RunawayJim.org

I went to the GIBF this year for both sessions. While there seemed to be fewer booths at this one compared to the one last year (note: I did not go to the one in the spring), the quality of the breweries seemed to be a bit better. We had more smaller breweries present than in past years, though we also had some that weren’t present, most notably Smuttynose. I can’t help but wonder if their presence at Beervana had anything to do with them not coming to the GIBF. It’s probably a combination of that and the economy, considering the GIBF not only makes the breweries pay for a table but also donate the beer and their time. This is something that should not be done if you ever want to start a beer festival. Beervana, on the other hand, bought all the beer and simply requested that a brewer or brewery rep staff the tables. The breweries prefer this approach because they only have to donate their time. It also allows the festival organizers to hand pick the beers they are pouring at the festival.

Last year, I had only attended the afternoon session, which tends to be the quieter of the two sessions with more people who are really into the beer as opposed to people looking to pay $36 for an all you can drink party. I had heard some horror stories of the second session in the past. This time it seemed to be a bit more mellow. While there were a lot more people than the first session, and it was definitely crazier than the first session, there wasn’t a whole lot of screaming and chanting that I had expected. From an attendee’s standpoint, it seemed to go pretty smoothly, though they had a harder time forcing people out than we did at Beervana.

Some of my favorite brewery stops were Mayflower, Offshore, Gardner’s Ale House, Watch City Brewing, Blackstone Valley Brewing Supplies, and Ithaca. They all had a great selection of beer. Even the other breweries brought some unexpected beers. Victory, for example, had Wild Devil, Golden Monkey, Baltic Thunder, and Hop Wallop (in addition to Prima Pils). I was surprised they brought so many of their bigger beers. I would have expected Prima Pils and Hop Devil. I was surprised to see that Mayflower signed up for this as well. They hadn’t been there in the past. They even brought some of their Thanksgiving Ale with them, which was quite excellent. Even Providence’s own Trinity Brewhouse had four different whiskey barrel aged beers. So even though Heineken, Corona, and Presidente were all present, the quality of beer from the other breweries was much better than last year. Dogfish Head, whom I had heard would not be coming, ended up having a table (though without their RI rep). It was expected that they would only have 60 Minute IPA and a seasonal. They actually had 90 Minute IPA, Chicory Stout, Raison d’Etre, and Indian Brown Ale. While these aren’t their top offerings, they aren’t the usual suspects either.

All in all, it was a good fest. The layout was better, spacing the rows out a bit more, allowing for easier movement around the floor. They put the stage in the far corner this time rather than at the end of one of the rows of booths. This kept it a bit quieter, though they probably should have lowered the volume of the band and raised the volume for the award ceremony. Aside from that, it was great. I still don’t think it’s worth my money for admission, but if you want a decent introduction to some craft beer available in southern New England, it’s a pretty good place to familiarize yourself with it.

The other night we visited with some friends. I brought over a couple bottles of beer to share with them. One of those was a bottle of Dogfish Head Theobroma from the first batch. The beer had originally been a bit drier with the chili pepper coming through a bit more in the back. The aged version had changed quite a bit. The heat from the pepper had subsided, though was still there just enough to give you a slight tingle. The beer had sweetened up quite a bit. I remember when we first tried it, someone suggested that it wouldn’t be a good one to age. I disagree. It was nice and malty with a hint of cocoa and that slight tingle from the pepper. If you have some bottles of this, I suggest aging one or 2 of them. It’s a great beer and I thought it was even better aged. Susan did not like it at all when it was fresh, but she loved it aged. Of course, she doesn’t like peppers or spicy things, which would explain that.

The latest album from Phish, titled Joy, was released last Tuesday. Though it had been leaked to the internet and then posted for streaming from Phish’s MySpace page a few weeks prior, I had waited until the official release to listen to the album in full. Overall, I would say that as a studio album, this is one of the band’s strongest. Steve Lillywhite’s production is impeccable and each song stands on its own. The one complaint is that the album isn’t really cohesive. Considering it’s from Phish, I’m not overly upset by that. They most definitely aren’t known for their studio work. From the perspective of each individual song, it’s their strongest album, but as a whole, the last album Lillywhite produced for them, Billy Breathes, is better.

