I am trying to do a better job of taking quality photos when I visit breweries, this effort is part of a larger goal of working on improving all of my beer photography. It is still a work in progress, but I think I am making strides. It is especially difficult when I am trying to grab some beers to-go at a brewery while also wrangling my two kids, but I am always up for a challenge. This weekend I took a trip to Maine to visit family and celebrate my birthday, and as a gift to me, we made stops at 7 breweries, two on the way up, one for my birthday dinner and 4 more quick stops in Portland on the way home. I decided to put together a little photo-blog of some of the trip highlights!
Stop #1: Gritty McDuff’s, Freeport. Lunch at Gritty’s has been a family tradition for Maine trips since before my wife and I were married. We always know what to expect, quality food, a friendly atmosphere and classic beers in a range of styles.
I tried their New NEIPA and really enjoyed it, good hop flavor and a little bitter bite for balance.
Stop #2: Maine Beer Company, Freeport. Right down the road from Gritty’s is one of my favorite breweries in Maine, the incomparable Maine Beer Company. I made a quick stop in their beautiful new taproom for some beers to go.
I don’t feel like I am truly in Maine until I am sipping a glass of Maine Beer Company beer by the lake at my parents’ house!
Also amazing, Dinner is now available on a regular basis at the brewery! One of the best beers in New England, look for a full review coming soon!
Stop #3: Liberty Craft Brewing, Liberty. My parents took us to this local-ish brewpub for my birthday dinner. The BBQ was tasty, the views were impressive, and there were some interesting beer options.
I got a flight of all 6 beers on draft, my favorite was definitely Dewey’s Double IPA, which had big hop flavor and easy drinkability for a bigger beer.
Stop #4: Oxbow Brewing, Portland. On the ride home, we stopped in Portland for lunch. Thanks for all the recommendations for family-friendly lunch stops on Twitter, we were going to go to Silly’s but there was a line out the door so we grabbed pizza at Otto. Right down the road is Oxbow Brewing’s Portland taproom, so I hopped in for some beers to go!
Stop #5: Goodfire Brewing, Portland. Goodfire has been towards the top of my must-visit-soon breweries list for a while, so I was excited to finally make it. They were having a big outdoor party with music and food trucks which worked out great, I was able to grab beers here and at two other nearby breweries while my wife took the kids to get ice cream.
Goodfire had just released Prime and Super Prime, the single and double version of their Citra-heavy IPA, and I can’t wait to give these a try!
Stop #6: Lone Pine Brewing, Portland. Lone Pine’s original taproom is in the same building as Goodfire, so I hopped in and grabbed a few beers to-go, including their newest collaboration with The Holy Donut!
Stop #7: Brewery Extrava, Portland. Finally, I dd a quick stop at one of the newest breweries in the area, Brewery Extrava. Brewery Extrava specializes in Belgian style beers, styles that I love and are typically underappreciated in the hop-obsessed American beer market.
After all of these stops my beer fridge is loaded, and I can’t wait to try everything. Look forward to a number of follow-up articles and reviews in the coming weeks! Also, please pass along any feedback on the photo-blog format, I would like to give this a try in the future and continue to improve my beer-tography. Cheers!
Hoppy Boston 
