November 9, 2009
The good news is that the Liberal Cup offers generous portions of decent bar food at reasonable prices and full 20oz pints which are also quite inexpensive. They usually seem to have about half a dozen of their own beers on tap plus one or two guest beers. Unfortunately, I find their beers to be no better than mediocre. The Tarbox Stout and their porter are probably the best of the beers I’ve had there but the Backhouse Bitter and Alewife Ale are both relatively third-rate expressions their styles. I also find the ambiance kind of dark and unwelcoming. Service is adequate. Unless other business brings you to Augusta and Hallowell I recommend skipping the Liberal Cup and traveling to the Marshal Wharf brew pub in Belfast or the Lion’s Pride beer bar in Brunswick for a much better beer.

February 25, 2007
The best bar in the area in my opinion. Better-than-average bar-fare food. Nice setup, kind of a dark European pub type place. As far as selection goes, they have around 8 of their own taps and a "guest tap" (recently Geary’s Pale Ale), so the focus is on their beers. The selection is limited, but the beers they make are quite good IMO. The stout and the pale ale are the best in my opinion, but all the beers I’ve tried from them have been decent. They even have their own cask-conditioned beer, which impressed me for such a non-descript bar in a part of the state not known for its bars or brewing. Service has also been good when I’ve been here (and I’m not just saying that because one of my students works there). The waitstaff seems to have some knowledge and familiarity with the beers made here. If you’re in the Augusta-Gardiner area, this is the pub to go to.

February 19, 2006 [ Updated September 3, 2007 ]
Brewpub located in Hallowell, outside of Augusta, kind of historic. Nice old atmosphere, old brick walls inside etc. Bar/very small brewery with seperate dining area as well. Usually pretty busy. Usually serving 6 house beers, one is cask-conditioned and one seasonal. Pints are actually 20 oz. ($3.50) Can also get half-pints and $4 sampler of 6 beers (3 oz. each). Decent but unspectacular pub fare (but will cook burgers rare like I like ’em)! Update 9/3/07: Am bumping this up a notch because of good experiences with food (try the bangers and smash!) and now that I’ve rated a few more I mostly like what they brew.

December 30, 2005
A dark English-style pub/restaurant with a tiny brewing system in the back. Really quaint and homey. Food was good pub fare, but the beers were served a little too young in most cases. Beers are suited to session drinking (aren’t nearly all Maine-born beers?), even the Smelt Camp Strong Ale, the most flavorful and balanced of all on the menu that day. Not a place a beer geek should seek out, but a nice place to grab lunch and a pint if you’re in the area of Augusta.

August 17, 2005
A decent "down home" brewpub for the locals - kinda reminds me of the Prince Arthur Brewpub in Thunder Bay as it has very limited capacity and little selection. Regular pubfare was available to eat while watching the baseball game on TV. I had to drink-n-dash as I was hoping to make it up to Orono for lunch and I was already 1 hour behind due to the HEAVY traffic on the turnpike due to construction.