The album opens with “Backwards Down the Number Line” a song written from a poem Tom Marshall had sent to Trey. The song is probably the poppiest song on the album, but not in a bad way. It’s a well written song with great lyrics. Like most Phish songs, it’s better live than on the album, but it certainly doesn’t make me think of Trey’s Shine, an album known for being all catchy pop music and one of Trey’s worst musical works.

The second song on the album, “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan”, is a nice psychedelic rock song that really showcases the “new” Phish. The guitar riffs and lyrics are a bit darker and contrast nicely with the easy listening opening track.

Up next is a song Trey had written for his sister who recently passed away after a battle with cancer. The title track of the album is a beautiful uplifting ballad, slowing down the music for a bit.

The fourth track is a Mike song called “Sugar Shack”. This is a fun funky tune that brings visions of New Orleans (at least to me). It has a hint of a reggae beat. It’s a classic Mike tune that goes down as one of his best.

In the fifth spot is the laid back groove of “Ocelot”. This was a much anticipated song for me. It’s a great easy listening song with a catchy tune, but by no means poppy. The laid back grooves make this a perfect song for a lazy summer Sunday afternoon.

Following “Ocelot” is probably my least favorite song of the album, “Kill Devil Falls”, a straight up rocker. The song itself is pretty good, but it’s almost out of place on the album. The initial guitar riff makes me want the song to be a bit faster and harder rocking than it is. It could be a great 60’s surf rock song, but it’s just a tad too slow.

The next song, “Light”, has an intro that they can extend and practically turn into its own jam when they play it live. The song is one of the best songs on the album. It’s got a nice slow build from the ambient intro into a powerful tune, much in the same style as “Piper”, though the building intro isn’t as long. It’s a nice rocking song, similar to some of Trey’s later solo work from Bar 17 or 18 Steps.

“I Been Around” is a short bluesy Page song that provides a nice little interlude before the epic 13 minute composition of “Time Turns Elastic”. TTE has become known as a set killer when they play it live. While it may someday make a great closer for the first set of a show, only the ending of the song is really worth hearing live. It’s much better on the album than live. Though I did also buy the album Time Turns Elastic with the 30 minute classical composition written with Don Hart and loved it that way, the song just doesn’t pop coming from Phish. I think if they can really work out some better improv with it and sway from playing the exact composition for much of the song, it can be awesome live. Until then, it’s a long bathroom break.

Closing out the album is “Twenty Years Later”, which is a retrospective on life. It’s a slow rocker, again showing some of Trey’s newer writing similar to some of the stuff off Bar 17.

Overall, the album is one of their strongest, only beat out by Billy Breathes for both production and cohesiveness. While Rift is always a fan favorite, the production quality of this album is worlds away. I’d rank Phish’s studio albums something like this:

1. Billy Breathes
2. Joy
3. Rift
4. Story of the Ghost
5. Picture of Nectar
6. Junta
7. Farmhouse
8. Hoist
9. Round Room
10. Lawn Boy
11. Undermind

We’ll see what happens when I receive my Joy box with the Party Time album included. I also didn’t include the Siket Disc or the White Tape in my list, though the White Tape would probably fall near the bottom and the Siket Disc is more ambient jamming than a real studio album.

Two nights ago, I decided it was time to finally crack open a couple of very special bottles of beer that I had acquired. They each stand near the top of their own specific styles of beer and, in my opinion, near the top of the beer world in general. They’re both from New England breweries, which makes them even that much more special to me.

The first beer was the famous Kate the Great from Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, NH. This small brewpub in this small New England city first made headlines when they released their imperial stout a couple years ago. Since then, the hype has grown and the release day has become a national event. I attended it in February and bought my two bottles of the 900 available that day. While the beer on tap was simply amazing and beyond comparison, the bottled version at about 7.5 months old was just as amazing. This is easily the best beer I have ever tried (even when compared to Dark Lord Imperial Stout from Three Floyds in Indiana or Westvleteren 12, the rare Belgian quad only available at the monastery). It’s chocolate, roasted, dark fruit, and even a slight cognac flavors meld together to create a true work of art. The beer is thick, black with a slight ruby color and a small dark tan head. If you haven’t tried this beer, you should do yourself a favor and give in to the hype. The beer is better than the hype (unlike those other two I mentioned).

