Portland Beer Week is upon us (November 4-10), billed as “a series of events celebrating the craft beer industry in Maine.” With nearly 100 events, there are no shortage of opportunities to bypass the “celebrating” and end up stumbling drunk, issuing a stream of single-hopped grisette from y…
The rapid growth characterizing the dining scene in Portland these past few years has been met with mixed opinion. For every major market listicle gushing about where you should be downing oysters this month, there are at least a handful of disenfranchised Portlanders lamenting the days when…
This November, vote as if your life depends on it. If that's not enough — vote as if your BEER depends on it. This isn't a tongue-in-cheek effort to make voting as “cool” as drinking beer. We depend upon our elected officials to express our will through the legislative process. This dynamic …
It's deep autumn, and the brilliant leaves have me in the mood to sip something in unorthodox colors. What fits the chromatic bill better than beers made with actual oranges? The combination of oranges and beer isn't as incongruous as it might appear. In fact, some beers just naturally have…
Almost without exception, breweries don’t start big. In most cases the men and women creating these companies are not rich, and aren’t getting into the business to become so. The dream, then, is to arrive at a scale where achieving a type of financial success doesn’t forsake hands-on guidanc…
For many Maine-based producers and restaurateurs, the month of October has been associated with Maine’s largest food festival, Harvest on the Harbor since 2007. Aiming to create a chance for attendees to meet many of the hardworking folks who have helped gain national acclaim for the Portlan…
(Interior – Food Science Laboratory) A white-coated mad scientist holds aloft a beaker filled with an orange liquid. Toxic vapors cascade from the top of the beaker, condensing and burning holes in the lab bench. Lightning sizzles outside as the scientist cracks a lopsided grin, breaking int…
Introduce me to a beer writer who likes Oktoberfest, and I'll challenge them to a stein-holding competition. I'll get the last laugh, though, because I won't show up. They'll be left hefting a warming flagon of pisswasser, feebly smiling.
Despite being a largely affluent bedroom community to Portland sitting on over 70 square miles of land, Scarborough has long been plagued by a lack of a strong dining options. Aside from a smattering of chains and mid-tier takeout spots, a night out in the “center of town” typically means he…
Vegans don’t exactly have it made when it comes to dining out. Outside of large cities — where vegan-centric restaurants can number in the hundreds — options for those who follow strictly vegan diets amount to little more than perhaps one or two dishes on any given menu, which is in all hone…
There are so many intersections between art and alcohol that an attempt to depict them visually would be an artistic endeavor in and of itself. Words and flavors are my medium, not oils, so this week we'll explore the nexus of art and beer. I'll sample beers from several breweries that are …
Fall is invariably a period of both literal and figurative transition. As temperatures begin to swing downward and nightfall hits just a bit sooner with each passing calendar day, the halcyon glow of summer often fades into a gnawing urge to re-establish routine in preparation for the cold m…
Despite playing host to a food scene that’s become one of the city’s more prominent exports as of late, pizza has never been a strong point for Portland. Aside from quirky outliers a la Flatbread and Bonobo, area pie existed for years in a state of greasy, uninspired limbo until OTTO Pizza —…
Something worth doing is worth overdoing, loyal reader. That's why I'm pushing into uncharted territory with an unprecedented third tasting of hopped sour beers. I'm blaming the unseasonably hot, humid weather for sending my palate into a swampy torpor, for which a hopped sour is the only cu…
Alex Wight is into creating experiences.
It's been a long, hot summer of tasting beers with added fruits and berries. Now, as we're staring at the inevitable arrival of fall, I'm giving my palate a break. This week, I'll be tasting a selection of beers from New England that combine two trends taking the industry by storm: dry hoppi…