While we were up camping and tubing on the Saco River, we decided to visit Saco River Brewing Company, what a surprise! They opened just over a year ago, in July 2016, in Fryeburg, ME. They are located in a building or two out behind a restaurant with a decent amount of parking.
They do 4 oz pours and full pints. We ordered a 4oz pour of each beer so we could try all 7 beers they had on tap.
D.O.T. Special – Czech Pilsner 5%
Has a strong pilsner/lager taste. Strong additional flavors added by the spicy saaz hops. Not bad for a pilsner, which is neither of our favorite styles.
Driftwood IPA – American IPA 6.5%
Pours super clear. Does have a malt presence but the hops balance that well and add a good amount of hop flavor to it. Good, not Marks favor style IPA but it’s pretty good and worth a try for IPA drinkers.
Clearwater Pale Ale 4.8%
Pours pretty hazy. Flavor matches description ‘Easy drinking, silky mouthfeel and citrus hop character’, we agree. Nice overall hop profile (citrus) for a pale ale.
Flip Flop IPA 6.7%
Marks immediate reaction “oohhh this is good”. Pours super hazy, you can’t see through it, a definite New England style IPA. No malt character, all hops, on the herbal/grassy but still super tasty.
Sweet Fern Saison 4.5%
Good, easy to drink Saison while still having flavor, spicy and citrus notes. On the lighter side for a saison.
Buck Brown Ale 5.4%
Megan said it had an almost a dull coffee flavor, but in a good way, not an overly bitter coffee taste.
Mark said pretty light overall, not very roasty, more sweet caramel with citrus.
Old Colony Porter 6.5%
Sweet and roasty. Light body for the style, but more roasted here than the Buck Brown Ale.
We sat outside to have our samples, it was a pretty nice day. They have several picnic tables with umbrellas and pop up tents for shade.
They have a fairly small bar area, but another decent sized room off of that with a ping pong table, shown above, and their outdoor space, so they have plenty of seating.
Mark at the bar. There is a whole wall of glass behind the bar so you can see everything happening in the brewery, shown below, not much happening on a Sunday afternoon though.
They have a cool, custom made cement bar with
the river built into it, cool details.
This was a nice visit. They are doing well for only being open a year. It was better than we expected, as we went in assuming it was a “tourist trap.” However, it seems to be a nice combo of tourists and locals based on the amount of growlers we saw being filled.
Check Facebook for hours, we assume
they change with the seasons.
Breweries, Wineries and the fun in between! 