The second beer is a slightly lesser known beer from a lesser known brewery in Portland, ME. The beer is the 1260 Triple IPA from Stone Coast brewery. The brewery closed last August shortly after this beer was released to the public. The brewery was famous for its 420 IPA and 840 Imperial IPA, along with a host of other great beers. I was saddened when they announced they were closing as the 420 was my favorite IPA from the New England breweries. It was a New England beer with west coast flavor. The 840 was a great double IPA with big bold flavors and a hint of caramel mixed in. The 1260 built upon the 840 with an even bigger flavor, and even though the bottle is over a year old (it was a birthday present last year), the hops were still very present. Upon reading the bottle, you learned that the beer was actually brewed in 2007 and aged for a year before they bottled it and released it to the public. The hops and malt flavors in this beer were terrific and perfectly balanced, creating one of the best double IPAs I have ever tried. I’d take it over a Pliny the Elder any day (have never had the pleasure of Pliny the Younger). The beer is a red amber color with a nice fluffy head. It’s one of the darker IPAs I have seen. It had some of that caramel flavor from the 840, but the hops of the 420. It was perfect in every way, even after a year in my cellar. Stone Coast is the one brewery I will miss. They were one of my favorite New England breweries. Luckily, the Sunday River Brewing Co. is still alive and kicking in Bethel, ME. You can still get some of the Stone Coast beers there, including the 420 and the Alt, which is also fantastic.

I know it’s several weeks since the Phish show in Hartford on August 14, but I wanted to make sure I re-listened to the whole show before I wrote a review. Much of the show is still fresh in my head. After all, it was probably one of the most memorable shows of the summer. I’ve finally had the chance to listen to the show straight through and most of my thoughts are still the same as they were after the show as they were after the listen.

I’ll start at the beginning, leading up to the obvious highlight of the show. The band was scheduled to come on around 8:00 pm. They usually start late. So it was expected that they wouldn’t actually start until around 8:30. That night, the band didn’t hit the stage until almost 9:00 pm. In doing so, they allowed the sun to go down and the sky to go dark. Shows tend to have a different feel after dark. Usually, you only get the pure darkness for the second set. This show was special in that the whole show was performed after dark. The first set started out really strong. Punch You In The Eye was a powerful opener that basically said to everyone that this show was gonna rock. AC/DC Bag came next with a strong showing, but nothing overly jammed out. They quickly went into NICU, again strong, but nothing over the top. Then came the bust-out of the first set with Colonel Forbin’s Ascent->Fly Famous Mockingbird. The crowd went crazy at the first notes. It was really strong, but the combo lacked the narration that usually precedes Famous Mockingbird, which was a little disappointing. The rest of the first set was pretty mixed up and definitely not as strong. The Bird of a Feather that followed Mockingbird was strong with a good jam. Lawn Boy, while always fun, seemed more of a distraction. That was followed by a strong Stash with a great dark jam. I Didn’t Know, again a fun one, provided some of the “Phishiness” with the Fishman vacuum solo. Middle of the Road was fun and followed by a decent Character Zero. The songs, in their own right, were all pretty strong, but the first set as a whole was pretty disjointed.

