Portland, Maine’s Allagash Brewing Company Founder Rob Tod’s favorite craft beers are inextricably tied to time and place. His dream six-pack is a trip through memory lane and the experiences that have molded who he is as a craft brewer.
“I’m not married to just Belgian styles. I love drinking a traditional British ale on cask. I love a big and hoppy West Coast IPA or a rich and roasty imperial stout. While we were in Germany planning our new brew system, I loved drinking their flawless, classic, and beautiful lagers. It was heaven. We do all Belgian-style beers at Allagash, and I drink and love them. But I just love beer, so I wish it could be a dream case,” Tod says, echoing the sentiment that many brewers share when asked to boil down the wide world of great craft beer into a single six-pack.
But for Tod, who got his start cleaning kegs for Otter Creek Brewing Company in 1993, each craft beer worth compiling into an all-time sixer evokes memories of the places and people he has encountered in more than two decades in craft beer. “It’s an experiential thing, almost like listening to music. The taste of these beers takes me back to those specific experiences.”