How well do local beers hold up?

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Lone Pine but I know people who really like it. I'd pick the breweries around Allagash over Lone Pine, such as Definitive, Austin Street, Battery Steele, etc.. Foundation is a bit hit or miss with IPA's but I think their Porters/Stouts are quite good.

Best stouts/porters? Not sure I can really pick a state. Hill Farmstead is still probably the best for non-lactose stouts/porters. Everett is just a phenomenal Porter. Overall with stouts and porters I'd say it depends. There are breweries in all the New England states that produce great porters/stouts but most breweries don't really have full time rotation of these beers. Its kind of situational depending on the current lineup. I might have to say Clown Shoes (MA) is the only brewery that consistently has great stouts available though they are BA stouts for the most part. Maybe someone else might have a better recommendation

 

Go behind Lone Pine to Goodfire. IMO, they're producing the best hoppy beer in Maine.

 

Yep - i've cooled on Lone Pine (they are still pretty good), but I'm all in on Goodfire.

 

Mayflower Porter is the best "shelfie" porter always available in my opinion and it is available at most good liquor stores, no need to go to the brewery in Plymouth to obtain. No adjuncts used.

Just a few short years ago most better breweries would put out a nice non-adjunct imperial stout, but the pastry stout craze is real. I like some of these, but not having the option of "clean" stouts because of everyone trying to one-up each other on ingredients is annoying.