We just got some more evidence that Portland is a world-class beer town.

Men’s Journal recently ran its annual list of the 25 best beers in the world, and two Portland beers were included.

Additional Photos

The October issue of Men's Journal profiles the 25 Best Beers on Earth, which includes two made in Portland.

The selection probably means more for Peak Organic Brewing, whose flagship beer — Peak Organic Pale Ale — was listed than it does for Allagash, who was on the list for its Curieux.

“We found out about it,” said Jon Cadoux, founder of Peak Organic, “when we started getting calls the day after magazine was released. Our inbox was flooded with messages from restaurants and bars, literally from all around the world.”

Cadoux said Peak has been in business for four years, but he has been brewing beer for about 12 years. He was excited about the recognition.

“It has been a nice boost for business,” he said, “but it says a lot too for the quality of the beer, made with local Maine ingredients. It is a win for the state as well.”

This is what Men’s Journal had to say about the pale ale: “The all-organic Peak Brewing company (in the ‘other’ brewing Portland) has done the unheard-of: It has made a pale ale remarkable with this, a bright, copper-colored beer with a slightly spicy, hoppy citrus tang muted by a solid, toasty malt body.”

That’s quite nice, even though I thought Oregon had the “other” Portland.

Peak Organic Pale Ale has 5.1 percent alcohol, and the company calls it a “complex hybrid between a West-Coast Pale Ale and a British-Style Pale Ale.”

Cadoux said he has a blueprint for his beers.

“One of the reasons we have had the success we have is that we focus on artisanal ingredients from small, local family farms, and that has paid off for us and makes the beer exceptional,” he said.

Cadoux said his beer is brewed in a couple of places, but most of it — with its own recipes and ingredients — is brewed in a section of the Shipyard complex in Portland. Its distribution is limited pretty much to the Northeast, so far.

I have had Peak Organic Pale Ale fairly regularly over the past few years, but it is the only one of the company’s beers that I have tried. Other offerings include Fall Summit Ale, Summer Session Ale, IPA, Nut Brown Ale, Amber Ale, Maple Oat Ale, Espresso Amber Ale, King Crimson and Pomegranate Wheat Ale.

I’m going to have to start looking for some of those.

At Allagash, brewmaster Jason Perkins was pleased with the selection of Curieux but said it hasn’t had much effect on the company.

“With that particular beer, we make as much as we can of it already,” Perkins said. “There is more demand than we have supply, so it’s a little hard to see a boost.”

Allagash beers have been included in previous top-25 listings by Men’s Journal, but, Perkins said, “It is an honor. There are some truly great beers on that list.”

Men’s Journal described Curieux, with 9 percent alcohol: “The first and the best in a special series of barrel-aged beers from one of America’s finest breweries, Allagash Curieux is a boozy, golden Belgian-style tripel ale enhanced with caramel aromas and just a whiff of high-test hooch — the latter imparted by eight weeks of aging in Jim Beam barrels.”

To check out the article, go to www.mensjournal.com/25-best-beers-in-the-world.

QUITE A FEW beer-related events are coming up.

Eve’s at Portland Harbor Hotel will be transformed into an Oktoberfest Beer Garden at 4 and 7 p.m. each day Oct. 27-29, featuring Warsteiner Lager and Warsteiner Amber Ale as well as Geary’s autumn ale and select Belgian beers.

A Hops and Harvest Beer Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Shipyard Brew Pub as part of the Pumpkinhead Weekend Festival in Eliot, benefiting the Maine Cancer Foundation. A five-course harvest menu will be paired with some of Shipyard’s brews. The dinner and beer pairing is $35. Call 351-4623 for reservations.

 Tom Atwell can be contacted at 791-6362 or at: tatwell@pressherald.com

Related Stories