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Fair Food and Island Beer

Shannon Bryan seeks out deep-fried everything at the Fryeburg Fair and the Axelrods visit remote Monhegan Brewing Company.

A glass of Monhegan Brewing Company's wet-hopped Island Farm Double IPA.
A glass of Monhegan Brewing Company's wet-hopped Island Farm Double IPA.
Monhegan Brewing Company

Shannon Bryan attempts to give readers a digital heart attack with a piece called "Holy fair food! 29 wonderfully gluttonous things to devour (or drool over) at Fryeburg Fair." She points out a few vendors from which customers can purchase smoothies or other vegetable-adjacent items ("so it is possible to seek out healthier alternatives") but her focus is the "sugar and meat and dough." Revel in her food porn and admire the deep-fried potato slinky, the gallery's final image.

In the opposite direction, Susan and Ted Axelrod visit Monhegan Island's resident brewery, the aptly named Monhegan Brewing Company. It "may be the only brewery in the country you can't drive to," Susan suggests, since cars aren't allowed on the island. Susan gave photographer Ted the day off, so both text and photos are her work.

The brewery operations are run by Matt and Mary Weber, with beer being made by Mary's father, Danny McGovern, known for his work at Belfast's Marshall Wharf Brewing Company. Thirsty wanderers only have until October 13 to take a boat from Boothbay Harbor, Port Clyde, or New Harbor to sample suds on tap, as Mary teaches and Matt (like many of the tiny island's 69 year-round residents) fishes for lobster from October through June. Susan recommends Balmy Days, a Citra-hopped Kölsch.