Maine Beer Company Dinner Double IPA: Brewed in Freeport, Maine this top 10 ranked Double IPA (see ratebeer) is brewed to a strength of 8.2% abv with an undisclosed level of IBUs. This particular beer is pretty difficult to obtain outside of North Eastern USA and due to its high rating heightened demand, tracking a bottle down can be a real struggle. Beyond that challenges of getting it, I had to stare at this in my fridge for almost two weeks before drinking it because I was sick, however thankfully the cold finally passed and I got to enjoy it on a Friday evening about 7 weeks after the listed bottling date.

Flavour: Dinner starts off with some rich caramel malt joined by lemon citrus and a familiar SunnyD (aka Sunny Delight) flavour upfront that quickly moves into a clean balanced bready middle that’s accented with nuances of grapefruit rind and pith. The finish highlights lingering pine resin, grapefruit citrus and a slight herbal bitterness that lingers for a few moments at the back of your palate before dissipating and begging to be replaced by another sip.

Overall Impression: A very, very nice beer which is notably similar to Russian Rivers’ Pliney the Elder mirroring its piney, Simcoe based clean bitter finish and balance all while sowing off a few other interesting East Cost DIPA trends.

Rating: Awesome at 9/10, very well executed and quite an interesting Double IPA.

Food Pairing: Given the big citrus notes and bitter finish, some mildly spiced chicken or fish tacos would go with with this beer, over dinner of course!

It always excites me to see a brewery embrace clean energy options and the kind folks in Maine show their commitment to renewables quite proudly at their brewery. Pictured below is a pretty large Solar PV system here, which combined with many other community partnerships and charity programs they support, quickly makes them a brewery I have the up-most respect for beyond just the great beer they make.