The second set, however, was probably the best single set of the whole summer. The band came back with the pounding bass intro to Down with Disease. They extended the jam a bit and reached some territory they only rarely hit throughout the summer. It quickly came to a stop as the band started up Wilson, a song rarely seen outside the opening spot in a set. Continuing along with odd placement, the Wilson jam went into Slave to the Traffic Light. This song is normally not seen outside the set closer spot. This is the new Phish. Anything goes nowadays. Continuing the long segue, the band started up a rocking Piper that segued into a nicely placed Water in the Sky, which provided a little breather from the strong jams and perfect segues for the beginning of the set. Little did we know what was coming next. The band started up Ghost, which had a great extended jam that continued with the rocking theme of the show rather than going to the funk that is usually sees. The jam led to the beginning notes of the Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer. It was at this point, we knew the show was gonna be special. The pre-show house music was the Talking Heads, including Psycho Killer, which everyone was singing along with. This was the second time the band had ever played Psycho Killer, totally blowing away the first set’s bust-out. The band brought the music into an electronic 80s video game beeping sound. Apparently, there was a guy in the front row totally dancing to it. Trey put down his guitar and started making fun of the guy and then asked Fishman to dance to it. The “Phishiness” of the show was just beginning. They then started singing Catapult, after which, Trey began a rant about kids and their technology and how no one ever reads anymore while the band started up Icculus. The crowd went absolutely crazy and the band segued into You Enjoy Myself, which lacked much of a Trey jam as he had put down his guitar to do some more dancing, but this allowed Mike to step up and lead the jam. Some wanted a full out guitar jam, but I felt this was a stellar jam and the vocal jam that ended the set had the band leave on an eerie, if not freaky, note. They came back for the encore with the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps. While it wasn’t the best playing (Trey made some mistakes), it was a great finish to an awesome show.

This was only the third show I had seen this summer. As I was waiting for Susan in the bathroom, I saw a few friends walking out. They all had the same thing to say… Set. Of. The. Summer. And it was. There were only 2 shows remaining for the tour. One was average at best and the other was very strong throughout (with the awesome bust-out of Harpua). No single set, however, touched the second set of Hartford with the perfect segues and the classic Phishiness that we all missed during the post-hiatus period. This show has gone down in my books as the best show I have seen live. Coming in second in that list is the 10-8-99 show from Nassau with Tom singing the Who’s We’re Not Gonna Take It from Tommy.

Now back to planning the Vegas originating RV trip to Indio, CA for Festival 8 with my new friends from Twitter.

I went to a tasting of High and Mighty Beer Co.’s beers last week.  They were definitely worth mentioning.  The brewing company is owned by Will Shelton, of Shelton Bros. fame, and brews their beers at Paper City in Holyoke, MA.  He was explaining each beer as he poured them and explained his brewing philosophy and where he hopes to take his brewery.

He explained that he didn’t want to brew the same thing as everyone else.  In his age (which, based on looks alone, is no more than 50), he isn’t interested in drinking high alcohol beers and getting wasted off just a couple.  He wanted beers he could drink all night and not get plastered.  At the same time, he wanted something full of flavor, but different from what everyone else is brewing.  Instead of brewing IPAs, pale ales, big stouts, or crazy Belgian-inspired beers, he brewed some original recipes that don’t stick to any single style.

He started us off with what he said was his favorite of his beers, Beer of the Gods.  BeerAdvocate labels it an American blonde ale.  Will described it as a cross between a German altbier and a kolsch.  It’s an ale that he cold conditions.  It’s a very tasty beer with a nice hop flavor from the German hops.  It’s very refreshing and would be excellent on a warm spring or summer day.  This was also my favorite of the beers we tried that night.  I’m not sure I would have called it a blonde ale, but I can’t really think of where else I’d label it.  It has similar tastes to a pilsner, though it’s a bit more malty and not as crisp.  Not to mention, it’s an ale.  It’s too hoppy to be a kolsch.  American blonde ale is probably the only place it does fit, but it should not be reviewed as one.

The second beer, Purity of Essence, is what he calls an IPL, or India Pale Lager.  It’s basically a hoppy lager.  When I tried it, it reminded me of a toned down version of Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner.  It tastes like an IPA but has a crispness to it that you can only get from a lager.  BA classifies it as American Malt Liquor, but I would hardly put it there.  It’s more of an American pilsner, going with the Imperial Pilsner similarities.  As Will explained, he’s not brewing within any style guidelines, and it works.  The beer is really good and definitely worth seeking out.

The third beer was my least favorite.  It’s called St. Hubbins Abbey.  Will described it as a saison brewed with coriander and orange peel, which are usually found in witbiers.  The beer was good and the spices were evident.  It didn’t taste much like a saison to me, but the flavors worked.  Again, it was something original, but still tasty.  BA classifies this one as a dubbel, but once again, it is most definitely not a dubbel.  I would probably have classified it as a saison.

