Our camping trip to Acadia National Park was filled with scenic day hikes.  We enjoyed a walk on the rocky coast around Great Head with views of the Atlantic Ocean and Sand Beach. We strolled around Jordan Pond over extensive bogwalks in the shadows of the Bubbles. But our most scenic hike, and the toughest, was up quiet Dorr Mountain.

The climb to the Dorr Mountain summit provided beautiful views to the east of Bar Harbor and Frenchman Bay (see the gallery below!). To the west was Cadillac Mountain, where we could see the hordes of tourists who had driven the auto road to the summit. Cadillac is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard at 1,532 feet and the most popular attraction in Acadia. By contrast, there was only one other person at the Dorr summit, which at 1,270, is the second highest peak in Acadia.

Perhaps we’ll hike up Cadillac one day, but for us (particularly my twin eight-year olds), the hike up Dorr was challenge enough. After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Atlantic Brewing Company.

A visit to Atlantic Brewing Company is a must-do for any visitor to Mount Desert Island. The small brewery offers regular tours and tastings, and since we had visited twice before, we skipped the tour and found a table in the biergarten of the Knox Road Grille, which is right beside the brewery shed and tasting room/gift shop.

The restaurant is home to Mainely Meat Barbecue and we devoured pulled pork sandwiches while waiting for the tour to end and the sampling to begin.  Of course we drank a couple of pints to wash down the barbecue, while the kids enjoyed Atlantic’s Blueberry Soda and Root Beer. When we saw the tour group start to head inside to the tasting room, we tagged along. The tasting included:

• Mount Desert Island Ginger, a wheat beer spiced with ginger root
• Bar Harbor Real Ale, a smooth Nutbrown Ale
• Coal Porter, a sessionable Porter
• Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale, made with Maine wild blueberries
• Bar Harbor Summer Ale, a light, refreshing ale
• Logger Lager, a crisp lager
• Scottish Ale, hopped with heather
• Special Old Bitter Ale, a strongly hopped bitter ale
• Brother Adams Honey Bragget Ale, a Barley Wine brewed with Maine honey

The tasting was expertly executed by the three enthusiastic brewery employees. With a tour group of at least two dozen, I figured we would have to wait to be served the samples, but there was no wait at all. Not only were the samples served quickly, but the guys had us laughing the whole time too.

As I mentioned in my post on Maine bottles, all of the Atlantic Brewing Company beers are excellent. My favorites of the tasting were the SOB and Brother Adams. These are special beers, and I brought home a 22 oz. bomber of each. I’ve decided to celler these delicious brews until the winter months. Well, that’s the plan for now anyway…