Twice in a Lifetime: Magdalen Islands Redux - Part Deux (feat. Moncton, Canada Day & our descent back into 'Murica)

Editor's Note: I decided to begin with the second half of our trip to Canada and New England rather than from the beginning for many reasons, one of which is simply because I remember more about that part of the trip. The other reason is because I never started a blog at the end before. So that's kind of cool, right? Part 1 will be coming in a few weeks. Enjoy!

Once we departed the islands, it was a full-on "Beer-a-Palooza." I always enjoy visiting breweries I know absolutely nothing about, and we were about to hit several. Our first stop after getting off the ferry and onto the mainland was Bogside, which is situated in Montague, PE. The name of the brewery is derived from the historic local name for the neighbourhood along the north side of the Montague River. Once an industrial area along the waterfront and railway tracks, Bogside is known as a place for curious souls to explore... like we Pour Travelers!

I decided to try my luck with North Lake Lager, a German-style Pilsner. I'll admit I wasn't expecting much, but this beer checked off all of the boxes with regard to things I love about pilsners. Crisp and refreshing? Check. Grassy with a slight mineral quality? Indeed. A hint of citrusy hops? You bet! Overall, this was a textbook example of the style, so naturally I enjoyed it immensely. This turned out to be a relatively quick stop, so I was only able to enjoy this single beer. I'm glad it was a great one!

Up next was Copper Bottom, just a hop, skip and jump away from Bogside in Montague. PEI's first craft brewery, Copper Bottom is situated on a fairly steep hill and overlooks the beautiful Montague River. This was also a one-and-done deal, so I played it safe and ordered a pour of Broadside, a West Coast-inspired American Pale Ale with a clean, citrus finish and touch of pine.

We also decided to grab a bite to eat since they had handpies. A local delicacy, a handpie is a savory, hand-held pie featuring half a pound of locally sourced meat and vegetables. Copper Bottom offers a rotating selection of these delicious little crusty delights. Brewslut and I each enjoyed the Chicken Pot Pie handpie, and it was delicious! Some of the gang also enjoyed hand-shucked local oysters. It was a pleasant day, so we decided to sit on the deck overlooking the river.

Our next stop was a renowned beer bar in Charlottetown called Hopyard. Touting a motto of "Beer, Food & Vinyl," nobody had to twist my arm to check out this place.  Hopyard curates the most comprehensive collection of craft beer on PEI and gives preference to independent breweries in the Maritimes and across North America. They also have a few bins of records that you can spin during your visit or purchase to take home. I browsed for a bit and picked out something cool, but I can't remember what it was.

Beer-wise, it was nice to see our friend Greg Nash represented on the tap list with his Unfiltered Brewing's Riddle of Steel. This bright and juicy is a hopped-up West Coast meets NEIPA hybrid. Hazy but "bitter as fuck" in the finish (Greg would probably say that), this was another fine beer in a long list of world-class IPAs. We got to meet Greg on our last trip to Canada, and the guy is a hoot. He's also a craft beer legend in Canada (and among our Team D(r)INK comrades). If you ever find yourself in Halifax, NS, do yourself a favor and stop in for a visit.

Up next was a stop by the Craft Beer Corner, which is essentially a taproom for Charlottetown's own Upstreet Brewing. First up was a pour of Rhuby Social, a spiced Witbier brewed with strawberry and rhubarb. Tart and refreshing with a tropical flair and hint of salt, this one was pretty tasty. 

I also tried Orange Mandarin Gose, listed as an "Artist Residency Beer." Apparently, some guy named Peter Christenson helped brew this 4% ABV tart ale with mandarin oranges. Unfortunately, I vaguely remember this place, so details are spotty. 

One thing I do remember, however, is CHICKEN CHIPS! See?

I was obsessed with chicken chips on this trip.

And, of course, Dildo Brewing Company... AND Museum. Man, I NEED to get there some day. Maybe next time we can squeeze it into the itinerary. I'm sure it would be a stimulating visit.

...AND museum.