Finally, we had his chocolate stout called Two Headed Beast.  This beer was excellent.  The chocolate flavors were right on and it was well balanced.  It didn’t taste overly chocolatey and it didn’t taste like chocolate syrup.  It was a nice natural chocolate flavor.  This is probably the only one we had that was brewed to a specific style.

It was very refreshing to try so many beers that were brewed outside of style and weren’t high in alcohol.  I think the highest was about 6-6.5% ABV, which is nothing in today’s standards.  The beers are all solid.  They’re priced at about $5/22 oz. bomber.  And they’re all definitely worth the money and your time.  Will had mentioned that he hopes to have his own brewery at some point with a canning line.  That would be awesome.  Nothing better than more craft beer in cans.  If you have seen these on the shelf and wondered what they were, try them.  They’re good.

So, now you know the reason why I held off on my review of Portsmouth Brewery.  I extended my vacation by a day and went up to Portsmouth for Kate the Great on Monday with a bunch of other beer geeks from RI.  In fact, I was the designated driver of a 12 passenger van.  I’m sure the question on anyone’s mind who hasn’t tried Kate the Great is “How is it?”  Well… it’s awesome, but I’ll get to more on that later.

The final day of the Maine trip, we drove back from the Olde Saco Inn.  Since we had a huge breakfast, none of us were hungry for a while.  We decided it’d be a good idea to stop for lunch in Portsmouth, since it was already 2:00.  We figured the Portsmouth Brewery would be the best place… and it was.  We had to wait a little bit for a table, but it was worth the wait.  Our hunger had crept up to us by then.  We had a great waitress.  The food was excellent.  I had a chicken pesto sandwich with tortillas and salsa rather than fries.  I was all fried out by then.  I tried their Flanders Red with my lunch.  The beer was great (though some disliked it on Monday, I still thought it was excellent).  It was a bit tart and a little musty.  Apparently, it’s not infected, but rather utilizes a sour mash to get that flavor.  I still thought it was really good.  Everyone else got their Oatmeal Stout, which is also excellent.

Anyway, back to Kate the Great Day… We got up bright and early and met at 6:00 to head up to Portsmouth that morning.  We arrived around 8:30 to find that they had already started handing out calendar dates.  They use page-a-day calendars as their numbers for the beer and call everyone up a month at a time.  It actually worked out really smoothly and there weren’t any problems.  By the time we had arrived, they were up to the beginning of July.  We knew we would get our bottles because they released 900 bottles and there was a 2 bottle limit per person.  After we got our bottles, we headed to the Friendly Toast for some breakfast.  The place had no idea what was coming.  They had 1 waiter on and a line of people out the door.  They ended up calling in more and things started to calm down a bit.  I had french toast, which was huge, and pretty good, but nothing overly special (the breakfast at Julian’s is much better).

Once we were nicely stuffed with food, which many of us failed to finish due to the sheer quantity, we headed out and wandered around Portsmouth while we waited for the brewery to open at 11:30.  Around 11, we got in line outside the brewery and waited for the doors to open.  As soon as we made it to the door, we headed to the downstairs bar, which I had no idea existed, and sat ourselves down right at the bar.  It worked out great as a bunch of people we knew who had heckled us for waiting in line were without seats.

We hung out, chatted with various people, drank some beer, and killed some time before 1:14 when they tapped Kate.  They had some great beers on, including their Oatmeal Stout dry-hopped with Columbus hops on cask, which we killed and was followed by their Dubbled dry-hopped with Saaz hops on cask.  Both were excellent.  Being the designated driver, I drank mostly water throughout the day.

As 1:14 arrived, the place went nuts, the bartenders went crazy filling glasses, and we were the first to get to try Kate the Great.  The beer is a very thick black imperial stout.  It has a lot of chocolate flavor to it, similar to, but not quite the same as, Southern Tier Choklat.  There are some roasted undertones, a little coffee bitterness, some fruitiness, and a slight alcoholic warming.  The beer, according to the bartender, is about 12.5% ABV.  It drank like it had 9%.  It was very heavy and I’m not sure I could have drunk more than one of them if I wanted to.  While the party was going on, we all eventually got up and bought our 2 bottles and kept chatting with other beer geeks from RI and CT and all over New England and some from around the country.

