1 Industrial Way is the premier beer location in Maine, if not all of the Northeast. Located in Portland, Maine, this address has been home to many of Maine's well renowned breweries. Maine Beer Company and Rising Tide Brewing have both taken residence here. Bissell Brothers Brewing Company called this address home until very recently. Bissell's departure was fortuitous for Foundation Brewing by allowing them to expand their operation into the adjacent space. Bull Jagger Brewing came and went, making room for Austin Street Brewing that currently occupies the south side of the building. Although technically down the street at 50 Industrial Way, the Allagash Brewing Company is less than a five minute walk and makes this street block one of the best beer-lover destinations in all of New England.
We were lucky enough to visit Industrial Way on a beautiful sunny July Saturday afternoon. All three breweries (Foundation, Austin Street, and Allagash) have outdoor patios, food trucks, and patio games for young and old alike. Our first stop was Foundation, where we immediately sampled the juicy, refreshing Epiphany IPA.
Next, at Austin Street, we split a sampler tray.
We then moved on to Allagash, which to our delight, had free (yes that's right... FREE) sample trays of brews that we were all new to us (to be fair, I was fairly uneducated on Allagash's selection except for Allagash White).
Allagash closes an hour earlier than Foundation, so when we closed down the Allagash patio, we went back to Foundation for another Epiphany. It was a great afternoon!
The Brews
Foundation Brewing
- Epiphany IPA (8.0%): juicy, spicy noise; very refreshing orange notes from the hops, followed by a slow fade to bitterness; mouthfeel very thick, almost like orange juice
Austin Street Brewery
- Rally Session IPA (3.8%): very hoppy aroma; juicy up front, mild bitterness; all flavor, while tasty, fades very quickly; very sessionable
- Patina Pale Ale (5.3%): bready aroma, although color wouldn't suggest that; better than most pales because it's lighter and hoppier
- Patina Double Dry Hopped Pale Ale (5.3%): same base recipe as standard pale; same nose, smoother mouthfeel; the hop bitterness lingers more than regular Patina Pale
- Six Grain Milk Stout (6.7%): immediate aroma of sweet vanilla; not too heavy, very thin mouthfeel; flavor is very strong vanilla, with no coffee or bitterness like some stouts; very sweet all the way through; great summer stout because it is not too heavy
- A note about the IPA and two Pales: we noticed that, while all had distinct tastes, they all had very similar undertones. We speculate this comes from similar base recipe using the same yeast.
Allagash Brewing
- House (Belgian Strong Ale, 6.7%): clean, fresh taste; great bitterness; slight yeasty aroma
- Sixteen Counties (Belgian Pale Ale, 7.3%): wheaty, bready aroma which was evident in the flavor; smooth mouthfeel; a few at the table thought it was sweet all the way through, while others tasted quite a bit of bitterness toward the end; some tasted a hint of lemon at the end as well
- Curious (Bourbon Barrel Aged Tripel, 11%): aroma in strong and smells like whiskey and vanilla; coconut and vanilla stand out in the flavor; some at the table said the hints of coconut in the flavor and aroma reminded them of the beach
- James Bean (Barrel Aged Tripel, 11%): Although pale in color, aroma is "stout like" with hints of the infused coffee; the bourbon flavor does not translate to a strong liquor burn, in fact, it does not taste like 11% abv at all