Searching "microbreweries" on Wikipedia reveals that Maine has over 20 craft breweries per million people. Seven of these breweries can be found in Portland alone, including Shipyard, DL Geary Brewing, Gritty McDuff's, Allagash, Sebago, Casco Bay, and the late Stone Coast Portland branch. How did each of these breweries start? The story begins right before the time Bowdoin's seniors came into the world.
In 1982, a little bar opened in Portland called Three Dollar Dewey's. The idea of the owner, Alan Earnes, was to carry only imported craft beers. Earnes introduced a friend of his, David Geary, to Peter Maxwell Stewart of the Traquair House Brewery in Scotland, where Geary soon got an apprenticeship.
Before returning to the U.S. and his homestate of Maine, he studied with Peter Austin in England and met up with British brewmaster Alan Pugsley. In November of 1986, the two of them opened DL Geary Brewing, the first craft brewery in New England. The following January, Catamount and Harpoon breweries opened their doors to the public.
Gritty McDuff's Portland Brewpub opened in 1988, becoming the first brewpub in Maine since Prohibition. It was designed by Peter Austin and his partners from Hampshire, England, and run with the assistance of Ed Stebbins, the man shown triumphantly holding a beer on most of the pub's bottles.
Shipyard Brewing Company was officially founded by Alan Pugsley in 1994, and initially sourced some production of its beer to Kennebunk Brewing Company. When Shipyard beer turned out to be quite popular, more brewing facilities were built, and it has since grown to be the largest brewery in Portland. Shipyard Brewing Company is now partnered with Casco Bay Company and Sea Dog Brewing Company.
In addition to helping open several Portland breweries, Peter Austin supplied hops from his hometown of Ringwood, England. This gave the breweries he consulted for a more traditional English flavor.
Casco Bay Brewing was founded in 1994 as the brewers of "Katahadin Beers." In 1995, a part time bottler, Bryan Smith, worked his way up to brewer in less than five months and in time studied the science of beer at the American Brewers Guild brewing school, located at UC Davis-California. After finishing school, he bought the company from its original owners, and took over all brewing operations.
In 1995, Stone Coast Brewing Company found their way down to Portland from Sunday River, where they had previously been popular with ski bums. Though Casco Bay initially bottled for them, in 2003 they purchased their own bottling equipment and a unique canning machine, becoming one of the first microbreweries in the country to can their beer. Unfortunately, the Portland branch has since been shut down, with its head brewer Kevin Watson moving to work down the street.
Allagash Brewing, Kevin Watson's new home, has since its founding aimed to produce high quality Belgian-style beers and experimental ales. Founded in 1995 as a one-man operation, Allagash Brewing sought to bring a new style of beer to the area. Hoping to make an impact on the beer industry, owner Rob Tod experimented with Belgian brewing styles and studied centuries of Belgian beer history. Allagash has almost annually had to expand its brewery to keep up with brisk demand for its Belgian-style beer.
The newcomer to Maine is Sebago, originally a brewpub that opened at the Maine Mall. In time its popularity grew enough to open two more restaurants?one in Portland's Old Port and one in Gorham. Only in 2005 did Sebago open their own production brewery in Gorham industrial park, which expanded their operations beyond the three brewpub locations. They celebrated their 10th anniversary this past summer and hope to open a new restaurant in Scarborough to replace the original one.
There is clearly as much history in beer as there are brewers in Maine. There are plenty of bars and stores to sell every hand-crafted beer available, and there will likely be much more good beer to come in the state of Maine.