There are very few beers that reach true unicorn status, where people will literally camp out by the brewery in order to assure their ability to purchase the beer on release day. One beer that was very much in that category for years was Dinner, the double IPA from Maine Beer Company. Before their recent expansion, Maine Beer Company would only brew a few batches of Dinner a year, and each release resulted in a frenzy of people waiting in line for many hours to buy a case. It became so crazy that the brewery switched to a ticket system, where you would enter a lottery and if you won you could swing by after the beer was bottled and use the ticket to purchase your case of beer. With the expansion and increase in capacity Dinner is now much more readily available, as long as you are able to swing by the brewery in Freeport to buy it. The last three times I stopped by the brewery there was a substantial stock ready for sale, and I bought multiple bottles each time. It is always a challenge for a beer like this to live up to the hype surrounding it, but (spoiler alert) Dinner absolutely does, and I am glad some finally made it back from Maine so I could write about it. Maine Beer Company Dinner is brewed with Citra, Falconer’s Flight, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops and is available in draft and in 500 mL bottles at the brewery.
Maine Beer Co. Dinner pours clear light orange with a solid white head. The aroma features a huge burst of hops, loads of citrus and tropical fruit. These hops lead the flavor too, notes of guava, grapefruit, peach, and tangerine along with a mild but noticeable bitter bite. This is balanced by a solid malt backbone, hints of bread crust and biscuits. Dinner is medium-bodied and drinks super-easy for a beer with 8.2% ABV. The finish is crisp and clean with some lingering hop flavor. This beer is stellar, absolutely worthy of the hype. Too many brewers just load in more and more hops to their DIPAs and hope for the best, Maine Beer Company manages to coax maximum flavor and aroma while keeping the beer precise. Highly recommended. Hoppy Boston score: 5/5.
Previous Maine Beer Co. Reviews:
Maine Beer Co. Black Barn Program #5, Maine Beer Co. Fall, Maine Beer Co. Woods and Waters, Maine Beer Co. Beer V, Maine Beer Co. Thank You, Maine Beer Co. Mo, Maine Beer Co. Mean Old Tom, Maine Beer Co. A Tiny Beautiful Something, Maine Beer Co. Beer II, BREWERY OVERVIEW: Maine Beer Co., Maine Beer Co. King Titus, Maine Beer Co. Lunch, Maine Beer Co. Another One, Maine Beer Co./Allagash/In’finiti 2013 Ale, Maine Beer Co. Peeper
Hoppy Boston 
