Maine Craft Beer

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Like the other brewers, Allagash sees a lot its expansion happening within Maine. “Boston, Washington, Chicago, Philly—they’re all doing great,” says owner and brewer Rob Tod. “But Maine is exploding.”

Tod adds, “We would have seen even more growth last year, but we were running up against capacity at the old brewery.” Allagash, named for the wild river in northern Maine, moved into a new, much larger brewery next door to its original quarters in March of 2007.

Mike Dickson has been working the taps for 19 years at the Great Lost Bear, a Portland bar where Maine beers take up three-quarters of the 52 dispensers. Says Dickson, “The outstanding feature of Maine microbreweries is the Ringwood process of brewing,” a traditional English system based on the Ringwood yeast strain and a basic, non-automated brewhouse.

Shipyard founder Alan Pugsley, a consultant for English brewer Peter Austin, brought over both the yeast and the process about 20 years ago. Austin envisioned small breweries, using this hardy, distinctive yeast and simple brewing equipment, spreading across the world. Pugsley introduced the system to a number of East Coast breweries, including Geary and Portland brewpub Gritty McDuff’s, before opening Shipyard with partner Fred Forsley, the owner of another Austin-system brewpub in Kennebunkport, Federal Jack’s.

Shipyard, Geary, and Gritty’s continue to dominate sales in the state (Gritty’s bottled beers are produced under contract at Shipyard’s plant) with traditionally brewed British-style ales like the dark, dry Geary’s porter, Gritty’s cool, low-alcohol bitter, and Shipyard’s malty, spicy I.P.A. (I had one at Rollie’s after the Sebago.)

“Ringwood sets Maine beer apart regionally,” says Sebago’s head brewer, Tom Abercrombie. “There’s the Ringwood camp, and then there’s the rest of us. Most of our beers­—the Brown, especially—fall into a British style with an American yeast. They’re looser interpretations of the style.” Other small Maine brewers, including Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Sheepscot Valley, and Andrew’s Brewing, also hew to that British tradition.

Maine does have room for variety: Mid-size Allagash is an innovative brewery that started with Allagash White, a beautiful, traditional Belgian witbier—cloudy, spicy, and refreshing—and moved on to big, barrel-aged beers, beers brewed with grapes, and varieties infused with the dry funk of a house-developed brettanomyces yeast strain.

If only someone in the state would start brewing some good lagers, Maine would be a holistic beer-drinker’s paradise. But when you’re sampling the panoply of Maine beers at the Great Lost Bear, or taking in the Portland waterfront over a pint of bitter at Gritty McDuff’s, or talking I.P.A.’s with Mike at Rollie’s Café, it’s easy to see why locals are pretty happy with Made in Maine.

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