John and I had been planning a day on the Cape for last week for some time. Due to weather, traffic, and the lack of actual things to do on the Cape, we made a last minute decision to go to Portland, Maine instead. We love Portland; we’ve been several times and it just keeps getting better (equal to, but not to be confused with, our love of Portland, Oregon). Gotta say, I think Portland was a total upgrade over the Cape. What were we thinking?!
Our first stop was Maine Mead Works, a fully operational mead (honey wine) brewery. We were the only people there so we got a very personalized tasting and tour. It was awesome to see how they make delicious wine from local bees and their honey.
Honey fermenters:
It was already lunch time by then so we made a stop at the Portland Lobster Company! Totally touristy but they continuously win awards for their seafood, and for good reason. They are located right on the dock and the boats that supply their fresh seafood are just steps away from the kitchen. Can’t get any more local than that!
Lobster roll for him, fried clams for her, best onion rings ever for all.
Next up we headed to the Allagash Brewery for their tour.
Their beers are great, their flagship Allagash White was my favorite.
Clearly, I am happier about all of this than John.
Their brewery was huge, way bigger than I expected.
Their cold storage barrel room was pretty cool, and included the biggest barrel of fermenting beer I’ve ever seen.
After the tour we headed back to downtown Portland to walk around. Of course we made a stop at our favorite kitchen store, LeRoux Kitchen. I love everything about this place!
The last brewery on our trip was Shipyard Brewery. It was a little lackluster, we only saw their video tour instead of an actual tour and their staff was kinda jerky. Their beers are decent though!
We did get to see the packaging/bottling line, which was cool.
We went back downtown for some more walking around and window shopping. Portland has so many cool stores, I love walking around there.
Our last stop before we headed home was Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream. The staff was awesome and their flavors were totally unique. President Obama recently went there on a trip to Maine!
I had a scoop of their salted caramel ice cream (which I am determined to make at home) and a scoop of their malted milk ball. Both were amazing. John had the salted caramel and the Nutella ice cream (almost as good as my own!).
The whole day was perfect, full of adventure and fun, just how we like to travel!
Check out our haul from the day:
Domestocrat 
Looks like an awesome trip! If you like hoppy beer, check out Shipyard Export Ale.
It was! That was one of the samples at the brewery, definitely one of the better ones!
ugh, your day was so much nicer than mine! it was so rainy and foggy just 2 days later. i want to go back soon!
Nuts!!! Do you have to go back for work anytime soon?
That was a really great day! I love the idea of beer honey and your pics are great! I’ve heard of the Portland Lobster Company – but with my severe seafood allergies – something tells me I can’t order off the menu…
Yeah, you’d probably want to stay away! Sadly!!!!
I was actually in the parking lot at Allagash this weekend! The group I was with arrived too late to get a parking spot and go on the tour (but I live in the area, so it wasn’t a tragic disappointment). We were around the corner at Rising Tide Brewing Company, the smallest brewery in Maine – they do tours on a by-announcement (facebook, twitter) basis, and asked too many questions to get to Allagash on time.
Maine Mead Works is on my list now. I didn’t realize they offered tours!
Small world! How was Rising Tide? I’m intrigued!
Maine Mead Works was excellent, a definite for your next trip!
Rising Tide is great. I’m biased because the owner and his wife are friends of mine, but luckily the beer is excellent (much less awkward to genuinely rave about your friend’s beer…). The tour isn’t extensive because it’s essentially a one-room operation, but it’s especially awesome for anyone who’s brewed their own beer and daydreamed about brewing for a living one day. My husband and his friends looked like they were visiting heaven. ;)
That sounds awesome! :)