenty of local IPAs I'd choose over it though.
Dinner was really good but not among the top DIPAs I've had. Tough category to be truly world class.

 

Lunch easily one of the best IPA's I've had. Dinner was THE BEST DIPA I've had. I've only had them once. Wish I could get more.

 

Lunch, Dinner, and everything else I've had by Maine have been overpriced and overrated. I have much cheaper, better hoppy beers on the shelf around here for half the price, and Wisconsin is nowhere near a leader in hops. Don't even get me started on the blandfest that was Mean Old Tom.

That said, I get what they're going for (as I've said in another thread), and I respect the ethos. I just think in practice the execution is lacking.

 

I like it too! Congrats =)

 

I thought lunch want bad, but I found it quite underwhelming. It was very crisp and clean, but the hop flavor just wasn't there

 

Congrats on your first MBC beer!
I thought Lunch was delicious when I had it 2 years ago, I wouldn't call it average or on par with any average IPA.
Dinner was a top notch DIPA, if not the best one I have had to date.

MBC brews great beers imo, Mean Old Tom being one of my favorite stouts ever.

Cheers!

 

Congrats. Nice Balanced IPA.

 

Lunch is good, I do enjoy it but Another One has climbed my ranks as my favorite regularly available MBC beer. Dinner of course is outstanding. Try em all and see which one is your favorite!

 

I am with you OP, Lunch is probably my favorite IPA of all time. Dinner is right up there with Heady to me in the DIPA category, and I think both beat the hell out of Pliny (which I also do love). I think that Maine does a good job of balancing citrus to hop, so they are not hop "bombs" but more even handed approaches to the style. Same goes for their stouts/porters; never over the top but delicious. Clean is the best word for all of their beers, it tastes natural and I love that.

Now if only they would have a slightly more reasonable pricepoint...

 

Wish I could find MBC fresh. I'm in DC every once in a while, and MBC is around but usually dated months ago. Similarly, when I was in Vermont this year, I saw MBC, but it was 6 weeks plus, and there were better, fresher options. I've had a couple, but I've heard their hoppy stuff drops off quickly, and that has been my experience, as well. Someday I'll just have to vacation on the coast and try it from the source.

 

My Wife is from Maine, so we go up there quite a bit. I was so excited when I tried my first Lunch, but like some others have said, I was a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, It's a great IPA, but not what I was expecting with all the hype. After that, I opened up Another One and boom! Such a better IPA for my personal taste. Both are great beer, Ijuust think it's interesting how little you hear about Another One and how much you hear about Lunch. Also, Grab a Mo if you find one. Wonderful Pale ale.

 

I enjoyed Lunch and Another One as well. Haven't tried Dinner yet. Anyway, I always find it curious when people, like one of the posters above, refers to a straight forward for the style beer like Lunch as "utter crap." I mean, could it really taste that bad to someone who likes IPAs?

 

The whole Another One is better than Lunch thing is something I keep seeing in forums. I want to add that they are almost two different styles in a way. Lunch is very much a straight forward west coast style IPA. Piney, citrusy and bitter. It doesn't claim to be an over the top hop bomb. It's a balanced and a fantastic example of the style. Another One on the other hand is more like all the IPAs that are coming out nowadays. Not very bitter, tons of fruit character and aroma. It has to do with what hops are available today as to what was available before. I can't say one is better then then the other, it depends on what I feel like drinking.

 

Let me know next time you are headint to the DC area, we get a good supply of fresh MBC beers here and Lunch comes through quite often. Lunch and Another One tend to sell out very quickly (read as within hours for Lunch), so finding old bottles would be shocking. Zoe, Peeper, and others may sit though as you stated.