Foreword

My trip to Bar Harbor and Arcadia National Park took place in early October 2019 – long before any hints of the looming pandemic. On the bright side, the pandemic has allowed me to focus on finally launching this blog.

This first post represents the first step of my goal to visit all 500+ New England breweries.

While the pandemic has put a damper in my plans of visiting breweries in person, we can still support local by purchasing beers – and food in the case of Cushnoc – to go. If you’re in the Augusta area, please stop by Cushnoc and purchase some beer to go to tide you over during these times. More Info:

Cushnoc’s Website
Facebook

Cushnoc Brewing Co – Augusta, ME

Here commences my first review of hopefully many to come. If you’re reading this, I will make the assumption that you – at the bare minimum – occasionally enjoy craft beer. Please note, that I will not pretend to be a beer sommelier – a hoplier(?) – or the “final word” on a beer or brewery. I am just a person who enjoys craft beer. That being said, I am not an expert reviewer and my first few posts will likely be all over the board as I hone in on a suitable methodology and style.

Road Trippin to Bar Harbor

As an avid hiker, I finally made the time to go up to Bar Harbor and visit the beautiful Acadia National Park. This is a trip I should have done sooner. 

It was late morning when I rolled into Augusta. As the state capital of Maine, I expected Augusta to have some nice government buildings and maybe a nice small walkable downtown area. While the downtown area had some nice architecture and a promenade along the Kennebec River, it definitely wasn’t as vibrant as I expected it to be. Coming from Western New York, I’m no stranger to downtrodden small cities, but there were some signs of revitalization in process.

One such of those signs was Cushnoc Brewery and Restaurant on Water Street, a lively space on an otherwise largely dead stretch through Augusta’s downtown district.

Cushnoc

Inside the brewery and restaurant – decked out for Halloween might I add – there was a large space with riverside seating at the back.

I head to the bar for some food and a beverage. At first I tried to order a flight, but was informed they only do flights at their tasting rooms. I was dismayed by this – I still had a long drive ahead of me so I ended up only having a single beer. Some brewery reviewer I turned out to be right? Ultimately I decided on Stuck Between Stations – a German style pilsner. Yes, you read that right, the first beer I’m starting off my MICROBREW blog with is a pilsner. Did I lose all my beer geek street cred yet?

One of the reasons why I chose Cushnoc, was because their Water Street location also serves food, and by that point I was starving. The restaurant is known for their wood fire pizza and I ended up ordering the Sand Hill Classic – a red sauce base with salami and pepperoncinis.

Stuck Between Stations ended up having a hint of maltiness to it, giving it additional flavor. It is very drinkable and on the lighter side, perfect for a quick drink paired with some pizza straight from the fire.

The Sand Hill Classic was good and filled me up for the rest of the day. The pizza was good, but I would consider it “standard” as far as wood fired pizza is concerned. I could go into how being from Buffalo, I’m a bit of a pizza snob, but that’s probably best left for another post.

After finishing my meal, I put Augusta behind me as I headed towards my second brewery destination of the day.

Final Verdict

Cushnoc represents the revitalization of Augusta, and with riverside seating with a great view and good food, it’s definitely worth a stop if you’re heading down the 95. While Stuck Between Stations was a decent pilsner, it was the only beer I was able to spend any time with. The quality of the rest of Cushnoc brews is still unknown to my palate. Do you feel cheated reading all that only to find out I only tried a single beer? Well I did warn you the first few posts were going to be rough.

There are other breweries in and around Augusta, so I will be back at some point. And just maybe I’ll be able to give Cushnoc beer a chance for real.

Information

Cushnoc Brewing Co
https://www.cushnocbrewing.com/
243 Water Street
Augusta, ME, 04330