By 3:30, it was time for more food.  I ordered the steak and cheese, which was phenomenal.  I don’t know that I’ve ever had a steak and cheese sub that was this good.  It was juicy, full of flavor, and completely hit the spot.  I washed it down with their Dirty Blonde Ale, as I was looking for something a bit lighter.  The beer was an excellent blonde ale with a nice flavor and finish, but not heavy.  The others ended up getting food and as things started to wind down, we decided it was time to head out.  We made it back to RI around 7:00, but decided to head to Julian’s because they had Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien on tap, an expensive beer and supposedly the most expensive keg ever purchased in RI.  That beer was also excellent, though in quite a different manner.  It had a nice vinous quality to it and tasted like a cross between a gueuze, a Flanders red, and a biere de garde.  At 15% ABV, it was strong, but the alcohol stayed hidden.  The beer also changed quite a bit as it warmed up.  It was a nice finish to a great day.

If you’re in New England and driving along 95, stop by the Portsmouth Brewery.  It’s easy to find and the food and beer make it worth a stop.  Portsmouth is a cool little town.  It reminded me quite a bit of a smaller version of Burlington, VT.  If you were at Kate the Great Day and got your 2 bottles, here’s a little tip.  One of the guys in our group was chatting with Tod Mott, the brewer.  He suggested you set the beer down for a year before opening it.  That’s likely what I’ll do, though it will be very tempting to open.  It’s a really good stout, deserving of the hype, and, in my opinion, the #1 spot on BA.  Westvleteren 12 isn’t quite as deserving.

No vacation would be worthwhile without beer involved.  So, since we had 4 beer geeks in the car, there were a few stops.

Gritty McDuff’s Brewpub, Freeport, ME

On our ride up to Sunday River, we stopped in Freeport to visit the flagship LL Bean retail store(s).  Since it was lunchtime, we decided to stop into Gritty’s Brewpub just down the street.  The place is big and pretty open.  There are 2 halves, one with a bigger bar than the other (it’s got the casks).  The side we sat in had the smaller bar with just some taps and regular drinks.  The tables were mostly picnic style tables, kind of like a German bar.  The food was excellent.  I had a burger that was fantastic.  The others in our group also really enjoyed their food.  They had their IPA and Scottish Ale on cask.  I got the IPA, Susan got the Scottish.  The IPA was awesome, but the Scottish was way off.  They also had the Black Fly Stout on nitro, which was also excellent.  We stopped by the gift shop, picked up a mini-keg of the stout and got some t-shirts.

Sunday River Brewing Co., Bethel, ME

At the end (or beginning, depending on which way you’re going) of Sunday River Rd. is the Sunday River Brewing Co.  This brewpub used to be owned by Stone Coast, before they went out of business.  It’s now the only place you can still get fresh Stone Coast beer, and what good beer it is.  I had the Alt and the IPA (still the good old 420 IPA).  Others in the group got the Red, which was also very good.  Their food is excellent.  They do a great BBQ and their house-made pastrami is awesome.  It’s also really cheap.  Pints are normally $3.50, but on Wednesdays from 3-7, they’re just $1.50.  If you’re in the area, SRBC is a “don’t miss”.

Shipyard Brewhaus, Whitecap Lodge, Sunday River Resort, Newry, ME

While this isn’t an actual brewpub or brewery, Shipyard has a bar at the Sunday River resort.  It serves beers other than Shipyard.  It’s a little on the pricey side with regards to the food, which is pretty good, but nothing special.  However, they have pretty much every Shipyard beer available (with the exception of the Pugsley’s Signature Series).  The beer is good, and pretty cheap.  Pitchers were just $15.  They had the Brown Ale, which is a special one, and it’s a good one.  They also had their Bluefin Stout, which was also excellent.  If you’re at Sunday River, you should stop by the Shipyard Brewhaus at Whitecap Lodge for some beer (though you can skip the food here).

And now… last but most certainly not least… (in fact, I saved the best for last)…

Ebenezer’s Pub, Lovell, ME

Note: I’m going to include a review of an inn here as well, because it’s necessary to spend a night if you plan on visiting Ebenezer’s.

