The Libations Librarian

The holiday season – almost done. Work – on vacation, thanks. The need for potables – constant and never ending.

Urban Farm Fermentory set up shop on Anderson Street in Portland, Maine. Anderson Street has seen a minor explosion in small businesses – breweries, wineries, and a coffee shop, along with other new enterprises (MakerSpaces, etc.) have appeared over the last several years, providing adventurous souls with solid new experiences. UFF (so much shorter to write) chooses not to limit itself to one type of beverage. They currently produce beer (including an EXTREMELY tasty gruit!), cider, mead, kombucha, & jun. Since the kombucha and jun are non-alcoholic, all group members have a fun beverage to try, including designated drivers AND those who are sensitive to and/or refraining from alcohol use. That being said, all drinkers MUST be 21…..which does make the servers’ lives easier!

Beer, cider, and mead….yes, please! Kombucha and jun had not entered my libations sphere until now. I actually felt rather reticent about trying kombucha, as fermented black tea sounded not at all appealing. And jun, well, I asked the pourer (server? barista?) if jun was truly fermented green tea with honey. It is. I tried 2 kombuchas and the jun titled “The OG”. The Chaga Chai kombucha tasted fine, but the pumpkin I truly relished as it had a light color and very gentle fruity taste. The jun? Very sweet with a huge honey flavor. I enjoyed them both!

Drinkers will definitely find different drink styles and flavors here. The Fermentors at UFF forage for some of the flavorings used in their offerings; they invite the public to share their own urban foraging efforts and even give a contact email for input. I found some of the offerings odd – for instance, the Seaweed Cider, which includes dulce & sea lettuce seaweeds. I tried it….Gotta be honest – I’m glad I tried it, but will not order it again. The available gruit contained mugwort, yarrow, and sumac. Since gruits have bittering herbs for flavoring, rather than traditional hops, drinkers need to be adventurous in their tastes. Called “Saison de Gruit” (6%), this beer lacked the in-your-face hop flavor of so many IPAs and was delicious!

• Some other fun facts about UFF
  • Dog friendly
  • Local artists show their wares
  • Houses and apothecary “bar”
  • Hallway area houses giant “jenga” and cornhole games