In Lovell, Maine, fifty miles north-west of Portland, on a Lake Kezar Country Club and Golf course, you will find the best beer bar in the world according to Beer Advocate Magazine. Ebenezer’s Pub serves 35 Belgian beers on tap and over 700 well kept bottles.

By far, this is one of the most fantastic places to find beer anywhere.  Upon our arrival, we were lucky enough to be carrying a camera.  Often, this blatant exhibition of a photographic device will get you sneers, or at least sidewards glances of disquiet.  However, we happened out of our vehicle just as one of the owners was entering his hallowed beer cellar.  He shouted to us, “if you want some good photos, follow me.”  We followed him into the basement of a house easily built before the Jackson administration had taken office.  In this cellar of great bounty, there were kegs, there were bottles, there were barrels.  It was a splendid sight to behold.  At this point, we were shown what was promised as one of the most expensive bottles of beer, fetching a price of $2000 per 750mL bottle (I cannot verify this price or the type of beer, that’s the problem with writing a post too long after visiting).  Further, we were shown bottles of a gueuze that were from the early 1900’s and others that were just discovered in the basement of a collector of unknown age.

Have I mentioned yet that we drank beer there too?  No, I’ve just been droning on about seeing it.  What was impressive here, is that there were beers from everywhere on tap.  There were the Belgians (the favorite style of Ebenezer’s), a few Germans, and the West Coast’s favorites, the American Crafts.  We had one of each (at least), in Ebenezer’s “pretend that you can taste all the drafts and walk out upright” size of 5oz tasters.  As an example of what can be found there, the current draft menu includes Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA (limited to one per customer because of its 22% ABV) and Cantillon Kriek 2006 (a rare cherry lambic).  In any case, the selection of beers is practically unrivaled.  The only places that come close in selection are in large metropolitan areas, and don’t also serve delicious food, are on a beautiful lake (or ridiculously near), or have that selection on tap.  Beer Revolution in Oakland comes close, but is a different scene altogether and fantastic in other ways as you will see in the future post about it.

As I said before, we actually ate a meal here too.  It was a good meal, much better than at a sports bar or pub.  But to truly get an amazing meal (and more beers too), the Belgian Beer Festival that Ebenezer’s puts on is an event to behold.  Sadly, this information is second hand from my parents.  While we were there, they were beginning their preparations for the fest, but our trip did not overlap with the event itself.  Luckily, we have spies everywhere, and had them attend.  They reported that the owner was pouring the last known bottles of certain beers, the opening night dinner was sold out and attended by participants from around the country and Europe, the Belgian food was better than the regular menu, and that they had to wait a spell before they could drive back home.

All in all, if you are in Maine and love beer, get here.  I mean, you can only fly into Portland.  Even if you are going to the coast, the trip inland is well worth it.

Further, this trip was an education for me.  When we entered the cellar, the owner asked if we were beer aficionados.  Of course we answered yes.  What we didn’t know is that while we had a good working knowledge, there is always more to know, especially when it comes to Belgian beers.  I thank Ebenezer’s for introducing us to the Gueuze.  I hope you’ll introduce yourself to Ebenezer’s.

Home Cookin’ for Xmas – New England Style +  Some Family Traditions

• Lobster is one of my favorite foods. I have to eat lobster every time we go to Maine. Eating it at home is as good as eating it at restaurant if not better!

It is currently very affordable because of the overabundance of lobster due to the overfishing of its predators.

Pull out your Joy of Cooking and boil those “lobsta’s.”  Serve with melted butter.

Click for “How to prepare lobster”.

• Gjetost Cheese Spread

Gjetost is a cheese that is a combination of goat and cow’s milk. Our family heats the Gjetost very slowly in a pot until the water has evaporated and the milk sugar forms a kind of brown caramelized paste. Then milk or cream is added to change the fat content of the finished product which looks like peanut butter that you can spread on crackers. This is a family tradition to make Gjetost around xmas time passed on by Swedish relatives from Minnesota.

• Peanut Butter Fudge from Kellie’s Belly

Tasty recipes we either prepared or had prepared for us for xmas:

• Lobster Fra Diavolo + Shrimp & Scallops

(Seafood Fra Diavolo) from Kellie’s Belly! Kellie made this for us for dinner in Maine. It was delicious.  It had a marinara and marsala taste to it because of the Chianti. Even if you don’t think you like seafood, this dish was not seafoody in a bad way at all.

