Help Portland ME mini vaca

They rebranded the Gose with a new name, Pisces. There were a bunch of cans available at the taproom earlier this summer, but I have no idea how frequently it's released.

 

Bier Cellar is getting a batch of cans of it today

 

Hi all. Only been to Portland once, returning this weekend (Friday midday - Monday morning).

I plan on trying more awesome beer, but as this is a family vacation, it's more geared towards food. Last time I hit up Duckfat, Pai Men Miyake, and Nosh. Plan on hitting some, or all, of those again. But was also thinking of Slab, Forestreet, and the King's Head. And of course, we want to have some seafood (especially lobster). There's also an oyster bar my buddies went to that I missed that apparently is solid.

Beyond that, I'll plan on the usual suspects of Bissell Brothers, Novare Res, haven't been to the Great Lost Bear yet...

Anyways, I don't mean to thread hijack, especially with restaurant suggestions. If it derails the thread too much, feel free to PM me.

Thanks!

 

i recently ate at Eventide Oyster Co and thought it was one of the best meals i've had this year. highly recommended. small but quality tap list. had Oxbow Freestyle 37 there, but can't remember the other taps off the top of my head.

My wife and I always enjoy the brunch at Silly's since she has a dairy allergy and they have a ton of vegan options. It's also across the street from Oxbow, which is usually very mellow when we go after brunch.

 

Heading there this weekend, will probably get into town around 630ish. Appreciate the food recs., anyone have others? Feel free to PM me!. ( Sorry for double thread jacking)

 

Pai Men Miyake, Eventide, Duckfat for lunch
Street & Co and Back Bay Grill for dinner (Fore Street is great too but I prefer Street & Co - same owner(s) I think?)
Oxbow, Novare for drinks

* Not a local fwiw

 

Other suggestions that were not previously mentioned....
Food: Empire, Local 188 & Hot Suppa (great brunch) all located in the west end of town.
Bars & pub grub: Liquid Riot and Thirsty Pig in Old Port
Beer: Bunker, just down the street from Rising Tide

 

Standard Bakery! http://standardbakingco.com/

 

Front Room is a solid brunch and dinner option if you don't mind a bit of a walk from Old Port

 

Morning buns at Standard - oh my! Brought plenty to Nothing Gold release. Hit up some food trucks if you get a chance - Bissell usually has one or two on site as does Austin Street.

 

Apologies to @Loanstarbeergeek89
Just quick question on the Portland area without a new thread - can anyone comment or message me with traffic details? Driving up from CT on Friday (depart 1pm) and want to know if totally screwed once I get to northern MA.

My food recommendation is J's Oyster in downtown Portland.

 

Assuming you'll be taking the 95, if there are no accidents I usually can zip home from trillium canton no problem, but if there's a rush hour accident or construction north side of Boston the 95 will pretty much come to a standstill. If you have a phone that does traffic updates use it.

As for the OP's questions, I would definitely stop at Foundation and Austin St, they are super easy to get to from pretty much anywhere in Portland. 2 half growler's of epiphany and you won't regret it. If you're lucky Austin Street will have 3 beers available for growler fills. Fore River is my other big recommendation, solid line up, growler fills only, Lygonia is a great IPA.

 

I figure this is a good spot to post my recap as well. I went last weekend for three nights, stayed in the Holiday Inn by the Bay. I'd been to Portland once before.

Headed directly to Bissell on Friday at 2 pm, they sold out of cans ten minutes before we got there. Had Nothing Gold, their super low ABV session (I forget the name) at ~2.8%, and Reciprocal...plus some tacos.

Checked in and then headed down to Duckfat. While we waited, went to the East Ender and had The Substance on tap. Fries at Duckfat were phenomal. Had a late dinner at Eventide, the lobster roll was one of the highlights of the trip, incredible if you haven't had it.