The last night of our trip, we stayed at the Olde Saco Inn in Fryeburg, ME.  The inn is off Rt. 5, but way back in the woods.  In fact, the street wasn’t found on my GPS, probably because it’s really just a driveway for the inn.  The inn is gorgeous and the innkeepers are super nice and friendly.  They were very welcoming and accommodating.  The rooms were nice.  There was a huge fireplace in the middle of the first floor, which kept the whole place nice and warm and smelled fantastic.  They were baking cookies when we arrived.  The morning after, we woke up to the great smell of maple and bacon.  Since breakfast was included, we also got a huge meal.  It was well worth the cost.  It should also be noted that they run a shuttle service in conjunction with Ebenezer’s.  You drive to Ebenezer’s, drink a lot of great beer, someone from Ebenezer’s will drive you back to the inn, the next morning, the innkeeper will bring you back to get your car.

Now onto the stuff you wanted to know… Ebenezer’s!

Ebenezer’s Pub is a small restaurant and bar also set back in the woods (apparently, it’s on a golf course, but in the middle of the winter, you can’t see anything but white).  A lot of their business was snowmobilers, for whom they kept the heat down (my only complaint as it was quite chilly in there).  It was packed when we arrived, so we ordered some beer and waited for a table (Susan wasn’t able to sit at a bar height table because of her knee).  The tap list looks like you’re at a bar in Belgium that also serves a few American craft beers.  It ranged from the common Stella Artois (which I doubt he carries often) to the rare Black Albert and Cantillon St. Lamvinus.  In fact, the only non-craft beer on the list was Stella.  He did have bottles of Bud and Corona, probably to keep him in business.  Most of the people in there were drinking something other than the great draft beers they had.  After we ordered food, one of the waitresses started talking to us and bringing us samples of some of the great beers on tap, including Black Albert and a couple Cantillon lambics.  We drank a lot of beer, more from samples than actual orders.  They had Samichlaus Helles on draft as well as a 2004 Stone Old Guardian Barleywine.  Both were excellent.  The 4 Cantillons I had (2006 Framboise, 2006 Kriek, Rose Gambrinus, and St. Lamvinus) were excellent, though not quite as sour as they are from the bottle.  The Black Albert was simply amazing.  It was a little light in body, but the flavor was awesome.  The bartender had also brought us a bunch of samples.  The staff couldn’t have been better.

Ebenezer’s is a must visit for anyone who loves beer.  While they may not have the most taps or the biggest bottle list, they make up for it 10 times over with their staff.  We didn’t even get to meet the owner, Chris.

This doesn’t include all the beer we drank at the condo (Shipyard Export Ale, Geary’s Pale Ale, Geary’s HSA, Sebago Frye’s Leap IPA, Schlafly Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout, and more…).  It also doesn’t include the stop we made for lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery on our drive home.  I’ll write more about that next as it’ll include a bit more than just that lunch stop.

It’s been about a week since I left Maine and I have failed to write about my great ski trip.  We went up to Sunday River for 5 days of skiing.  Consider this a basic review of the entire experience.  We rented a condo at the Sunrise complex with ski in/out access to the South Ridge area (the largest base area at Sunday River).

Condo Review

The condo was supposedly a 1 bedroom that could sleep a maximum of 6 people.  We were told the bedroom had a queen sized bed and 2 bunk beds and the living room had a queen sized pull out couch.  The “bedroom” was actually this downstairs area.  The bed down there was only a full that sagged in the middle (not fun).  The upstairs was tiny with a really small bathroom area and tiny kitchen area that had a table that barely fit 4 people with the way it was situated.  The living room was 3 steps above the kitchen area and had a chair and the couch and a TV with a DVD/VCR player (that ended up not being hooked up, good thing we brought the portable DVD player).  The couch actually was a queen sleeper, though it was lumpy (I didn’t sleep on it, but the other couple did).  Luckily, there were only 4 of us as the hot water barely made it through 3 showers.  Other than those issues, the condo was fine for a ski trip.