We closed out the day with an epic beer tasting back at Greg's house, with plenty of his Canadian friends in attendance. One of the local beers we sampled was Hopfenweiss by CAVOK (pronounced CAV'-oh-KAY'). It was kind of a hoppy Hefeweisen, and it was pretty tasty. We actually got to meet the two owners/brewers (Serge 1 and Serge 2) at our tasting, as well as a veritable "Who's Who" of the Moncton beer scene. We also sampled a few beers from Dieppe's own O'Creek Brewing, including Coffee Island, an imperial stout with cold brew coffee added, and Route 117, a NEIPA boasting tropical notes of pineapple and mango as well as peach. We also got to meet the brewer and owner of O'Creek, Patrice, who brought along a ton of his beer. I also had the opportunity to sample countless other Canadian beers from breweries all over the country, including Roof Hound (Digsby, NS), Brasserie Dunham (Dunham, Quebec), Lunn's Mill (Lawrencetown, NS), Bellwoods (Tornoto, ON), and Tatamagouche (Tatamagouche, NS), among many others. It was one of the most epic bottles shares - with the smallest group to boot - I've ever attended. Cheers again to Greg for hosting these two amazing beer gatherings! 

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Once again, we found ourselves in Canada on Canada Day, eh! Like five years, we got to celebrate with our friends from the Great White North on the day the Constitution Act of 1867 went into effect. This Act united the three separate colonies of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into what is now simply called Canada. Makes sense, right? And what better way to celebrate than to hang out in the rain at a pop-up beer garden before going to see a free April Wine concert in Moncton? Answer... there's none better way! 

We kicked off the cold, dreary day at Le BarBu, the aforementioned pop-up beer garden in Dieppe, Moncton's neighboring town. It's basically the same town, but Moncton is just way more fun to say, so from here on our let's just call it Moncton. Ok? Ok.  Basically, Le BarBu is a bar inside a shipping container that offers a European beer garden experience. Seriously. That's even what their Facebook page insists.

If my memory serves me correctly, the first beer I had was Patagonia Pale Ale from Graystone Brewing, based out of Fredericton, NB. This beer, a light-bodied pale ale with a tropical hop character, seemed to be an appropriate beer with which to usher in Canada Day. I asked one of the bartenders how I get one of those cool little Canadian flags, and she just gave one to me. So I had a little flag to wear and wave around on Canada Day. Beauty, eh? 

The April Wine show was pretty enjoyable. Sadly, I wasn't familiar with more than a handful of this classic Canadian band's catalog. I was, however, surprised when they whipped out a sweet version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," which I later discovered they'd covered on one of their albums. Ricky would have loved this show because they also played "I Like to Rock," even though he thinks it's a Rush song. 

We hung out in the beer garden the entire time because, well, they had a pretty killer lineup of local Canadian craft beer. During the show, we enjoyed a beer from Tide & Boar called Millions of Peaches, which is described as a "sour sundae ale" brewed with fuzzy peach candy, milk sugar, and flaked and malted oats, then conditioned on peach puree and vanilla beans. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We also enjoyed another Tide & Boar offering called Sour Otis, a raspberry and hibiscus Berliner Weisse. I remember this one being much thicker than a traditional Berliner Weisse, and it certainly was heavy on the raspberry. I recall it being more like liquid sorbet.

After the show, Deuane, Greg, Brewslut and I decided to hit up Gahan House, essentially a taproom for PEI Brewing Company. I settled on Snowbird Juicy IPA from its "After Hours" small batch series. Turns out this beer has since graduated to a Gahan-branded beer in its own right. Essentially a NEIPA, this one was soft and juicy with a tropical fruit character. I also enjoyed the Margarita Gose, a very tasty sour, salty gose with lots of juicy citrus notes. 

We made our way back to Greg's after rocking out in the appropriate Canuck style with April Wine. And thus ends another fine Canadian adventure. Now, it was time for our descent back into 'Murica for further drinking shenanigans at a host of new-to-us places we'd yet to visit. 

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First up was a stop at Mason's, a brewpub overlooking the Penobscot River, appropriated situated in the town of Brewer, ME. The name Mason’s is a nod to John Mason, an explorer who mapped and discovered the early waterways in this region of Maine. In 1622, Mason and fellow explorer Sir Fernando Gorges were granted the territory between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers, which was known as the Province of Maine. There's more to the story, of course, but that's probably enough to satisfy your curiosity without diving too deep into the geography of it all.

