Maine Hike n Brew Crew Podcast

23/10/2025

This may be my new favorite off the beaten path hole in the wall.

21/10/2025

573 Old Bath Rd, Brunswick, ME 04011 is for sale. View 17 photos of this 3 bed, 1 bath, 1105 sqft. single family home with a list price of $415000.

25/05/2025

27/04/2024

Enjoying some Winston (Churchill) at Liberator Brewing Company

27/04/2024

10/01/2024

In case what you were wondering…

Pairing the with styles - a favorite Pints and Panels annual tradition.

09/12/2023

Kindergartners Win Big at Craft Brewing Competition

December 9, 2023 - Leisure/ Recreation

When Shelly Klein decided to take a brewing course as an elective at the University of Vermont while working on her education degree she didn’t think it would actually benefit her future career. Seven years later she and members of her kindergarten class were standing on the podium at the Lakewood Craft Brewing Competition holding awards for best new style and most creative flight (four complimentary sample servings).

At UVM when Klein partnered with her future husband Lucas on a class project she started to think of ways it could lead to a future collaboration involving both her passions: teaching and beer. Then Lucas opened his own microbrewery and tap room, and Klein brought Lucas, who had also spent three years working for a pharmaceutical company in the children's’ medicine division, to her class to talk about his career as an engineer.

“Being 5 and 6 year old kids I didn't want to make my talk too technical so I decided to include a fun activity. I put out a bunch of food ingredients on the table and some mixing bowls. Then I asked the students to come up with some flavor combinations. They didn't disappoint." Lucas said.

As a gag he used the added the first mix of strawberry, banana and popcorn to a lager called "Snack Time." He thought he'd add it to his tap list just as a novelty but customers really loved it. Shortly thereafter he added a maple syrup, bacon and pancake batter stout called "Brupper," a marinara and pasta flavored IPA named "Spaghetti Night" and a Kool-Aid and Sunny D flavored shandy named "Recess."

When a couple of local craft beer websites featured his beers in articles he decided to enter them into the competition. Lucas asked Klein if the students could come along so they worked out a plan with the competition committee to make sure some locally produced craft sodas were available so that the kids would have something to drink as well that there plenty of adult chaperones. Klein said she was pleasantly surprised to have so many dads, who haven't volunteered to help before, step forward for this field trip.

04/12/2023

New Public Health Initiative: DON’T BE DUMB

December 4, 2023 – Health & Well-Being

ORCHARD PARK, NY. A self-described member of ‘Bills Mafia’ (high-spirited fans of the Buffalo Bills) Jared Dowdy stood near the top of a fifteen-foot-high ladder outside Highmark Stadium about to jump on to and break through a folding table set on fire stacked upon another folding table also set on fire. Then he remembered the PSA playing on local radio that morning imploring with listeners to “Don’t be dumb.” Dowdy said “It was like an epiphany to me. Maybe I shouldn’t risk my body for a super cool tail gate party stunt.”

Across town at Duff’s Famous Wings George MacNair was considering drinking a gallon container of fry oil on a dare in return for two free beers. “In the old days I would have done it in a heartbeat. But then I remembered that ‘Don’t be dumb’ slogan and the fact that there was a $3 draft special anyways, so I decided to make the smart move and not ruin my intestines just to save a few bucks.”

When the American Medical Association released its Don’t Be Dumb campaign this fall the response was initially cynical. “Several industry leaders publicly questioned if there would be any benefit at all.” Said Richard Larson, head of marketing & public education for the AMA “But you can’t argue with success. In the ten test markets where we initially released these PSAs including the greater Buffalo area, the number of emergency room visits have been reduced by 25% and the number of vehicle collisions has lowered by 32%. Who knew that all people needed to hear was this simple message in order to just live a little smarter? ”

Several organizations that promote financial literacy are considering adopting the same tagline for their initiatives. Sally Bennett of the Niagara Region Money Coaches association told reporters she’s had several participants in her program that could use this advice. “I work with people who send their life savings to online boyfriends who say they are dying from made up diseases and others who share their bank account information because they think they’re going to receive money from a Nigerian prince. If only there was some advice we could have given to save them from the unfortunate results of these decisions.”

01/12/2023

New Research Shows IPAs Began as Wood Cleaners

Decemeber 1, 2023 - International News

Until recently the popular lore about India Pale Ales (IPAs) was that a late 18th century London Brewer George Hodgson invented the brew with extra hops & an increased alcohol content in order to make it last long voyages at sea. That is until a journal kept by Hodgson himself turned up in some old archives in the Bow Brewery in East London where Hodgson carried out his craft.

In reading the memoir historians were surprised to learn that Hodgson may not have been working on the concoction to last for consumption on a trip to the likes of a far off destination such as India but rather keep the decks of the ship in good clean shape until arriving in a far off destination such as India.

“Hodgson knew that the carbonation of the beer would help remove dirt from the wooden planks’ surface. The alcohol would act as an agent to kills germs and other bacteria that would otherwise eat away at the wood. But the extra hops were a game changer helping the deck to smell better and like a pine tree in the same manner Pinesol and other more modern wood cleaners do.” said Professor Phillip Titherington who chairs the history department at London Metropolitan University.

Hogdson’s journal would go on to describe an incident where a ship’s alcoholic crew member desperate for a drink while on deck swabbing duty took a sip and proceeded to drink half his ship’s supply. At first his shipmates refused to join him as they couldn’t stand the taste of the brew clearly designed as a cleaner but as the voyage went on and the other ales and rum ran dry they were compelled to try it, especially those crew members who had lost their sense of taste to scurvy, and the rest as they say ‘is history.’

28/11/2023

Surgeon General Proposes Disclaimers for Hallmark & Netflix Christmas Movies

November 28, 2023 – National News

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced Monday that the US Department of Health & Human Service will be asking Congress to enact a requirement that Netflix and Hallmark Channel display disclaimers before each of their Christmas movies. The purpose is to educate viewers not to have unrealistic expectations about their relationships and lives in general improving as a result of events leading up to Christmas.

“Each year the Department collects data about thousands of people who seek psychiatric help when they are unable to get a new girlfriend or boyfriend before Christmas Eve. We also get reports from across the country from those whose former high school flames have returned to town and won’t leave them alone.” Murthy shared.

“Honestly, people need to learn that happiness isn’t achieved overnight. If you feel unhealthy find a way eat better or get more exercise. If you’re lonely, look for opportunities for informal social interaction, like a recreational sports team. Do something positive for you without expecting too much too soon.”

Meanwhile travel agents brace for their annual wave of prospective travelers asking about vacation options for small European countries that don’t really exist because they watched a movie involving some wild-eyed young American falling in love with a prince. Animal shelters have also begun to put out signs reminding prospective adoptive owners that their dogs do not have the power to help anyone win the heart of a grizzled yet handsome salt-of-the-earth carpenter at the bed and breakfast next door.

Several western state & New England towns this fall passed initiatives to change their names from the likes of “Winter Falls” and “Snow Rabbit Ridge” to replacements like “Muddy Ravine” and “Mediocre Meadows.”