Going to Bar Harbor in the winter is kind of a waste of time, as the town is about dead. But I saw online that Maine Coast was open year-round and I was anxious to try a new brewpub.
It's a pretty little restaurant with a nearby building where the beer is brewed. The brewery looked closed for the season, and there were only two other tables with diners. On tap, they had a stout, a brown, and IPA, and what I suppose was an imperial IPA called "Armstrong Ale."
I ordered a brown and Pattie got the IPA. The biggest aspect of the beer was the ocean water taste. Seriously, this beer tastes a bit like sea salt, which makes me think seaweed was added to the mash. I'm thinking this because I bought the "Historic Ales from Scotland" giftpack recently, and it includes a seaweed ale. Here's how the brewer describes it:
Prior to the 1850’s there were many Scottish coastal ale-houses which brewed their own ales, these ales were made from local malted barley which was grown on fields fertilised with seaweed. This environment gave the barley a very specific flavour which we have recreated by the inclusion of fresh seaweed in the mash tun.
The brewer wasn't around, and I didn't think to ask the waitress if she knew. But I'll say Legends' Kelpie Ale is a lot more subtle than Maine Coast's beer, where the 'ocean' taste can make it a challenging drink. Like a heavily-smoked beer, it takes a little time to adjust to it.
It mixes easily with the brown ale, but when combined with hops in the IPA Pattie ordered, the result is a strong tang. Pattie said it tasted "like dishwater," but I thought it was interesting. I wanted to buy some to bring home, but our waitress said they didn't have any at the time. Lesson: Don't go to Bar Harbor in the winter. I do plan on heading back sometime to buy some bottles or a growler. God knows how much they'll cost, though- a pint glass there is $9.
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1 comment:
I wouldn't say "dishwater" ... more like dish soap.
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