After that we hopped over to The Great Lost Bear, was able to have Epiphany on draft, and I believe I had a nice ESB on cask, forget which one, I think it was from the UK. Finished off the night at Nosh for some poutine and bacon dusted fries...then we kind of ordered Chinese food at the hotel room too...oops.

Woke up Saturday full, but not too full to not head down to The Holy Donut. Had a salted chocolate donut and a stuffed bacon cheddar donut, amazing. Swung back over to Bissell before opening and was able to score some cans of The Substance and Baby Genius. Had another Nothing Gold and Baby Genius while there.

Took the Casco Bay Line over to Peaks Island, nice to be able to drink some beers on the water. Came back and headed to Slab, also a must-stop. HUGE tasty Sicilian slices, had Tipo Pils for the first time (on draft) and a bock from Einbecker. Really nice seating outside.

Also hit up Bard Coffee and Speckled Ax (this one may have been on Sunday, Bard was both Saturday and Sunday), solid places if you dig coffee. Before dinner we swung by The Little Tap House for some beers. I believe I had the Patina Pale Ale, which is a very very nice pale ale. Then we headed to The King's Head for dinner, really solid Shepard's Pie, don't remember which beers I had. Then swung by Novare Res for a couple beers on the patio, and finished off the night at The Thirsty Pig for a few beers outside.

Woke up Sunday full again, but not too full to swing by Bard for coffee, Standard Bakery for a morning bun, some Italian bread, and a scone...and then The Holy Donut for a half dozen more donuts to split with everyone. More awesomeness.

Walked around for a bit and headed to Novare Res for a quick beer upon opening, then over to the Thirsty Pig for lunch and some beers. The sauce on my hot dog (the spicy Shermanator, it also comes sweet if you don't like spicy) wasn't really to my liking, but my family really enjoyed their hot dogs. I want to try their sausages next time I'm there. Took a quick Uber over to Allagash for a sampler, and then Foundation for some more beers and a spring roll. I really dig both spots (been to both before, and have done the Allagash tour), but unfortunately Austin St. is closed on Sundays. Wish I knew this before Sunday!

For dinner we headed to Street and Co., which was about a one to two hour wait, so we put in our names and went next door to Mash Tun. I'll echo the previous post, one of the better tap lists in Portland, I had never even heard of this place. I was psyched to be able to try Austin St.'s session IPA after missing out on them due to being closed on Sunday. Also had a Reciprocal and I think a Baby Genius (which tasted better than at the brewery oddly, same with the can of Baby Genius I had at the hotel compared to the brewery).

Had a spectacular dinner at Street and Co. along with a Peeper in the bottle, a nice glass of wine, and some solid espresso. Swung by Gorgeous Gelato (also a must-stop, incredible gelato) then back to The Little Tap House for a few beers. I was able to try Gneiss' Hefeweizen, among others, which was very well done. Finished the night at Boda for some Pad Thai, which I washed down with a Bud Light...because why not around 1 am?

Woke up full AGAIN, but not too full to walk down to Tandem Bakery for some coffee and an everything scone (it says with cream cheese, I think you have to ask for it, which I realized afterwards...I don't have scones too often, so I didn't know...I was going to ask for some butter, but oh well). Then picked up a loaded biscuit (absolutely get this if you're in Portland) and a cinnamon roll to go and be consumed at home (I thought the cinnamon roll was better than the morning bun at Standard, which was also quite good by the way).

Great great trip, ate and drank way too much, but that's what vacation is for right? Thanks to all who contribute to these threads to help guide us fellow beer geeks. No question in mind that there will be a third trip.

 

For growler fills, can you bring any, or does it have to be a growler from that brewery?

Thanks

 

In Maine, breweries only fill their growlers like Mass.

 

Good to know. Thx bro!

 

Don't know if you already made the trip but yes you'll be screwed probably the whole way from whenever you hit 495 until you get through the York, ME tolls on a friday. Traffic starts building in NH around 1 pm on summer fridays...