Brew Bus

Our Road Team will next be in our hometown of Portland displaying at the Bearded Brewfest on March 19th. Learn more about the event in today’s post. Join Maine beer (and great beard) lovers at the Bearded Brewfest at Sullivan Gym in Portland on Saturday March 19, 2016 for unlimited tastings from some of great craft breweries while browsing interesting beard-related vendors. This festival benefits the organization Til Duty is Done. No beards are required to attend the festival, but we personally know of several area brewers and owners who have been working on their whiskers for the event. We’ll be there again as a sponsor and display vendor with updated information on our new tours here in Maine, our Boston plans, and our famous Wheel of Brew Trivia. This festival is unique as it was designed and is run by…

One of our favorite beer festivals of the year happens each February inside The Boston Globe Travel Show. Learn about why we go to this event and how it benefits us. The Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion inside The Boston Globe Travel Show is like an oasis for a beer lover. In one corner of the massive travel trade show sits a section reserved for people who want to travel through a world of craft beers. Over 40 different breweries and cider producers come to the event and pour multiple different types of beers for the attendees. The travel show is impressive enough! Inns and resorts, towns and regions, states and countries, cruise companies, and airlines come and display with booths designed to attract travelers to come and spend their travel money with them. Entry into the travel show is relatively minimal, tickets are…

We recently brought our USBG tour to visit with Tom Bull and check out his soon to open Dirigo Brewing Company in Biddeford, Maine. See what we found in this special preview report. The name Tom Bull brings up a knowing smile with many craft beer drinkers in Maine. Tom Bull and Mark Paulin of…

Our good friends at Maine Mead Works recently hopped on The Maine Brew Bus for their second staff outing with us. Find out more about our honey-loving partner in today’s Beer in ME post. Our partnership with Maine Mead Works of Portland has been tremendous for both companies. Their prime Portland location and hours of…

Last year we learned that birds and beer go very well together!  We are excited to announce the 2016 Birds On Tap – Roadtrip! series in collaboration with Freeport Wild Bird Supply. The idea for this series comes on the heels of several very successful lecture and book signing programs sponsored by Freeport Wild Bird Supply,…

We have added another key person to our growing faculty. Meet Alexa, a Massachusetts native with a fondness for Maine and a strong craft beer pedigree. Learn more about her in today’s blog post.  When you grow up in a household where your father is a craft beer fan, you might have not paid attention to what was in the fridge. But when your father also writes about craft beer on his own blog (read the Beer-Journal.com), then you probably know quite a bit more about the specifics about what’s happening with the revolution of craft brewing. Alexa joined our team earlier this year and is trained as a driver. Soon, she will be fully trained to assist our guests as a guidance counselor. Learn more about Alexa in her own words: I grew up in Harvard, MA and graduated with…

Thinking of traveling somewhere fun this year? And do you like to drink beer? Come out and do both in the Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion at the Boston Globe Travel Show. On Saturday February 20th and Sunday February 21st we will be in Boston at the Seaport World Trade Center for the Boston Globe Travel Show. The show features displays and exhibitors showcasing travel destinations from around the world. It’s kind of a one stop shop for travel inspiration and planning. Why will we be there? Because there is a beer festival right in the middle of the travel show! The Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion will feature over 40 different breweries and cideries, each bringing multiple brands of beer and cider. This will be our third year displaying at this show, which brings interested travelers and industry folks from all…

We have recently added Kelly to our tour operations staff.  Learn a little bit more about her interesting background in today’s The Beer in ME post. I’ve written before about how many of our current and past staff members have joined the Maine Brew Bus team shortly after moving to Portland. It’s a great way to learn about a new community by visiting multiple small (but growing) locally owned businesses on a weekly basis. And by talking to our guests, it can often reaffirm a big decision recently made to live in the community of Portland. Kelly is a perfect example. She contacted us in October as she had made the decision to relocate from Boston to Portland. Her professional background is in science, but like so many people she really wanted to also work for something that she is passionate…

Andy’s Old Port Pub is on Commercial St in Portland, right across from our official home at Craft Beer Cellar. After watching several thousand guests board our buses for educational fun, the owners of Andy’s closed for Andy Day so their staff could have some fun too. This is essentially what the staff at Andy’s watches…

Joel Alex had a vision to connect Maine-grown grain directly to Maine’s brewers. His Blue Ox Malthouse in Lisbon Falls now prepares various grains for use in breweries. We recently went to their open house celebration to learn more about the unsung hero of beer. It takes tons of grains to make beer. After water, grains are the most predominant ingredient in the beer making process. Specifically barley is used in massive quantities to make beer, with other grains (wheat, oats, rye, and others) playing a part as well. So the good news is that in Maine barley is grown in great quantities. Maine’s cool climate and uniform rainfall are well suited for good barley crops. Barley rapidly develops a wide root system, and requires a well-drained soil bed. In Aroostook County (and in other areas of Maine) the soil drains well…