The good - beer selection is killer if you want Maine microbrews. Which you probably should if you're in Maine. Beer geeks hang out here, which is worth an ambiance point, too. Service - nothing to complain about

The bad - food seemed from my plate greasy and other plates around me stodgy and greasy. No bottles of warrant. Dark but not very inviting. Patio is tacky, with music far too loud. A little out of the way.

Overall - has its drawbacks but if you want to explore the Maine scene and talk to its participants, you'd struggle to do better.

Dark, characterful place conducive to friendly conversation and beer geekery. Nice emphasis on Maine micros and locals. Not all the draught pours were spot-on but they trysome cask options are available and it might help to ask how fresh they are. The ability to sample makes the experience a lot of fun. A must-visit if spending time in the Portland area if for no other reason than to get a whack of experience drinking standard session ales from this gorgeous state.

Stereotypical American family restaurant with way too much paraphernalia on the walls, and a greasy menu. The dark lighting won’t prevent you from reading the initially impressive menu of Maine and American taps of which Allagash Curieux on cask is a frequent highlight. There are quite a few products from far out Maine micros as well, but there isn’t much rotation of these products. Moreover, much of this selection is made of beers accessible for the uinitiated palate, so there is not that much for the world-class seeking beer geek. Food is of course greasy American pub fare. A few selections I asked for on the beer menu can be absent, so expect a not-so-updated menu sometimes. A fun place to stop by close to the highway, which you can pair with RSVP Beverage and Allagash Brewery if you don’t want to get into town, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get there.

A big old style bar and restaurant not far from downtown Portland. Many taps, lots of selection of what comes through, not all of it great, but some of it not bad.

A bit outside the busy part of town the Great Lost Bear will probably be a little detour for the tourist visiting the heart of Portland. But there are many hotels nearby so it may not be such a detour for you. The place is rather large and not my kind of atmosphere. Yet another American beer bar with that kind of large country bar feel to it, plenty of beer related memorabilia and neon signs here and there. Annoying fm-radio style of pop music. The number of taps on the other hand is quite impressive. Something like 60 tap lines + 4 casks. Mostly American micros, maybe 5 or 6 imports. About half are Maine micros and the other half are the standard American micros likes of Rogue, Dogfish, etc. With about 30 Maine micro tap lines there’s plenty of crap to be had. You won’t find unusual beer here (go to Novare Res for that). I went there late at night and the crowd was a mix bag of locals of all ages, from the 21 year old party animal to the quiet drunk fifty something. I didn’t eat there. I had a pint of Allagash Burham Road (a pleasant surprise, they still don’t bottle that one) and left. My hotel was in that neighbourhood so for me it was worth a visit because it wasn’t much of a detour. But I wouldn’t do a detour to visit that place. All in all, despite the very large number of taps this place is not a must-go. You’re better off hanging around downtown at Novare Res, Gritty McDuff, etc.

Great Lost Bear is a little bit outside of downtown Portland on Forest. The exterior is red bricks with a green awning and two big paintings on either side of a wide green door. The inside has wood walls absolutely covered in beer kitsch. We sat on the patio out the side door, separated from the lot by a high wood fence. 60+ taps but nothing was especially jumping out at me. I wound up with a sampler tray of Maine stuff. Which brings me to my favorite part of this place, the ability to try 1 to 5 things at a time in 5 oz. pours at a fair price. There was nothing truly special on the menu, but enough interesting locals and regionals to keep it interesting for a non-local like me. The food was all right; the buffalo sauce on my sandwich was unusual but nothing was bad. Our server was very friendly and seemed experienced and joked around with us. I didn’t get a sense of how many bottles were available, if at all. They weren’t on the menu. Worth a visit if you’re in Portland but not essential.

Visited in April 2010. Rather a hike out of town and I’m not sure you can walk directly along Forest because there is a great big junction with the Interstate in the way, so we diverted through a park and over the Interstate on Deering before cutting back to Forest. Looks like a fairly uninspiring neighbourhood bar from the outside but already packed early evening on a Thursday so service was a little slow. Extensive tap selection but nothing particularly rare - only about 5 in total that I’d not tried before. Just stayed for a couple as we had some places in town to hit that evening. Certainly a decent spot but not as outstanding as I was expecting.

All-American, hunting lodge-like pub interior, with a large bar space, many taps, and four casks (which is pretty nice) - not a beer nerd place, so don’t come expecting such - it’s more of a "slam back a couple of pints" kind of place - their focus on local session brews makes this even more apparent - their menu LOOKS impressive, but the food sounds a lot better than it actually is - you might consider eating somewhere else and then coming here for a few beers - the service is pretty slow, so you kind of have to be assertive or they won’t pay you any mind - the parking lot only holds about 8 cars, and the street parking is limited, so that’s a bit of a pain in the ass - it’s worth checking out, but I probably won’t ever go back.

THE place to go for Maine beers on tap...and that’s about it. Maine’s selection of imports (domestic and foreign) is about as bad as Vermont’s, so you’re not going to see any Cantillon or Burton Bridge here; but 50+ taps almost wholly devoted to a home state’s products IS pretty cool, and the comfy atmosphere and friendly (for Maine, anyway) staff and patrons make it THE must stop along with Downeast Beverage in the Portland area. Food not tried...beware, they close ridiculously early by beergeek standards (midnight on a Saturday).

Établissement visité le dimanche 18 mai vers 12h. Ambiance: Les murs sont innondés de vieux cadres. L’intérieur est sombre. Présence d’une terasse. Service: Correct sans plus. Sélection: Plus de 50 fûts, Maine surtout et quelques belges. Nourriture: Disponible mais rien pris. (94e rating d’établissement)