2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Austin Street Brewery, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #25) (recovered post) The 25th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Austin Street Brewery in Portland Maine. This is a nano-brewery with a 10 barrel system located in an industrial park, basically across the street from Allagash Brewing. Their beers change pretty quickly, and they only have a few on draft at any time.
The brewers, who started out as home brewers, are there most days so you can chat with them about the beers they make and get a quick tour. The taproom/bar is at the front of the brewing space, it’s got only a few seats and primarily has outdoor seating. We only learned about this brewery from the information sheets we got at Allagash regarding a festival that was happening later in July, so we were happy to stop by and give them a try. The one thing that we noticed is that people would stop at Allagash across the street before coming here, then stop here for additional beers.
It’s a great way to get overflow business and acknowledgement from beer lovers, to be located right next to a well established and respected brewery. There is another nano-brewery located on the other side of the building that is also making some interesting beers. The drafts that they offered up were average to ‘ok’. Nothing really to write home about. The three beers reviewed are from left to right in the picture.
Austin Street Brewery
1 Industrial Way, Suite 8
Portland Maine, 04103
Phone: 207-200-1994
E: will@austinstreetbrewery.com
Web: http://www.austinstreetbrewery.com/
Face: https://www.facebook.com/AustinStreetBrewery/
First/Half Light Austin Street Brewery • Brett Saison • IBU: N/A • ABV: 5% • SRM: 6 • OG: N/A Cloudy yellow hue with a solid foamy head which left decent rings of lacing on the rim. The nose is slight citrus and yeast funk. The front mouth is lighter yeast to lemon zest, tart and spice sneaks into the mid to back. Juicy with a touch of sour on the citrus/acidic side. Brett isn’t as pronounced as one might expect. |
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Crushable IPA Austin Street Brewery • India Pale Ale (IPA) • IBU: N/A • ABV: 3.6% • SRM: 10 • OG: N/A Hazy orange/yellow hue, white head with solid lacing that retained well. The aromatics are lemon and pine. The front-mid mouth ranges from tart to sweet lemongrass and floral hints towards the back. Mouthfeel is light, almost watery, hops drop off quickly and the sour/funk shows up a bit. |
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Industrial Park Ale Austin Street Brewery • India Pale Ale (IPA) • IBU: N/A • ABV: 6.9% • SRM: 8 • OG: N/A Cloudy bright yellow coloring with a lot of solid head and lacing. The nose is really tropical and fruity hops. The front to mid are bright, hoppy and juicy/fruity with lingering cirus pith way to the back. Decent amount of carbonation and thicker mouthfeel lends well to the complex fruit profiles and malt sweetness. |