Buy Local members mix it up at Andy's Old Port Pub

Last night the Allagash was flowing during the Portland Buy Local mixer at Andy's Old Port Pub. This association of business owners and residents promotes the idea of keeping our purchasing power in the community and holds these networking parties every couple of months. It's not tough to get members out when local brewing superstar Allagash donates the drinks.

Another big attraction was the fresh pizza that Andy's kitchen kept bringing out for the crowd.

Joe Walsh, of Green Clean Maine, spoke to the crowd about Portland Buy Local and thanked Andy's for hosting such a fun gathering, which took place in a private room behind the main bar. After the Allagash ran out, members could order from the regular bar and Andy's donated $1 from each drink to Portland Buy Local.

A little later, Stacey Mitchell, a board member and author of "Big Box Swindle," thanked Joe for all the great work he's done this past year in organizing these mixers. She also urged everyone to join the New England-wide effort called 10% Shift. The campaign asks people to sign a pledge and commit to shifting 10% of purchases from out-of-state businesses to locally-owned businesses.

According to the number crunchers behind this effort, if five million households in New England make this shift, the money spent at local businesses (a greater portion of which stays in the local economy as compared to purchases made at out-of-state chains), would result in the creation of 48,000 new jobs and the generation of more than $5 billion in new economic activity.

Portland Buy Local is always hosting cool events, and the next one to look forward to is the Indie Biz Awards taking place May 13. Be sure to mark your calendar. If you want to see some photos from last year's awards ceremony, check out this post on my Commune Tested, City Approved blog.

Ready for your morning beer?

This was the sight on Market Street a few minutes ago: Three beer delivery trucks lined up making keg deliveries. Can't say I'm ready for a drink at this hour, but the sight did get me jazzed for a bar outing tonight to sample the Guinness concoctions at Three Dollar Dewey's. Want to join us? Swing by at 5 pm. We'll be the crazy people drinking things like Guinness mixed with champagne.

If you're a Guinness fan, my editor Karen Beaudoin is looking for local opinions on which bars serve up the best Guinness for a story in Switch. Send her your thoughts at editor@themaineswitch.com.

Old Port art walking on a cold January night

The Daniel Kany Gallery in the Old Port was packed last night, during the opening reception for Benjamin Lambert's "Fish-Birds & A Snail" show during the January First Friday Art Walk. Lambert unveiled a quirky collection of disfigured ceramic monsters I just wanted to hug. The pieces reference evolution, pollution and the growing gray area between the concepts of natural and synthetic, all the while making you want to smile.

Oh, and the wine was mighty tasty too.

Over at the new Se Vende Underground gallery, I was just as taken with Beecher Cotton's line-up of hybrid heroes. These delightful mixed media sculptures included "Bush Bug" and "Mole Cat." A work called "The Twins," where two black elephant bodies are topped with two baby doll heads, showed us just how quickly cute can turn to creepy.

To warm up from the icy art walking temps and contemplate these creatures further, Adam and I ducked into Novare Res Bier Cafe. We poured over the ever-growing menu before deciding to share a Koningshoeven Quadruppel (which costs $21 but serves up 3 glasses) and a number of the absolutely exquisite small plates.

It was the perfect way to cap off a cold winter's art walk.

Greendrinks packs the house

Last night earth-loving Portlanders turned out in droves for the monthly Greendrinks networking party. Switch/MaineToday.com co-hosted the get-together with the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, which provided the top-notch venue. Salt moved this summer from the Old Port to the Arts District and its new home is super-chic and modern. This was the first-ever public event held at the new Salt, and we certainly tested the capacity of the gallery and screening room.

I was super psyched about the art exhibition we curated specifically for Greendrinks. We asked six local artists to carve, paint and/or adorn pumpkins for the show. The resulting works came from Clint Fulkerson, David A. Marshall, Michael Rich, Christina St. Cyr, Willa Wirth and Jeff Woodbury. Here Tim Greenway is photographing each of the works, which means we'll have much better photos along with info about the artists in the Oct. 30 edition of Switch magazine.

Another great addition to this month's Greendrinks was the awesome donation of food from Green Elephant. This all-vegetarian, eco-friendly restaurant on Congress Street is always packed, and it was easy to see why with the way people quickly gobbled up the selection of fresh rolls, spring rolls, crispy wontons and soy nuggets that the eatery so generously donated. The offerings also included donated coffee from Coffee By Design, donated apples from Randall's Orchard and donated cider from Thompson's Orchard.

Of course the always popular Geoff Masland of Peak Organic was swamped with Greendrinkers eager to try the latest brew: Espresso Amber Ale. You may have seen my post about this new beer the other day, and now that I've tried it I must say I'm a huge fan. It had a hearty feel - perfect for a winter brew - and a wonderful coffee flavor. (Plus a little kick of caffeine!) Geoff says they plan to dial back the coffee by about 20% in the recipe before they bottle it. Because there were so many thirsty people there, we managed to kick two kegs in about an hour and a half. Now that's what I call a sign of a hot party!

Local hop lovers unite, tonight

Locavores and beer lovers will come together tonight at the Great Lost Bear when Sebago Brewing Company unveils this fall's single batch series, Local Harvest Ale. If you read the story I wrote for Switch magazine a couple weeks ago about cooking with beer, you'll recall that Sebago brewmaster Kai Adams promised this beer was coming soon.

Should you want to sip some of the local, limited edition brew, head over to the Bear from 6-8 pm tonight.

In other local beer news, Peak Organic has launched an Espresso Amber Ale, brewed with organic, fair trade beans from Coffee by Design.

"As foodies, we've always appreciated hand-crafted coffee roasters," says Geoff Masland from Peak Organic. "So we jumped at the opportunity to work with our friends down the street at Coffee By Design, who craft amazing micro roasted coffee. We feel like this is more than just a delicious craft beer, but also a positive experience from start to finish, farm to glass."

Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale is the first Fair Trade Certified beer brewed in the United States. Look for it wherever Peak Organic is served or sold. Or sample some at the Time of Rivers Festival at SPACE Gallery this weekend and at Greendrinks next Tuesday.

Case of the missing chalice

For a chill bar atmosphere, it's hard to beat Novare Res. It's not the sort of place where you expect amateur night antics like vomiting in the bathroom or testosterone-fueled bar fights. Which is why when I was in there last night, I was so sad to see that owner Eric Michaud had posted this message on the wall. Stealing someone's wedding memento is pretty low (and sure to inflict the culprit with years of bad relationship karma). But with a reward of $100 worth of beer at stake, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Eric and Julie soon will be properly reunited with their nuptial goblet.