(Serves 6)

• 3-4 tbs olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or more if you like spice)
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 24 oz jar of good quality marinara sauce
• 2 lobsters, cooked and picked
• 1 lb shrimp, cleaned
• 1 lb sea scallops
• 2 packages fresh pasta
• fresh grated parmesan
• 1/2 c. dry red wine (chianti works well)

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pan, and saute garlic 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add all herbs and spices and saute another minute before adding the scallops and shrimp.  Cook the scallops and shrimp just until they turn opaque, then add the lobster, cooking 1 more minute.  Add the marinara sauce and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low.  Meanwhile, be sure the pasta water is ready.  Add the red wine to the seafood mixture in the pan and prepare the pasta.  Serve with parmesan cheese.

• Simple Spiced Chai Tea Pudding Recipe

This was a great dessert by Kellie’s Belly. My mom always says that when you are entertaining, you can’t make a lot of complicated dishes because it just won’t all get done in time.   So this is a perfect entertaining dessert to make ahead.

• Poached Pears with Raspberry Sauce Recipe

This is an elegant and fairly simple dessert by our mother. You can use a variety of fillings such as cinnamon syrup or cinnamon ice cream.

Xmas Eve Dinner

• Best Leg of Lamb Recipe: + Roasted Vegetables

This recipe was an experiment as we had never made leg of lamb before.  It turned out to be pretty simple and tasted great.  Make sure you don’t overcook it – rare @ 135-140F is good. Serve it with Mango Chutney, Mint Jelly, and Roasted Veggies.

• Awesome Online Portland, ME Visual Food Map: http://www.portlandfoodmap.com/

• Novare Res: Great Bier Café w/ Artisan Cheese Plates – We want this in our neighborhood!

• Breakfast: Hot Suppa! – Best Corned Beef Hash Ever!

• Cookbook Bookstore: Rabelais

Over the holidays we headed home to Maine. This gave us the chance to checkout Portland’s foodie claims that attracted our attention in this years Bon Appetit article “Portland, Maine–America’s Foodiest Small Town.” Portland has certainly changed since the last time we visited five years ago with much more than your traditional seafood spots and pubs. There are more local breweries and bakeries, quaint & kitschy cafes that highlight modern takes on comfort food, and creative fine-dining with daily designed menus offering creative interpretations of regional favorites. We also went to a wonderful bier café with a beer list of more than 200 beers along with Maine made Meed as well as featuring great mix and match artisan cheese plates.

The Portland Food Map: This is awesome. It is a visual guide to food and drink in Portland separated by category such as kind of food, bakery, and specialty food shops and so on. When you click on the restaurant name it shows you a rating number as well as a list of the reviews about the restaurant. We are looking forward to every town having one of these.

One of my highlights was the cookbook bookstore Rabelais with books about food, wine, farming, and gardening and we of course we picked up more than our share. For one of our fathers we got a gardening for home brewers book and a canning and cheese-making book for ourselves.

At Hot Suppa! we had to try the Corned Beef Hash. It had so much more meat on it than we’re used to with corned beef hash. The meat was tender and was such a high-quality version and we could quickly tell why it is their flagship meal. We also had the special smoked duck breast sandwich with Gruyere, cranberry chutney, and dressed arugula on foccacia with the great mac and cheese side. The rolled French omelet was light and flavorful with the spinach, tomato, and chevre. It looked like there were lots of young and hip shops in this part of town just a few blocks from the old port.

At the Standard Baking Co. on Commercial Street we tried some of the European breads and pastries. We tried the Stolen bread, Fennel Pepper Crackers, and two suggested pastries. The Stolen was really great and we rationed it throughout the week.

Linda Bean’s Lobster Roll Perfect Maine had just opened and we wanted a lobster roll for lunch. Our mother had found the NYtimes article about the restaurant and we read the controversial aspects about the new fast-food lobster joint and the LL Bean heiress’s plans for its future. We have to say the roll was of a very high quality with lots of big chunks of lobster meat and not the typical mashed up, overly mayonnaise version. The clam chowder was also very tasty. It is essentially a Chipotle or Five Guys style higher-quality quick food lunch spot but we were pleased with the beer selection and tasty food.

Novare Res stole the show for us. We loved the HUGE selection of local and international microbrews and Maine flavored meeds. The bier café even seemed to be a family spot at 4:30-5pm on a Tuesday evening with young couples and their babies meeting friends. The mix-match artisan cheese bar was wonderful with the honey drenched Spanish almonds and chocolate drizzled on the plate. We want Novare Res in our neighborhood!

NY Times Article: “In Portland’s Restaurants, a Down East Banquet“