Beer-wise, the draft list was rife with lots of interesting stuff, most notably a bevy of IPAs and other similar hoppy ales. I was immediately drawn to a beer named Hipster Apocalypse, a NEIPA with a fitting name. Since all the cool kids are drinking "haze brah" beers these days, the clever name wasn't lost on me. Regardless, we all got a chuckle out of this beer's clever name. This one was one of the rare enjoyable NEIPAs I've come across in the last year. This one wasn't quite so "haze brah," actually. It was also insanely quaffable at a mere 5.7%. Brewed to showcase the relatively new hop variety, Idaho 7, Hipster Apocalypse displays a dank, piney nose with strong tangerine attributes.

I also enjoyed a pour of Coffee Stout, which was pretty tasty. Of course, I couldn't locate any fun details about this beer on the Interwebs, so let's just leave it at that.

Their beer label artwork is pretty badass. I should have snagged a few cans to bring back home, but I unfortunately didn't get to fully enjoy this place because I was in the midst of a hotel booking debacle between Priceline and PayPal. Long story short, I tried unsuccessfully to book three hotels for that evening in Maine through Priceline. However, they actually (or supposedly) had taken the money from my PayPal account. When the rooms weren't verified, I tried again, and they took the same amount of money AGAIN, but still we had no room confirmation. Needless to say I was fuming.

Still, I managed to pull my shit together and enjoy the two beers I tried here. Meanwhile, the weather had been cooperating, so we decided to sit in the outside patio area. This of course was just before the shit went down with the Battle of Priceline and Paypal.

After my slightly nerve-racking experience at Mason's, we headed across the river to nearby Bangor, ME, to hit up a few places. First on the agenda was 2 Feet, a tiny 2-barrel brewery on Columbia Street.

Inside, 2 Feet is a ragtag little place that immediately reminded me of The North in Endicott, NY. The beer list was pretty scant, with about 6 or so offerings. I opted for a beer called Maine Morning, a blonde ale brewed with maple and coffee. This one was pretty solid and my favorite of the three beers I sampled.

Meanwhile, we camped out at a round table in the corner near the front window. I liked the vibe of this place, and the young guy behind the bar was friendly and talkative. There was only one other patron during our visit, an older lady, who hung out at the bar and seemed to know the bartender. The bar itself was pretty cool and appeared to be constructed of barrel staves.

The next beer I tried was Borscht Weisse, a sour ale brewed with beets that turned out to be the talk of the table. I don't think I've ever come across a beer as "cheesy" as this one. It was like liquid Limburger, as pungent and stinky as any funky cheese I'd ever encountered before or since. As for the name "borscht," I always thought it was some kind of German meat. Turns out it's a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with a Ukrainian variation of the soup made with beetroots, which give the dish its distinctive red color. However, this beer was waaaay more cheesy than beet-y. Go figure.

I couldn't leave without at least trying a beer named Riker. Permission to drink freely, captain. Sorry, but I'm a huge Star Trek: TNG fan. This was almost like an imperial English Bitter, weighing in at a whopping 7.2% ABV. This bitter was so heavy that I had to lean onto the table after taking a few sips. (Dan will appreciate that inside joke.) Meanwhile, Pleeps was having a grand time playing Barrel of Monkeys with Brewslut.

Up next was Orono, a short walk from 2 Feet. Originally situated in the town of Orono, ME, we actually visited the Bangor taproom. Located in a restored historical building in downtown Bangor that previously housed Bangor Cigar Manufacturers, this cozy satellite tasting room features upwards of fourteen Orono beers on tap. 

Brewslut and I decided to try just about everything, so we opted for two separate sampler flights. We ended up sampling ten different beers, lots of them IPAs. Here's the lowdown:

