OUR FIRST VISIT TO PORTLAND

We decided to visit the city of Portland on a cool, mostly cloudy afternoon in May. We explored the waterfront area and discovered that it is a working waterfront with lobster and fishing boats, a ferry terminal, and even several fire boats. The ferries travel to various islands off the coast, where we hope to ride our bikes once summer arrives. Yes, you can take bikes on the ferry boats. The waterfront area contains many restaurants as well, which we will explore at a later time. 

We then headed to Old Port, the old section of town near the waterfront, to explore some of the many locally owned boutiques and shops. Ann seemed to say "I'll have to come back here when I have more time" on more than one occasion as we strolled from shop to shop. There seemed to be plenty of pubs or taverns among the shops as we wandered along the old and narrow cobblestone streets.  What a fun way to build up a thirst and have an excuse to head toward Portland's local Shipyard Brewing Company.

We arrived just in time for the 3pm tour. Bear, our tour guide, ushered us into the Hops Chapel, where we sat on old church pews to watch an informational video about the beer brewing process. As you can see below, the walls are lined with various bottles and awards the brewery has earned over the years.

The video explained the brewing process established by Peter Austin, founder of the Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England. Peter came to the United States to be the mentor to Alan Pugsley, Shipyard's first master brewer. The beer making process the brewery uses today conforms to the traditional English ale brewing process - no lagers come from here.

Ringwood Brewery

We then went into the bottling facility to watch kegs and bottles being filled on two separate production lines. It was fascinating to see just how automated the bottling process is, from the bottles being rinsed, filled, capped, labels attached, put into 24-bottle cases and then the cases being put on a pallet and shrink wrapped for shipment--all done without human contact.

The final part of the tour was at the tasting bar. Bear, our guide, provided us with samples of eight of the 12 taps seen below, with a commentary on the taste of each beer served. The most unusual beer we sampled was Smashed Blueberry, a hybrid between a Porter and Scotch Ale. The beer was a dark brown with a purple hue, an aroma of blueberry and a blueberry syrup after-taste. Maybe it was the 9% alcohol that caught our taste buds by surprise.  Drinking it was almost like sipping a strange wine.  Other beer drinkers may love the stuff, but we enjoyed their standard brews much more.

Old Thumper is mounted in the Shipyard Brewary tasting bar as a tribute to Peter Austin. There is a statue of Old Thumper outside the Ringwood Brewery in England. Scroll up to refresh your memory. This stuffed head looks scraggly and the four paws being used as coat hooks makes it look like the man cave trophy of a bad hunting trip.  Old Thumper is also the name of one of the Shipyard beers we tasted.

What a fantastic way to wrap-up a much needed day off after dealing with dogs and dog owners, handlers, etc. for four busy days. 

Shipyard Brewing Company ships their product to 46 states including Florida and California. Shipyard also brews beer for other labels, including Sea Dog Brewing Company which has two restaurants in Florida. The first restaurant opened in the Clearwater area in February and the second just opened in the Lake Buena Vista area, near Walt Disney World. We have been to one of the Maine locations and can vouch for the quality of the beer and food.

Have a cold brew today and think of your friends, Paul and Ann, who sampled many of the Shipyard brews to ensure their high quality.