The Bowdoin Orient

December 8, 2000
Volume CXXXII, Number 12

Saluting the Maine Brewers Fest

by PHILIP LEIGH - COLUMNIST

   Welcome back to Maine Brews. I've decided to dedicate this article to a beer that was brought to my attention at the Maine Brewers Fest last month. For those of you who did not attend the Festival, an event that I consider to be on par with the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals, or an intramural championship game, it was an overwhelming success.
   All the things that you would wish to see at those aforementioned events were there: bagpipers, local radio personalities, bluesmen playing Cash tunes, and beer. Sweet beer. I overturned a lot of stones in search for the best Maine beer that doesn't enjoy the major distribution of the biggies such as Geary's, Shipyard, and Stone Coast. I can say proudly that of all the twelve six ounce glasses that were allotted (and in my case the significant amount more that I was lucky enough to receive from generous tap-workers), I didn't have any beer from the bigger companies (I may have indulged myself with one HSA, but surely I can't be blamed for that). I spent my time chatting and drinking at the booths of lesser-known brewers' tables.
   For some of these brew masters, there certainly was a reason that their beer was lesser known (may Kennebec Brewery's offerings never make it out of their barrels, and I am reminded by a beer-drinking colleague of mine that the Whale's Tail Ale had all the outstanding characteristics of vinegar), but for a number of others, I wholeheartedly endorse their efforts and hope their fine craftsmanship reaches a larger population of thirsty Mainers. Two beers stood out in particular. First of all, Sheepscot Brewery from Whitefield offers an outstanding collection highlighted by the Pemaquid Ale. I am going to hold off on talking more about Sheepscot until next semester because I plan on touring the brewery and want to dedicate an entire article to my experiences talking with Steve, the brewmaster.
   The booth that I frequented the most, both for its outstanding quality beverages and for the congenial crowd that hovered about, was Andrew's Brewery of Lincolnville. They offered four beers that impressed me equally as fine examples of their respective genres of beer. Most noteworthy, and incidentally the easiest to find in this area is the English Pale Ale.
   I have never tasted a lighter, more crisp Pale Ale in all the beer tasting I have managed to squeeze in since I turned twenty-one (boy, what a wait that was). The efficiency with which Andrew's passes over your tastebuds and down your throat is unequalled. Whereas other beers have a way of leaving something while making their way to your belly, English Ale almost wafts down your throat as clean as if it were a breath of sea air.
   I can best describe English Pale Ale in literary terms. If Moby Dick is the great American novel, then HSA is the great American beer. Like Melvilles's masterpiece, it is awe-inspiring and magnificent and concerns itself with great questions of what it is to be human. On the opposite end of the spectrum is English Pale Ale. Like an ode of Horace; it is light and doesn't take itself too seriously.
   Both works of art (the beer and the ode, I mean) have a way of happening to the drinker/reader for only the period of time in which they are enjoyed. When the poem (or beer) is over, the reader may walk away enriched, but not weighted down by the recent brush with genius. I am reminded of these lines from Horace's To Quinctius Hirpinius (translated by David Ferry) when I drink this beer: "Why weary yourself staring into the dark,/ Trying to see what eyes are unable to see?/ Let's have a drink, under the olive trees." I would be glad to elaborate on my Hampshire Special Ale/ Moby Dick English Pale Ale/ Horatian ode model for anyone who is interested, and I apologize if I lost anyone back there in my musing.
   As an important side note, if you are interested in obtaining some of this truly remarkable beer, the only place that has had it consistently is the The Store on Orr's on Route 24 as you head out to Land's End.
   It would be helpful, as well, if you asked for it by name at your favorite local markets. I have been leaning on Joshua's to get it on tap, but it couldn't hurt if a few more people did the same. That's it for the semester. Please feel free to email me at pleigh@bowdoin.edu if you have any comments or concerns. Also, if anyone has a local beer at home which they are particularly proud of, bring some back from break; I'd love to discuss it. May your holidays be merry and your mugs quickly refilled.