Ebenezer's is Men's Journal's Best Beer Bar

Ebenezer's Pub. [Photo: Official Site]

It may not be as conveniently located as that bar you can count your steps home from after a night of pounding cheap domestic pounders, but Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell is "The Best Beer Bar in the U.S.," according to Men's Journal. That's the headline, at least. The opening paragraph extends the honors to the entire planet. Writes Michael Easter:

Way back in the woods of southeast Maine, in Lovell – a little more than an hour outside of Portland, 20 minutes past Shawnee Peak Ski Resort, and just a half-mile past a historic town hall that burned down recently – you'll inevitably miss the left turn for the best beer bar in the world.

Ebenezer's has earned similar honors from beer-dweeb sites like Rate Beer and Beer Advocate, as it has 700+ beers in its cellar and 36 on draft. It wasn't always that way, though.

"When I bought this little farmhouse pub 10 years ago, the rarest beer on tap was Red Stripe," says the bar's owner, Chris Lively, who has the perma-smile vibe of a guy you'd find grilling locally sourced sausage at a Phish tailgate. "And now we've been named Best Beer Bar in the world 13 times."

But the beer menu isn't the only thing that makes the bar great, says Easter. Ebenezer's doesn't shame those who don't know the difference between a dubbel and a tripel, or those that just want a Coors Light. He writes, "the pub has been able to avoid the biggest downfall of your average craft beer bar: that thick, putrid air of pretentiousness."

And because of that, townies and out-of-towners alike flock to Ebenezer's. "I've turned a lot of Bud-drinking locals onto excellent Belgian beers," Lively chuckles.

· The Best Beer Bar in the U.S. (Is in the Middle of Nowhere) [Men's Journal]