The basement of the building had all the ski lockers.  We were not informed that our locker was at the end and not the same as the owner’s locker.  It was just a basic locker, about the size of a large high school style locker.  It barely held 4 pairs of skis and poles.  Had we had 2 others with us, their skis would not have fit and would have had to been kept in the condo, even though you’re not supposed to do that.  I don’t know what we would have done had any of us had a snowboard.

Snow/Mountain Review

I have skied Sunday River before.  In fact, it was at Sunday River where I first learned to ski about 11 years ago.  I took their 4 hour learn to ski program, which has to be one of the best programs for first time skiers available at any mountain.  If I have kids and want them to learn, they’re going to Sunday River to learn.  I skied there the following year when I first skied a blue trail (and busted my knee in a fall on that trail, but got up and skied it the very next day).  I didn’t return until about 2 years ago when Susan and I went back for a couple days, staying in the Grand Summit Hotel.  This was the longest ski trip I have ever taken, and it was well worth it, especially since it was all mid-week.

We all started out the first day in the North Peak area, getting our bearings and feet wet.  I then took off and skied American Express on Spruce Peak and Lollapalooza on Jordan Bowl.  The snow could not be beat.  The weather was perfect, the snow was great, and there was not a speck of ice to be found.  Over the course of week, I managed to ski something on every mountain (though didn’t hit the summits of White Cap, Locke, or Oz – Locke because they were doing racing events on the trails there, White Cap and Oz because I wasn’t ready to ski some of the difficult terrain there).  My favorite trails of the week had to be Risky Business, Lollapalooza, and the 2 blues on Jordan.  Unfortunately, the black trails I had wanted to ski were either left bumpy or closed for race events.  I didn’t make the jump to blacks that week.  I hope to go back next season to make that jump.

Clinic Review

I had taken a clinic there on the fourth, and coldest, day.  I was originally placed in a blue clinic, which I was told was for people looking to make the jump to blacks.  However, there were a lot of people in the clinic and only one in the black clinic and I was told I could join the black one.  So I did.  It was a smart move.  I had Mike from Bridgton, ME as the instructor (I believe he’s in charge of the ski school).  While I wasn’t sure what the clinic was helping with at first, I didn’t realize how much it helped until the next day when I was skiing perfectly parallel (I am a pretty decent skier, I consider myself a strong intermediate skier, but always ended up in a slight snowplow on steeper terrain).  Hopefully, I’ll be able to go skiing once or twice more this season to practice what I learned and get it into my muscle memory before I forget about it over the summer.

Overall, it was a great week.  I could not have asked for more.  The people at Sunday River are some of the best in the ski business.  They are super helpful, the staff is great, the instructors are top notch, and the mountain has something for everyone, from great beginner areas to serious glades, steeps, and moguls.  Susan ended up falling and messed up her knee.  Even the ski patrol was extremely helpful.

It was short lived, but I recently learned that a brewery had opened in my hometown of Branford, CT. When I was down for Thanksgiving, I decided to check Coastal Wine & Spirits for some beers I can’t get in RI. I discovered Carlson Craft Brewery. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were from Branford.

I picked up a bottle of each of their 3 main beers (Coastal didn’t carry their Yule Ale) – Gamma Öl (Old Ale), Bärnsten Öl (English Ale), and Vëte Öl (Wheat Ale). I have since tried the Old Ale and the English Ale.

The Old Ale, at around 5% isn’t like most Old Ales.  In fact, I’d classify it more as a Scottish Ale. It’s tasty, a little smoky, but not much of an Old Ale. Regardless, it’s good and worth trying if you can still find some.

The English Ale was fantastic. It’s an English Pale Ale and tastes just like it came out of a cask (assuming you let it warm to the proper serving temperature). It’s got low carbonation, but lots of flavor.

Upon further investigation, I learned that the brewery is a 1 barrel brewhouse, basically converted from the brewer’s homebrew system. He kept it at 1 barrel to make taxes easier (taxes are based on the number of barrels). Unfortunately, because of the economy and some issues with the landlord, the brewery closed shortly after the first of the year.  It had only existed for about a year or so from what I could tell. I wish Andrew Carlson the best of luck in his future endeavors and can’t wait to see what he does next in the beer industry. He’s a talented brewer.