For Portland, my personal favorite is Liquid Riot. It’s in the Old Port too, so should be an easy walk. They make possibly the best Irish stout I’ve ever had
Common* ;) Boston: Notch (lagers, best beer in Boston) Long Live (hazy IPAs, better than Trillium imo) Lamplighter (above average at several styles including IPAs and mixed ferm stuff) Portland: Allagash is my favorite vibe and beer in the city, but how strongly I would recommend it depends on if you like sour/wild beer (like spontaneous and brett beers not kettle sours). They also have a permanent lobster roll truck that makes incredible lobster rolls. The cellar tour is worth the $35, it's a cool guided tasting of 4-5 beers in their barrel room Bissell Bros is very, very good, kind of the Trillium of Portland (and much better now tbh) also have recently done cool saisons, stouts, and barleywines Oxbow is also very good, mostly sour/farmhouse/saisons There's a ton of other solid breweries, I haven't had all of them but I know people love one or both of Goodfire and Belleflower for hazy IPAs too I also really love Novare Res and Slab Pizza as beer bars (and Slab is weirdly unique sicilian esque very good pizza) If you have the car for the Boston to Portland leg, there's a Tree House on the way ish in Tewksbury. (Or if you are renting the car in Boston, it's only a 30ish minute drive to that location and well worth it - they are as popular as they are for a reason.)
Last summer when I did similar flying in to Boston and driving to Portland, we stopped at Smuttynose in NH and they had a key lime sour that was so good. I highly recommend Maine Beer Co as many others did. When you do Allegash, I'd say it is worth walking to the other breweries along that same road/area as well.
oooh yeah, Austin Street and Foundation are both right across the street. honestly Portland is my favorite "brewery city" i've been to
In Portland also hit up Eventide Oyster for raw bar and brown butter lobster roll. Oxbow in downtown is a great spot that also has a Duck Fat fry stand. Novare Res is my favorite place in the city for beer and snacks. When you go to Bissell Bros check Thompson's Point to see if there is a concert at the outdoor venue there. Also the restaurant attached to the brewery is really good. I will also be in Portland all weekend for a wedding I don't want to go to.
loved the Duck Fat poutine when we visited Oxbow Thompson's Point was very cool, we got to see Phoebe Bridgers there last year
so fucked up, Catawba closed their location in town and didn’t tell any staff, including management, until the general manager showed up and called ownership who told them none of them had any jobs
hype New Tempe brewery plans to focus on ‘beer geek’ favorites plus hard seltzer A brewer with ties to The Bruery, Wren House and The Shop is opening Catalyst Crafted Ales in Tempe.
late to all the Portland love but Bellflower is incredible and they don't really distribute widely so highly recommend visiting!! Rising Tide is also solid, both spots have nice outdoor spaces - it's really easy to have an awesome day of brewery hopping in Portland since it's so small. Goodfire is also +++ - it's wild how such a tiny city has such a good dense food and drink scene
Lots of Jack’s Abby recently, thrilled that they’re still so easy to find in Buffalo. Definitely helps with the occasional homesickness. Fest of Both Worlds is pretty easily my favorite beer of theirs, and that’s saying something.