While driving through Wells earlier this month, I stopped in at two restaurants for the specific purpose of trying some Maine-brewed beers at their home sites.

The first stop was at Boon Island Ale House at 124 Post Road. Boon Island’s beers are brewed by Oak Pond Brewing Co. in Skowhegan, and friends have brought me some growlers of OPB beer in the past, but it made sense to drop in to this bar.

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The Maine Lakes Brew Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Point Sebago Resort in Casco.

The four house offerings are a nut brown ale, a blonde ale, an American-style IPA and a German-style pilsener. I went with the nut brown, and it was a good, solid beer, just a little bit sweet, a little bit of hops, a nice toasty color and a good head.

There were few people at the bar when I came in, so the bartender and I had some time to talk about the beers. He, like me, prefers browns to IPAs, but said the Boon Island IPA was quite good, with not an over-the-top amount of hops. He gave me a two-ounce sample, and I agreed. It was a true English-style IPA, with more hops than many beers, but nothing that makes you shake your head.

Boon Island did not list the alcohol content of the four beers, and Oak Pond also does not list the alcohol content on its website, but the two I tried were fairly low in alcohol, and I am thinking — just from their styles — that the other two are also low.

Boon Island Ales is a casual and comfortable restaurant, with an interesting menu and some good beer. I’m glad I stopped.

After drinking at Boon Island, I headed on up to the Fire N Brew Restaurant at 73 Mile Road in Wells, the home of Captain Dick’s Brewery.

This is a new restaurant, specializing in Italian style pizza, and it is new and gleaming, with a lot of mirrors and a lot of TVs — which was good because both the Red Sox and Patriots were playing on the Thursday night I stopped in.

I had tried Captain Dick’s porter during the Maine Brewers Guild festival at the Maine State Pier during the summer, so I went with the Black Ale this time. It was refreshing, fairly crisp and dry, not too hoppy and about 4.6 alcohol, as I recall. I had expected a black ale to have a bit bigger flavor, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Because it was raining hard, making the driving difficult and I had had a long day, I didn’t have any more beers before heading home. I will have to make a return trip to Wells soon so I can try more of their beers.

And when I do, I will want to return to the Post Road Tavern, just over the Wells town line in Ogunquit, which is home to Rocky Post Brewing. They feature English-style beers, and English style food, that I enjoyed when I visited last year.

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS is holding its second annual beer and wine-tasting fundraiser from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Ocean Gateway Terminal.

The beers will be provided by Gritty McDuff’s, Baxter, Allagash and Rising Tide, while the wines come from SoPo Wine Company, Wicked Wines and M.S. Walker.

There will be food from CVC Catering, Aperitif, European Bakery and The Cookie Jar. The Jason Spooner Band will provide music, and there will be a silent auction.

Engineers Without Borders is a three-year-old group that so far has done charitable construction projects in Ghana and Ethiopia. Tickets are $30, and available at ewbportlandmaine.org.

THE MAINE LAKES BREW FEST will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Point Sebago Resort in Casco.

Tickets are $25 if purchased in advance and $30 on the day of the show, available at mainelakesbrewfest.com. The event will have at least 25 brewers from Maine and beyond, and includes wine as well as beer. Music will be provided by Random Order and by Sharon Buck and Dixon Road.

Tom Atwell is a freelance writer living in Cape Elizabeth. He can be contacted at 767-2297 or at:

tomatwell@me.com

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