I made my first-ever stop at Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. in Belfast on Saturday, and I can say right now that I intend to stop whenever I go Down East. They make some unusual beers — including three smoked beers while I was there — and they make them well.
But I am not going to wait until I get to Belfast again to try their beers. Novare Res at 4 Canal Plaza in Portland is holding a Marshall Wharf showcase on March 4.
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“We plan to bring down 27 beers and fill every one of their taps,” said David Carlson, who co-owns Marshall Wharf with his wife, Sarah.
Marshall Wharf has been in business for a little less than three years, operating out of Belfast’s original granary. You can buy its beer in half-gallon growlers at the tasting room and on tap at Three Tides restaurant next door, also owned by the Carlsons. The Carlsons and their two young daughters live above the restaurant.
The restaurant is closed until St. Patrick’s Day, but the tasting room is open noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays or by appointment. Call 338-1707 or visit marshallwharf.com.
The brewer is Dan McGovern, who operated a brewery in Lake George, N.Y., before coming to Belfast Bay Brewing Co. Belfast Bay is now closed, although versions of its Lobster Ale and Oatmeal Stout are offered by Shipyard in 12-ounce bottles and on tap.
Marshall Wharf purchased the brewing equipment from Belfast Bay, Carlson said. It is a seven-barrel system (about 200 gallons) originally built by McCann Fabrication in New Gloucester.
Talking with Carlson, it is obvious he and McGovern like to experiment with their recipes.
Illegal Ale-Ien is one of Marshall Wharf’s two most popular beers, along with Tug Pale Ale, a traditional American pale ale at 5.2 percent alcohol.
“When I first met Dan McGovern, he had this recipe and name,” Carlson said. “It’s a Kolsch brewed with blue agave nectar (the ingredient in tequila). We buy it from Mexico, the darkest, sweetest agave we can find.”
Illegal Ale-Ien originally was brewed at 6.5 percent alcohol. As a Kolsch — a light German-style ale cold-conditioned like a lager — Illegal Ale-Ien was the lightest-flavored beer at the restaurant, but not the lightest in alcohol. And that gave servers a problem when customers asked for the lightest beer available.
To solve the problem, they started brewing Umlaut Kolsch, which, at 4.2 percent alcohol, is the lightest beer in both definitions. They then boosted the Illegal Ale-Ien to 8 percent.
Sue Coolbeth served me the Kolsch as my first 2-ounce beer in the tasting room, and it was light and tasty; a good, easy-drinking beer. Carlson served me an Illegal Ale-Ien later, and I tried it with some trepidation because I get a raging headache when I drink even the smallest amount of tequila. But the beer was smooth, light but nicely complex, and I didn’t get a headache.
Marshall Wharf also brews small beers, a tradition in England that is carried on by Anchor Brewing in San Francisco in which two beers are made from the same mash — the mix of grains and hops.
At Marshall Wharf, some examples would be a first run to make Chaos Chaos Russian Imperial Stout at 11.2 percent alcohol, and a second run to make Little Mayhem Stout at 5 percent; and a first run for Maximilian Imperial Red at 10 percent and Little Max Red Ale at 4.5 percent.
I tasted a lot of beers, and especially loved the three made with peat-smoked malt. Deep Purple Rauchbier at 6.2 percent was strongly smoked, made with German malt and noble hops, and was so good that I bought a growler.
MacFindlay Scotch Ale is a little less smoky and a bit maltier at 8 percent. And Phil Brown Ale — brewed when Carlson’s step-father Phil Brown turned 75 — has just a slight taste of smokiness, in honor of Brown’s Scottish, French and American Indian heritage.
I was tempted to buy all three, but instead my second growler was Sexy Chaos, the Chaos Chaos from above brewed on vanilla beans and oak chips. It’s almost like a port.
Staff Writer Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at: tatwell@pressherald.com
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