Lunch and Dinner Are More Than Just Meals to Maine Beer Company

Shane: Dinner is a legend, with a reputation for being one of the best beers not just in New England, but in the world. Every Dinner release is an absolute spectacle. There's nothing quite like it. People line up along the highway, sometimes overnight, and often in the dead of winter, just to have a shot at grabbing a case of the beer. I love beer, but the thought of sitting on the side of the road and freezing my ass off for six hours makes me want to cry. Short of making a trade, I had just about given up on ever getting my hands on Dinner when the Maine Beer Company unveiled a new, ticket-based method of allotment. I was lucky enough to score a ticket, and, instead of waiting all night to grab a few beers, was able to walk in and out with a case of Dinner and few fresh bottles of Lunch. Since the odds are against me ever winning the ticket lottery again, I figured I'd better take the opportunity to share a couple of bottles with my dear friends.

York: Another beer on the list of unanimously top rated brews! Shane was kind enough to keep me and Pete in mind for a piece of his Dinner score, and I'm pumped to try it out. Even better than that, Shane included Lunch from Maine Beer Company as well, which is plenty highly rated in its own right. This is also right up my alley of trying related brews next to each other, much like our Russian River sour sampling. Love the story about Lunch's name, and everyone loves feeling like they’re part of something exclusive, so this set of beers is full of high expectations and tons of excitement.

Pete: I cannot give Shane enough thanks for snagging us some of this.  And I have to say thank you to Maine Beer Company for being smart about their release policy on this one. To give you some perspective about how things were: a few months ago, Shane went to a Tree House release of King JJJuliusss, which is an ultra rare riff on the beer King Julius, which is an imperial version of the wildly popular beer Julius (following?).  I jumped on Untappd after Shane mentioned this and almost every check in for King JJJuliusss was at the Maine Beer Company because people had already started to wait outside for the Dinner release that was scheduled to occur...the next day. To give you some perspective, Tree House can hours are from 5-8 pm on Fridays, and Dinner was being released the next day. So people were actually camping outside to just to get this beer.

That starts to blur the line of dedication and obsession to insanity. Listen: I love beer, but if you need to worry about where you are going to pee because you plan on sleeping outside all night...you would be excused if you said that was insane. The ticket lottery is just the way to go. It prevents people from camping and helps people feel more included. I have been in lines where regular people have walked away because they hear it is 4+ hours to get the beer. Everyone should get the chance to try special things like this, not just the people willing to brave the elements to camp outside. Beer is for everyone, and I am sure Maine Beer Company wants to share this beer with as many people as possible. End lecture.

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Lunch
Maine Beer Company (Freeport, ME)

Beer Style: IPA
ABV: 7.0%
IBUs: 62
Hops: Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe, Warrior

Description from the Brewery: "There’s a whale that’s swum off the coast of Maine since 1982. One day, something took a bite out of her fin, which is how she got the name Lunch. You have to admire her persistence, so we named our IPA for her. Intense hop flavors and tropical, citrus fruit and pine aromas dominate the flavor profile, balanced by subtle malt sweetness. Because only big, memorable flavor would serve for Lunch."

Shane's Thoughts: I've had Lunch many times before, but I was happy to have the opportunity to see how it directly compares to Dinner. In truth, although they are similarly named, these are two completely different beers. Lunch has a beautiful, melon-y roundness to it that I absolutely love. The flavor is relatively mellow, and it finishes with the slight hint of earthiness that I’ve come to expect from most Maine Beer Company beers. Lunch might be the most balanced beer that the brewery makes--it has a nice mix of citrus and pine, not falling too far on either side of the line. While I think Dinner is the better of the two beers (or at least the one that falls much more clearly in my preference range), in a way Lunch stands out a little bit more. Dinner is a classic New England juice bomb, bursting with fruit flavor and bright citrus haze. Lunch is more understated, mixing in the sort of melon and pine flavor balance that requires an incredibly deft hand to brew. Comparing the two was a really nice treat.

