Well, well, well! It’s been a minute since I’ve shared with you all on this blog. Throughout the Fall, I admit that I was more inclined to blog on our wedding website. But alas, the wedding is over. While we will continue to use that site for certain updates, like to share photos from our honeymoon and a holiday greeting, I’ll be doing a better job of focusing on The Sleepless Beauty again as we head into 2020!
Anyway, we’re here to talk BEER. Our honeymoon was a New England road trip, centered mainly on a few things – being in Salem, Mass., on Halloween, seeing the fall foliage, and, of course, BREWERIES! Over the course of our 10-day trip, we made our way to nearly 20 breweries/cideries, not to mention, a gabillion restaurants, brewpubs, coffee shops, and tons of other amazing places.
In timeline order, here are the spots we went to!
- Two Roads Brewing, Stratford, CT
- Barley Head Brewery, Mystic, CT
- B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill****, Old Mystic, CT
- Tree House Brewing Co., Charlton, MA
- Samuel Adams, Boston, MA
- Night Shift Brewing***, Everett, MA
- Bone Up Brewing Co., Everett, MA
- East Regiment Brewing Co., Salem, MA
- Lone Pine Brewing Co., Portland, ME
- Urban Farm Fermentory, Portland, ME
- Liquid Riot Bottling Co.**, Portland, ME
- Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
- Battery Steele Brewing, Portland, ME
- Bissell Brothers Brewing*, Portland, ME
- Maine Beer Company, Freeport, ME
- Stowe Cider, Stowe, VT
- The Alchemist Beer, Stowe, VT
- Idletyme Brewing Co., Stowe, VT
- Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, VT
**** = we only did a free cider tasting
*** = so good we went back another time
** = do not recommend, the service was awful
* = only picked up cans, did not drink on premises
Now obviously, we can’t review every beer from every brewery, but here are some of our favorites:
Tree House
The whole Tree House experience is a big deal for craft beer fans. Pulling in the driveway, we recorded a video to the Jurrasic Park theme song, because that’s basically how it feels. From waiting on line to needing a cart to carry out our load, we loved the efficiency and ability to try some beers after loading up the car. My favorites were Perfect Storm and Green, and Andy loved Very Green and Super Treat.
Night Shift
What we liked most about Night Shift was the environment. We went for a couple of beers our first night in Mass. While we were there, we noticed a flier for a Halloween party, and decided to come back a couple days later. The party was a costume party with special release beers (including one called Spooky Spice!), and David Bowie and Taylor Swift cover bands! There is a food truck, great beer selection, and really fun vibe. We brought back Carrot Cake beers for my mom’s birthday! Seriously, something for everyone. My favorites were their One Hop This Time IPA (they make different IPA varietals) and The 87, and Andy’s faves were Morph, Swell, and Zombeer.
Allagash
After so many Hazy, New England IPAs and Double IPAs, we needed a break from bitter beers. Luckily, Allagash had everything we needed! A bonus? Right across the street from Allagash was an industrial complex with three or four more breweries! We absolutely loved the space at Allagash, which included an indoor and outdoor tent space complete with a food truck serving up fresh lobster rolls and lobster grilled cheese. We got a flight of some of the exclusive offerings and, of course, some lobster! My favorite was the House Beer, but I loved all of the brewery exclusives. Allagash definitely tastes better fresh from the tap! Andy’s favorites were the Coolship: Pesche, Haunted House, and the House Beer.
Lone Pine
Portland has NO shortage of breweries, urban wineries, fermentories, distilleries, you name it. We had to choose wisely, because we just could not visit them all. I am so glad we made it to Lone Pine! It was an adorable, cozy little spot with delicious beers. My favorite beer was Quantum Cuddle Kittens, and Andy’s was Dream Team.
Of course, we also came home with a TON of beer, which we continue to enjoy. Each brewery was different, which was really cool to see. We definitely want to make our way back to Portland to check out the ones we didn’t make it to, and revisit some of our faves!
Anyway, we should probably detox soon…