Category: Beer

Orange Bike Brewing Opens Friday

| Posted in Openings, Beer

Orange Bike Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) will be opening this Friday. Portland’s newest brewery is located at 31 Diamond Street in East Bayside in the same building as Bite Into Maine. This weekend they’ll be open Friday 3 – 8 pm, and Saturday/Sunday noon – 8 pm.

Alan Pugsley has been part of the start-up team as a consultant and has developed a set of gluten-free beer recipes which head brewer Jason Kissinger has put into production on a 10-barrel vintage Peter Austin brewery system. Orange Bike is Maine’s second dedicated gluten-free brewery joining Lucky Pigeon which opened for business in 2021.

On opening day Orange Bike will be pouring nine beers (see photo below for the full list) including a Belgian Wit, a New England IPA, a Winter Lager and a collaboration beer which is raising funds for the National Black Brewers Association. They’re just spinning up their canning line this week, and cans will be available for sale at the brewery on opening day.

Founder Tom Ruff and his team have built out a stylish ~40-person tasting room, and they’re working on an outdoor courtyard which when completed will have room for an additional 90+ people.

Argenta Brewing in Bayside

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

Argenta Brewing (website, instagram) is under construction in Bayside. Owner Ryan Dunlap has taken over the tasting room and brewery formerly occupied by Banded Brewing on Hanover Street. He’s currently doing some light renovations to the 2,500 sq ft space and hopes to launch Argenta in the spring with a line-up of lager-style beers.

Dunlap initially got his start in Nevada as a home brewer. His initial professional brewing experience was at Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor and most recently was a brewer at Fore River Brewing in South Portland.

To get caught up on all the new breweries, distilleries, restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit the Under Construction List.

Brewery of the Year: Allagash

| Posted in Beer

The Press Herald reports that Allagash Brewing Company was named the Brewery/Brewer of the year at the Great American Beer Festival.

The Portland brewery’s honors included a Gold Medal for Allagash Tripel in the Belgian-style Abbey Ale category, a Silver Medal for Allagash White in the Belgian-style Witbier category, and Brewery and Brewer of the Year in the “Brewery Group” size category. Allagash was the only Maine brewery to take home medals from this year’s event.

Visit the Great American Beer Festival website for a full list of award winners.

Maine Beer Trends

| Posted in Beer

Maine Public radio aired a show this past week entitled “Innovative trends in Maine’s beer scene” with panelists Rob Tod from Allagash, Shea Cusick from the Maine Brewer’s Guild, and Jenn Lever from Baxter Brewing as well as a variety of callers from the beer industry.

Brewing beer remains big business in Maine. We’ll learn about how the industry is constantly innovating in this competitive industry, including taking new approaches with tasting rooms, packaging, flavors—and expanding beer offerings to include more non-alcohol and gluten-free offerings.

Sebago Brewing

| Posted in Beer

The Press Herald Tap Lines column has taken a look back at the 25-year history of Sebago Brewing.

The year is 1998. Bill Clinton is impeached by the House of Representatives. Viagra is approved by the FDA. Google is founded. “Titanic” wins 11 Academy Awards, and “The Big Lebowski” debuts. The Chicago Bulls win their sixth NBA title in eight years, as Michael Jordan plays his final game for the team, the same year that Celtics star Jayson Tatum is born. The historic Ice Storm slams Maine. And a new brewpub, Sebago Brewing Co., opens in the Maine Mall parking lot, in a building previously occupied by a Chinese restaurant called Hu Ke Lau.

Interview with Tom Ruff

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

Mainebiz has published an interview with Tom Ruff, the founder of Orange Bike Brewing.

Entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast Tom Ruff shifted gears from medical recruiting to gluten-free brewing, with plans to launch Orange Bike Brewing in Portland later this year. With construction still in progress at 31 Diamond St. in Portland, he gave Mainebiz the lowdown.

For more information on Orange Bike Brewing see this report on the brewery.

A Maturing Beer Industry

| Posted in Beer

This week’s Tap Lines article in the Press Herald provides an overview of the developments in brewery industry in Maine.

Bart Watson, the chief economist for the Brewers Association, projects brewery openings and closings to become “more balanced” in the coming years. Writing in The New Brewer, Watson says this is “not a sign of a collapsing market or bubble bursting, but the realization of a longer trend toward a more mature market.”