Week # 4 Summary – 8/22 to 8/28 2010

195 Weekly Miles. 1,100 Total Miles.

Breweries: Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams), Boston Beer Works, Harpoon, Cambridge Brewing Company, Mayflower Brewing, Just Beer Brewing, Coastal Extreme Brewing, Coddingtons, Mohegan Cafe and Brewery. (9 this week. 35 total.)

Route: Salem, Mass — Boston, Mass — Plymouth, Mass — Buzzard’s Bay, Mass — Newport, RI — Block Island, RI (via Ferry)

Fenway Park!

Wow, it’s hard to believe that I’ve already been on my bicycle for over four weeks. By some stroke of luck my body has continued to cooperate with  my mission, and my legs continue to spin spin spin day after day, no questions asked. (What a relief!) And also, equally thankfully, I’m still not sick of beer! (I was worried I  might be!) I can’t really think of any other food/beverages that I could consume every single day for a month and yet still “nerd out” with excitement when another is offered to me. This just goes to show as another example of how important and essential our favorite drink of  malted grain, yeast, hops, and water is to the world! Thanks to beer for keeping my spirits up! Read more »

Week # 3 Summary – 8/15 to 8/21 2010

219 Weekly Miles. 905 Total Miles.

Breweries: Sea Dog, Rising Tide, Allagash, Sebago, Gritty McDuff’s, Shipyard, Portsmouth Brewing, Smuttynose, Haverhill Brewing, Salem Beer Works.  (10 this week. 26 total.)

Route: Richmond, Maine — Portland, Maine — Salem, Mass

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Portland, Oregon may be “Beervana”, but Portland, Maine also has plenty of beery goodness going on itself. In a city of only 60,000 people (Maine’s largest), it boosts around 8 breweries. That’s a lot of beer per capita! At the top of the Maine beer movement stands the almighty Allagah and Shipyard breweries. Allagash has always been a personal favorite, due to their passion for Belgium bottle conditioned beers, but I was really surprised to see the extent of their “special release” beers that I’ve  never heard of on the West Coast. A big section of their brewery is lined with barrels for aging. They had several wild/sour beers available, and also a few made with chardonnay grapes! A tasty treat, indeed! Granted, you pay a lot for their 22 ounce specialty bottles, but you do get what you pay for. And it’s still cheaper then compared to the wine market. So drink up! On the other side of town lies Shipyard, located in a big industrial neighborhood. I was really surprised to find out just how many other local breweries they own, contract brew for, or even collaborate with. Alan Puglsey, the owner / brewmaster, is indeed a genius who keeps himself very busy. Apparently he has helped develop beer recipes for other breweries all over New England. (Magic Hat #9 and McAuslan St-Ambroise just to name a few). Really cool tour of each brewery, and plenty of free samples to go along with it! Read more »

Week # 2 Summary – 8/8 to 8/14 2010 

355 Weekly Miles. 686 Total Miles. 

Breweries: La Barbarie, Corsaire Microbrasserie, Kennebec River Brewing, Liberal Cup Public House & Brewing. (4 this week. 16 total.) 

Route: Trios-Rivieres — Quebec City — Richmond, Maine 

Hey everyone! Welcome to the week #2 summary.  It’s been a stellar week! As you can see, lots  more cycling then beer(ing), but that was to be expected during this stretch of the trip. Not as many breweries, but still found some top notch quality brew. The best beers of the trip, hands down, thus far goes to the city of Quebec, Quebec. (We’ll get to those details later) I’m feeling strong (although my bike has still been a little “sick”) and very pumped up, still having a great positive attitude about the journey. And the weather has been very nice and warm all week. And as usual, I’ve meet lots of really nice people both on the Couchsurfing website, and also in the seats next to me at the bars… Read more »