Ebenezers Pub

by Ray Mongeau
(Beer Delegate, NH, USA)

Ebenezer's Pub, Lovell, MA, USA

Ebenezer's Pub
Lovell, ME, USA

This review planned to cover the Moat Mountain Smoke House and Brewery. However, as I talked on the phone to Will Gilson, brew master at Moat Mountain, he mentioned a brewpub called Ebenezer's Pub, located in Lovell, Maine. Will made the place sound so good that I couldn’t resist a visit.

I found myself waiting for the weekend in a state of anxious anxiety, almost like a child waiting the arrival of a Christmas morning. Could any brewpub be worth getting this excited over?

That Saturday morning I met Will in the parking lot at Moat Mountain. He is a tall, slender man with dark hair, the kind of physique with a persona you expect to see skiing the backcountry or scaling a wall of ice on some mountainside.

We pulled out of the parking lot about 11:30am and headed without delay to our destination. We departed in Will’s Volvo station wagon along with two of his friends Bill and Gerri, a husband and wife from Massachusetts.

Bill I discovered is a home brewer and judges many of the areas homebrew competitions. He has an extensive knowledge of beer brewing and having been to Ebenezer's previously, he seemed more excited than I was to get to the brewpub.

We reached Ebenezer's Pub just after noon and upon entering I saw a sign hanging by the door that gave a glimpse of what possible delights we might expect to find inside. It stated that over 500 beers were available and that the establishment had been rated by Beer Advocate Magazine as the number one beer bar in the USA.

Will asked for Chris, the owner of Ebenezer's Pub. The waiter said that Chris was out, so we ordered a round of Ayinger Brau Weisse.

As we enjoyed the Ayinger, Chris arrived and greeted us. This man has an unbelievable amount of knowledge about Belgian and other European beers. His contacts with brewmasters and breweries throughout Europe is perhaps his greatest asset besides his knowledge of beer.

He can talk beer and amaze even the most knowledgeable of beer connoisseurs. With all his contacts and friends in the European circuit, Chris has a fine stock of Belgium and other European beers seldom if ever found all in one place in the United States.

Some of these beers though are not for sale and are part of his private personal stock. He avidly told us of beers he had that people were willing to pay up to $35.00 per pint and hundreds of dollars per bottle.

Links to my beer reviews at Ebenezer's Pub:

Trappisteinbier

La Moneuse Saison

Blond La Chouffe

Brasserie De L'Abbaye Du Val-Dieu Tripel

Well, never mind moving to Bavaria, I just want to hit the lottery and roam Europe seeking and drinking these great beers.

Maybe I can become a beer-brewing monk if the lottery fails.

After we ate (I had a chili bread bowl), Ebenezer's Pub owner Chris brought out a Scottish ale called Harviestoun Brewery Old Engine Oil beer (click for review).

All of us wanted to stay longer at Ebenezer's Pub, but we had to head back to Moat Mountain Smoke House. Will needed to stew blueberries and add them to the stout he had brewing, along with getting things ready for tonight's beer fest dinner.