York's Thoughts: I tried Lunch and Dinner at the same time--couldn't resist the urge to compare them side-by-side and try to pick out the differences. Lunch pours a touch darker than Dinner, but has the same-ish amount of haze to it. I get predominantly the citrus profile seconded by the pine, and I don't really get much in the way of the tropical end of the spectrum. The piney hops dominate the finish and there are citrus flavors throughout for sure, but it's most definitely earth-forward compared to most beers from the region (and in relation to Dinner). If I had to sum up the comparison of Lunch and Dinner, it would be that they remind me of their opposite namesakes. Lunch drinks heavy to me, with deeper and richer flavors that I'd love to have with a hearty meal. Dinner is more of the big, bright brew that I want a pint of at the end of the workday.

Pete's Thoughts: I really like this beer, and I think it was cool of Shane to give us each a chance to compare them. This beer always reminds me of lemon peel. The color is a nice hazy straw yellow with the characteristic New England-style soapy foam. You take a whiff and you get so much citrus and fruit character and a lovely backdrop of pine and earthy quality. The beer is light and inviting. It's really intensely citrusy, and it has a good balance of fruit to pine character. This keeps your palate from getting too fatigued. Lunch is always a good beer to pick up if you see it, I think it goes great with seafood. One of my old reliable beers when I go to the bars around here (yes, DC gets a surprising amount of Maine beer).

York: A masterfully brewed New England IPA with everything one would look for in the style. Hazy, rich, and hoppy. 8/10
Pete: I have always liked this beer, it is a surprisingly different flavor profile to Dinner. 7/10
Shane: Incredibly balanced beer bursting with flavor. 8/10

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Dinner
Maine Beer Company (Freeport, ME)

Beer Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.2%
IBUs: 70
Hops: Citra, Falconer’s Flight, Mosaic, Simcoe

Description from the Brewery: "Once we made Lunch, it was time to whip up some Dinner, hence our first Double IPA. It’s dry, refreshing and a hoppy happening. Our intention for this brew was to really amp up the hop flavor and aroma. So we dry hopped Dinner TWICE, with over 6 pounds of hops per barrel. This deep dive into hops means freshness is critical, so when you get yours, only get what you’re planning to drink. No more, no less, no tucking in the back of the fridge."

Shane's Thoughts: When a beer comes with as much hype as Dinner, there's always the fear in the back of your mind that you're in for a letdown. After all, can a beer really be good enough to justify an overnight wait in line? While I can't answer that particular question, I can say with total certainty that Dinner lives up to the hype. It's an almost perfect beer, with an incredibly deftly handled combination of hops that present you with just the right amount of fruit flavor and none of the stick that plagues some New England juice bombs. The nose on this beer is absolutely incredible: from the moment you pour it into the glass, you feel as though you have been transported to a tropical orchard. A blast of mango/tangerine hits your palate the moment you take a sip, and something as simple as having a flavor that lives up to its amazing aroma really has an impact here. I'm still not sure I'd be waiting overnight to taste this beer, but I'm incredibly glad I had the opportunity to get my hands on it.

York's Thoughts: I am always extremely tough on most of the IPAs coming out of New England. As you've seen me complain about time after time, I love the flavor forwardness but just can't get past how sticky those hazy bombs can be. I like my beer big, but I like the taste to finish when the beer finishes. Dinner is the very epitome of the best of both worlds. Massively flavorful with an incredible hop profile range, going from fruit to citrusy to earthy all in each sip. It pours hazy, but not quite as opaque as some others from the area. That haze is completely undetectable in anything but the visual as it finishes nice and crisp with no real stick. Huge hype fully delivered on here, one of the best I've had.

Pete's Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this beer because of the stories I have heard. To me, I see it as the law of diminishing returns. The longer you suffer for something, the worse it is most likely going to be. I thought the only reason that people said nice things about this beer was because they waiting so long for it. I considered it some shallow attempt to make sitting outside all night worth it. Not the case. This beer is really that good. It's bright and tropical fruit-forward, it has some lovely Mosaic dankness on the palate, and it finishes with more fruit character. The beer is a nice hazy orange, and it bursts out of the glass with great aromas of fresh cut fruit. I hope they keep this beer release to the lottery system so that everyone has a chance to try this. This beer lives up to all the expectations I had of it.

York: One of, if not the best IPA I've had from the East. Absolutely nothing bad to say about it. 10/10
Pete: Just when you think you know what a world class IPA is supposed to be, someone rewrites the script. 10/10
Shane: I was prepared to be let down after all the hype, but Dinner lives up to it and more. 10/10

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