Tap Lines: What Maine beer pros are drinking now, from their breweries and others
The people running some of Maine s biggest breweries offer their recommendations.
By Catie Joyce-Bulay
Photo courtesy of Allagash Brewing Co.
With so many Maine beers to choose from, it can be hard to decide what to try next, so who better to look to for a recommendation than the people running Maine’s breweries?
We asked the brewers and presidents at some of the state’s biggest breweries what they’re drinking now, and while they gave shoutouts to go-tos from their own lineups, they didn’t hesitate to name their favorites from their fellow Maine beer makers.
Wilmington StarNews
If the new restaurants popping up in and around Wilmington are any indication, locals are hungry for seafood.
From Coast Craft Cocktails & Calabash in Carolina Beach to a new food truck from Maya’s Crab Shack in Riegelwood, there are a handful of new fish-focused choices in the area.
One exception is the CBT Burger food truck. It’s the latest venture from chef Bud Taylor, who closed the popular restaurant The Bistro at Topsail in early 2019.
Since then he’s been working as a builder, but missed cooking.
“I thought this would be something fun I could do on the weekends,” he said.
WILMINGTON For Christian Stoner, his favorite North Carolina beer is the last one he sipped.
Originally from London, the trained chef landed stateside and fell into a love affair with craft beer from the Tar Heel State specifically in Raleigh, where he took a job at a neighborhood bottle shop, Hop Yard.
That was six-and-a-half years ago. Today, Stoner is the Hop Yard owner, with his wife, Susan Barnes, and a third business partner, Lance Rogers. In January, they expanded their brand to downtown Wilmington, opening a shop at 108 Grace St., the old Bombers Beverage Co. spot.
It’s not a far path to walk for Stoner, whose calling is in the hospitality industry. Once a bartender at Hop Yard, Stoner learned about various breweries across the state and the art of crafting tasty beer first-hand.
Raleigh-based craft beer spot âThe Hop Yardâ opens new location in Wilmington The Hop Yard opened a second location in Wilmington Friday. (Source: Jack Gallop) By Jack Gallop | January 16, 2021 at 10:40 AM EST - Updated January 16 at 3:40 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The Hop Yard, a craft beer bar and store in Raleigh, has opened up a second location in downtown Wilmington.
Located on 108 Grace Street, next to the Courtyard Marriott, the Hop Yard celebrated its soft opening on Friday with limited customers.
On Saturday, the Hop Yard will be open to the public. Co-owners Susan Barnes and Christian Stoner said the reasons that they chose the Port City for their barâs expansion were both sentimental and practical.
PLATTSMOUTH – The owners of Midwest Hop Producers in Plattsmouth are closing down their hop farming operations, but other activities on the grounds will continue.