Oxbow (2019)

Tickets purchased yesterday. One of the best events I've been to. 2017 will be hard to top.

 

I have such bad luck with Oxbow events. Pils & Love 2017 (family vacation), Goods from the Woods 2017 (wedding), GftW 2018 (Chicago Marathon), Pils & Love (wedding). It’s getting ludicrous being this in demand. Really killing my beer game.

 

Mmmm ... Surf Casting.

It's official that I need a roadtrip (and someone to Venmo me $50).

 

Surf Casting is LEGIT.

 

I'm heading up next weekend for the annual anniversary getaway. Looking on the website, there's only a list of "bottled beer to go." Anyone been up recently that can speak to the can situation? As much as I love the bottled stuff, I'm hoping to come home with some cans, particularly Surf Casting.

Also, if there's an under-the-radar food spot for dinner (nothing too expensive but on the nicer end), give me a shout. We've done most of the well-known Portland food spots.

 

Not trying to undercut the crew at Oxbow, but we just got a bunch more cases of Surf Casting (because it is amazing and I want to drink it myself) and we do paid holds on our website if you want to be sure to grab some Surf Casting. Just got bottles of Dance Language today too, have some Grizacca cans and just got a couple more cases of Luppolo Pils. Have a good trip.

 

Sick. You’re a stop anyway. We will see you Saturday. I’ll do some math and reach out to Tim and figure out if I need to put a hold on the beer. Thanks.

 

Spent Sunday hopping around Portland and, of course, landed at Oxbow midafternoon. Sun was shining. We sat outside.

Had a couple to stay, took a couple to go at Oxbow.

Bandolier was good. Exactly what I figured it'd be. French-style saison. We bought a bottle of Cuvee de Theriez to drink outside and damn that's a good beer. Actually one I'm bummed about not buying one to go. Can't recommend it enough, but the star of the show was Surf Casting. Holy cow. What a great, light option. We split one on some side street waiting for the Lyft. The next three got consumed the next day on a beautiful Memorial Day afternoon. I need this in my life all summer and at that price. Let's go.

 

I'm kinda blown away with all the new releases - at least five new 500 ml bottles (Cuvée Thiriez, Abrico, Prinipesca, Cherry Jackpot, etc.) - over the past month at Oxbow and for the first time in a while - I'm finding myself in a tough position of keeping up. Can anyone tell me what's going on here - is this just Oxbow ramping up for the summer? Have they received some outside investment that has enabled them to ramp up production, open up the new location in Oxford, and brew larger batches which has led to expanded distribution across New England over the past few years? Or is Oxbow just being Oxbow - quietly doing its thing brewing great saisons and wilds, yet just more of them for more people to enjoy?

 

The majority of those are fruited. My guess is they received all the fruit around the same time and they just all happened to be ready to release at the same time.

 

Has anyone been to the Oxford beer garden yet? How's the food? I'm hiking north of there on Saturday (Old Speck) and was thinking it'd be a good spot for a post-hike dinner.

 

Has anyone else tried Cherry Jackpot? I thought it was one of the only bad beers I've had from Oxbow since they opened. A LOT of nail polish remover and abrasive acidity. Bummed me out.

 

To follow up, my wife and I stopped at the Oxford beer garden for dinner on Saturday and we loved it. Food was excellent - upscale pizza and other interesting small plates. Really dig the vibe they've got going on. Super relaxed and laid back. And the beers were great as usual. They do the same types of pours as the Portland location (never been to Newcastle, but I'm guessing its the same there as well), so we were able to get half pours and try a nice variety.

They are going to do very well during ski season. The beer garden is about 25 minutes from Sunday River and all southbound traffic is going directly past them. Plus, there really aren't any other places with good food like this in that immediate area. Not sure when I'll be back in the area again (I don't ski), but I'll definitely be telling all my skier friends to stop.

 

That's awesome. My daughters teacher this past school year spends her summers like 30 minutes from the beer garden, so we hooked her up with a gift card for Oxbow (any of the three locations). Yes, we definitely got this 25-year-old woman the best gift of all the kids' parents.

As for me, I'd love to get up there, but I'm not a skier either. There's no real reason for me to drive the 2.5 hours to go there when I can get up to Portland as easily as I can.

 

My wife grew up skiing at Sunday River and she still goes up at least a handful of times each year, so that now means I can have her stock up on Oxbow bottles on those trips. Plus as someone with a dairy allergy, my wife was able to eat numerous items on the menu, including the margarita pie that comes with no cheese. They also modified a few things for her. She was very happy since that's not always the case.

 

It's more like 50 minutes from Sunday River and even longer in the winter with weather and ski traffic.

 

I guess it is. I had just finished a day hike of Old Speck so I wasn't paying close attention - I was pretty focused on getting to food ASAP. haha

 

I was at Oxbow about a month ago. I bought a bottle of the second batch of Native/Wild to go, I also had Native/Wild Maine Blueberry Wine. That beer was amazing. Seek it out, if you like the funk.