• Feelin' It IPA - Juicy and tropical IPA thanks to intense dry-hopping with Citra, El Dorado, Mosaic, and experimental hop HBC 692. Brewed to celebrate a decade of live music at Bangor Waterfront. 
• Bog Monster DIPA - Tropical-forward DIPA double dry-hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe, Galaxy and a heavy dose of lupulin powder. Brewed with Maine-grown grains to support the Orono Bog Boardwalk. 
• Tubular IPA - Triple dry-hopped and juicy IPA featuring tropical, stone fruit, red berry, and tangerine flavors. Hopped with Galaxy, El Dorado, Citra, and Topaz.
• The Way Life Should Be IPA - Juicy IPA brewed with Maine-grown grains and triple dry-hopped with massive amounts of Galaxy, Mosaic, Ella, Citra, El Dorado, and Vic Secret. In collaboration with L.L. Bean.
• Tiger Style Fierce Pale Ale - Massively dry-hopped pale ale with Citra and El Dorado.
• Hazelnut Coffee Elwood Brown Ale - Roasted malts and hazelnut Carrabassett Coffee beans blend together to provide a rich, nutty flavor and deep coffee aroma.
• Gonzo Gose - Persian lime and blueberry Gose with Himalayan pink salt brewed in collaboration with Novare Res, one of my favorite beer bars in Portland, ME. 
• Fruity Kettle Sour (Raspberry / Peach) - Kettle sour with peach and raspberry additions and lacto cultures from our friends at Kennebec Cheesery. Yaaaay peach! 
• Clemens Cove Cherry Saison - A blend of two different saisons each fermented with multiple farmhouse yeast strains and Brett C. The base beers were blended together in stainless steel and aged on sweet cherries before being blended with a portion of fresh Gose. The bright cherry flavor is balanced with light tartness and a hint of Brett. 
• Striar Mill - Russian Imperial Stout aged in American oak bourbon barrels to unlock rich layers of decadent dark-roasted malt and toasted oak flavors. 

There's a lot to soak in with that lot. We obviously weren't messing around at this place. Unfortunately, it was sampler overload: good for Untappd check-ins, but bad for my limited memory. I do remember really liking this place, and it was probably my favorite brewery of the day. While we did sample a ton of different IPAs, I remember liking the other styles more, especially the brown ale, gose, and RIS. Good stuff across the board, though. 

Up next was another Bangor taproom of an Orono-based brewery called Black Bear. A small, family owned brewery and tap room, Black Bear began operating in 2008 on a 10-barrel brewhouse and eventually opened a small taproom in 2013. The brewery currently distributes its beers across Maine. The taproom also hosts live local music regularly, so bonus points there.

This turned out to be a quick one-and-done stop for us. Not only were we getting a little fatigued, but the beers were fairly pedestrian overall. The place itself is a cozy little cabin-esque brewpub in the heart of Bangor. And who doesn't love a cute little bear?

I opted for a Pail Ale, described as a hoppy American pale ale. One of its core year-round beers, it's a throwback to simpler times in American craft brewing that hearkens back to the days when Cascade and Centennial hops were all the rage. This was drinkable but ultimately not memorable. Thankfully, we had about a two-hour break before our last stop of the day to recover a bit. 

We ended the day about 80 miles southwest of Bangor at The Liberal Cup Public House & Brewery in Hallowell, ME. Fortunately, we arrived about five minutes before the kitchen closed. Brewslut and I were famished because we skipped dinner at the last place we'd visited. This place is about as old-school as it gets, people. They offer a rotating tap selection of 6 house beers including a cask-conditioned offering and a craft guest tap. Beers are served in British, or imperial, pint glasses, which means you get twenty-ounces of beer rather than a mere sixteen. 

Beer-wise, I decided to go with something called Lemon-Lime Bug Lager, a variation on one of its regular beers, Bug Lager. For whatever reason, I was pretty certain that I wouldn't like the beer. Turns out I was wrong. It was a pretty crisp, refreshing lager-meets-Sprite concoction that somehow worked for me at that particular time and place. Go figure. I asked why it was named "Bug" Lager, and our server told me, but I forget her answer. Perhaps it sounded like "Bud" i.e. Budweiser. That actually sounds right. If I'm wrong, that's what I'm going with. Final answer, Regis. 

I don't even remember what I got for dinner, but it definitely did its job. Our waitress here was really fun and the beer was solid, especially for such an old-school place. Liberal Cup definitely screams mid-90's English-style brewpub, but it seems like they are still delivering the goods. Actually, it opened in 2000 but the vibe is definitely old school... and I dig!

So, this brings us to the end of part 1 of part 2... or something like that. Tune in next time as we tool around one of my favorite East Coast towns - Portland, ME - as we complete the final leg of this epic two-week trek. Until next time...