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The husband and I found a (not so new, but new to us) brewery in Lewiston recently.

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Baxter brewing is housed in the old Bates mill complex …

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And has a fabulous tasting room space.

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I love when companies repurpose old buildings. This was a hydro powered textile mill back in the day and if you look closely in the far corner of that picture you’ll see a raw rock wall. During heavy rain storms it weeps… wear waterproof shoes if you sit there.

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The beer?

Yeah, there’s lots of it on tap.

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That chocolate orange stout?

Primo!

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They also have a full bar and since I’m a sucker for fresh herbs in my cocktails…

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I sampled the thyme after thyme mule with pear and lime ginger beer. Yum!

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At the bar we spied an outdoor mural we missed on the way in.

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Along with the beer?

Food.

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Sadly it wasn’t as good as the booze.

The husband’s French onion soup was sent back because it was basically just a bowl of soggy bread.

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My dumplings were tasty but a bit overdone with hard edges.

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The generator that powered the mill.

It’s massive and would have cost a fortune to remove so they just painted it and left it in place.

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The husband liked his chicken tenders, though I thought the coating was too heavy and too dry.

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I should have known better than to order a smash burger… I don’t usually like them as they’re thin and well done… but the bartender said the maple honey cream sauce was amazing so I took the plunge.

Sauce aside, it was a dry hockey puck.

Am I the only one who hates this smash perfectly good meat to smithereens trend?

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Poor pub food aside, the atmosphere and beer were good enough to warrant a return trip.

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We’ll just order something it’s harder to screw up. Like nachos, or salad.

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😊

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