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Category: beer

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, OH (July 7th, Brewery Stop #29)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, OH (July 7th, Brewery Stop #29) (recovered post) The 29th brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland Ohio. We did a considerable amount of driving after leaving Boston the day prior stopping at Rochester NY. We continued through NY state up to Niagra Falls and then made our way west along Lake Erie to Cleveland where we stopped for lunch at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. Their production facility is quite large, located across the street from the restaurant/taproom and we were able to find parking in that lot. Lots of semi-trucks and loading docks speak to the amount of distribution they do. I’ve had their beers in the mid-west, but not quite to the west coast yet. You’ll find that during the summer months, they have a lot of people eating at the restaurant/patio that takes up almost the entire front of the block. We decided not to wait for a table there and went inside and were pleasantly surprised to find a table available shortly after walking around. They have a couple of different …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Gritty McDuffs Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #23)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Gritty McDuffs, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #23) (recovered post) The 23rd brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Gritty McDuffs in Portland Maine. This is one of three locations for this restaurant/brewpub located in Maine. This particiular one is located in the heart of historic downtown Portland, not far from the waterfront. Parking was available a block or so away in a public garage, on-street parking is a challenge in this part of downtown. As you can see, it’s a bit rustic and has a local vibe to the establishment. We were there shortly after the lunch rush, so we didn’t have a wait to get a table. The back of the restaurant area looks out over the waterfront, so check out that part when looking for a table. We ordered a sampler of their beers (as shown below), with eight beers (two on cask) and once guest cider. While we had higher expectations of the beer, being that there is a lot of competition in this area, we were not really blown away with what was served. When we asked the server who brought …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Shipyard Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #22)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Shipyard Brewing Company, Portland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #22) The 22nd brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland Maine. We made our way down the coast to Portland and did a little site seeing and then grabbed a bite to eat at a great restaurant near the main historic area of town. We decided to stop at a few breweries in this part of town first before exploring out into the suburbs. Shipyard is one of the larger production facilities in Portland and they have a great selection of beers. The brewery has a large swag and merchandise area, tasting room, and provides brewery tours year round. They don’t have any food on site and the tasters are done in large groups for FREE. Yes, you read that correctly, FREE. Not many breweries do this, and it’s a great way to gain loyal customers. There is truly nothing better than “free as in beer”. The tasting area is like a small bar with just a few seats and mostly standing room only. We were able to sample some of their beers …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Rock Harbor Pub & Brewery, Rockland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #21)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Rock Harbor Pub & Brewery, Rockland, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #21) The 21st brewery visited during our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was Rock Harbor Pub & Brewery in Rockland Maine. Once we left the quaint town of Belfast, we headed south towards Portland, with a few stops along the way. The first stop was in Rockland ME at Rock Harbor Brewing. As our guide Eric had never been there, we were excited to give it a try. The pub and brewery is located along the main street through downtown, on-street parking only so you may have to walk a bit like we did as it was pretty busy in downtown when we were there just past lunch time. As you can see, the brewing kettles and such are located just inside, you can see them working during certain times of day brewing beer which is cool. We ended up sitting in the bar side of the restaurant in the window seats as there were not many tables open. As we were just staying for drinks, I ordered a set of tasters from the bartender and off we went. …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #20)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast, ME (July 3rd, Brewery Stop #20) The 20th brewery visited during the cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was the Marshall Wharf Brewing Company in Belfast Maine. After a full day of driving north, we arrived late at our hosts Eric and Deanna’s house in rural Maine (just outside of Belfast). We ended up sleeping in a little bit and drove into Belfast to walk around the harbor a little bit and find some lunch. While it’s a small quaint town, there are a few really good restaurants by the waterfront in downtown Belfast, and we were able to try a few of them. When we discovered this brewery, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they specialize in one-off beers. They do offer some smaller plates and sandwiches from the Three Tides Restaurant (as you can see on their chalkboard), but we just wanted to try their beer. As you can see from the pictures, the brewery is sort of tucked out of the way next to the restaurant and parking lot in the ‘basement’ of a larger building. Some of the brew kettles …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH (July 2nd, Brewery Stop #19)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH (July 2nd, Brewery Stop #19) The 19th brewery we stopped at on our cross-country beer discovery tour (click to read about the whole trip) was The Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After a great day and evening visiting our friends in Philly, we woke up early and headed north towards our mid-way point (Maine). Leaving Philly, we went east into Jersey (Camden), then north to New York City for an early lunch (pizza) in lower Manhattan. After eating we did take a short side trip up to Times Square (drove through it), which was one of my bucket list items. Eventually we made our way out of the city with the intent on stopping in Boston en route to Maine. However, the bumper to bumper traffic on the freeways had us taking back-roads and alternate routes around Boston and then north into New Hampshire to find dinner before making the final trek into Maine. With the alternate back-roads navigating (always take a road atlas with you as your phone may not get signal out in the back woods), we were able to see some really great historic towns and villages in …

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