Breweries of the Week: Black Bear Brewing and Bray’s Brew Pub

This weekly blog series will feature each of our member breweries located throughout the state of Maine. We invite you to grab a pint, sit back and relax, while we fill you in on the lively brew scene in our state.

Who:  Black Bear Brewery, located in Orono Maine, is family owned and operated and focused on hand crafted, small batch, high quality beers. Owner and Brewmaster Tim Gallon, installed a 10bbl brewhouse in 2007 and began brewing in 2008. Black Bear brews are available on tap at several restaurants and pubs around the state, as well as in growlers and 22 oz bottles at the brewery.

What:  The brew team is all about supporting local. ‘I take every chance I get to incorporate something local into the beer. This is what makes a local brewery so special’. Their local spirit begins with their Brewery name, which of course is in honor of the beloved UMaine Black Bears. The Black Bear Pail Ale is an example of their fun and creative style and certainly lacks nothing in taste either! The hoppy American Pale ale offers big aroma and flavor, balanced with a sweet malty backbone for what has become known as a ‘very drinkable ale’.

Where:  The brew team offers brewery tours and tastings and can be found in the center of downtown Orono, at 19 Mill Street. They are also known to frequent area establishments, where they host ‘Brewers’ night’, which features their great beer, prizes and giveaways. Be sure to follow them on facebook to find out where to follow them around town!

Get to know the Black Bear Team:

Visit their website
Email them at facebook

Who: Bray's Brew Pub, located in the heart of the lakes region, Naples, Maine, has been pleasing locals and visitors with their outstanding food and hand crafted ale since 1995. The experience only gets better when enjoyed under the roof of their historic Victorian farmhouse, or as you step outside into the beer garden. Yup, you heard right, they have a beer garden and it is the perfect spot to sip on a savory hand crafted ale, while soaking up the sun, listening to live music and hanging out with the Naples cool crowd. 

What:  The brew team produces ales with a Pacific Northwest influence and offer pretty much the full gamut when it comes to flavor, aroma and style. Their Brandy Pale Ale, named after the popular summer hot spot in Naples, Brandy Pond, is delicious wheat ale that shouts ‘summertime in Maine’ with the very first sip. It’s that kind of ale that gives you spring fever and makes you think of nothing else but getting your boat in the water…or of course, spending an afternoon with friends in the beer garden!

When:  Bray's Brewing is part of the 7th annual Maine Blues Festival that takes place in the Lakes Region over Fathers Day weekend and features 10 stages and 40 bands throughout the weekend. Bray’s kicks off the weekend with a preview show on Friday night and closes with an all star open mic night on Sunday. It’s an event not to miss and you can get all the information you need by visiting the pub anytime between now and then.

Get to know the Bray's Brew Team:

Visit their website
Email them at braysbrewpub@roadrunner.com
Blog written by:  Lori Pecor of Marketing Cents4u.com

Breweries of the Week: Bar Harbor and Belfast Bay

This weekly blog series will feature each of our member breweries located throughout the state of Maine. We invite you to grab a pint, sit back and relax, while we fill you in on the lively brew scene in our state.

Who: Bar Harbor Brewing, located in Bar Harbor Maine, has been brewing gold and platinum winning brews for nearly twenty years. Their passion for their brew sums up quite well with two important facts:

1)  Despite their award winning recipes, they still only brew 260 barrels of bottle conditioned beer a year, which means their product line is far more important to them, than their ‘bottom line’.

2) They believe this to be true about their product: ‘it’s not just beer to drink, its beer to celebrate’.

What: The Bar Harbor brew team prides itself in producing a product line that is cohesive yet independent. By using varying amounts of the same four ingredients (water, yeast, malted barley and hops), their ales offer a multitude of flavors with a signature taste. Their Cadillac Mountain Stout, named after one of the most well known peaks in Maine, brought on a fame of its own when it was awarded the World Champion of dry stout in 1995.

Where:  Guests can visit their tasting room daily and even step into their pilot room for a close up look at their original brewing equipment. Be sure to visit their unique gift store while you’re in town, which offers a variety of local foods, local wines from Bar Harbor Cellars, and of course, plenty of Bar Harbor Brew ‘swag’ that one really should not be without!

Get to know the Bar Harbor Team:

Visit their website
Email them at info@barharborbrewing.com

Or even better… visit them at: 8 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor. They’re open 7 days a week!

Who: Belfast Bay Brewing Company, located in Belfast, Maine, has a story that would impress even the most distinguished of brew masters. Over the past 12 years Pat Mullen has pretty much built a brew empire, if empires are measured by thousands of bottles of champion worthy beer produced (Pat says he stopped counting right around 14,000 cases). And it was not all that long ago that these beers were bottled by Mullen himself, at his dining room table. Today, Belfast Bay Ales can be found in much of the Eastern US and are exported to Canada, Finland and Norway! Mullen now enjoys spending his time traveling to new places and introducing his passion to folks who have not yet had the opportunity to taste the world class beer. Pat is not only succeeding in introducing his beer around the world, he is bringing our great state of Maine right along with it. Thanks Pat!

What: Some of Mullen’s favorite brewing stories include Brewmaster Dan McGovern, (now of 3Tides in Belfast), and their days of co-producing 11 brews in the Searsport Avenue complex that was once home to The Barn takeout stand, a pub and the brewery. It is not surprising that one of Mullen’s World Brewing Championship winners is named McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout. Their other claim to fame is the very appropriately named (thanks to the suggestion of his wife) Lobster Ale. Naturally, Mullen chose to craft a Red Ale to give this Maine namesake its due justice.

When: Although the brewery is not open for tours, the brew team has made sure their fans know how to connect with them! Every bottle of Lobster Ale and McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout has their phone number listed on the label. So after you finish a bottle, be sure to give them a buzz and let them know what you thought!

Get to know the Belfast Bay Team:

Follow them on facebook
Visit their website

Maine Breweries of the Week: Allagash~ Andrews ~Atlantic

This weekly blog series will feature each of our member breweries located throughout the state of Maine. We invite you to grab a pint, sit back and relax, while we fill you in on the lively brew scene in our state.

Who: Allagash Brewing Company, located in Portland Maine, has been pleasing its fans ever since founder Rob Tod sold his first batch of Belgian Style beer in the summer of 1995. Over the past 17 years, Rob and his brew team have paid enormous tribute to Belgian brewing traditions and have been key players in the introduction and success of the Belgian style Beer movement in the US.

What: The Allagash brew team certainly doesn’t fall short when it comes to creativity either. A perfect example is their current featured beer, Allagash Black; a Belgian style stout with descriptive that includes ‘a generous portion of carmelized candi sugar’ and ‘coffee and dark chocolate notes expressed throughout…’ Yum! I’m thinking the adult version of a Root Beer Float?

When: Join Allagash Brewing and 17 other Maine breweries in Augusta this coming Saturday, April 7th, for the 4th Annual Central Maine Brew Fest. FMI go to https://www.centralmainebrews.com/index.shtml

Get to know the Allagash Team:

Follow them on facebook, utube or twitter

Visit their website
Schedule a brewery tour.


Who: Andrews Brewing Company, located in picturesque Lincolnville Maine, boasts 15 years in operation as the 5th craft brewery in the state. The brew team might attribute part of their inspiration to the beautiful part of the world in which they brew… 9 miles inland from Lincolnville Beach, with views extending to Cadillac Mountain and Little Deer Isle. Spending their days brewing beer, surrounded by all of that natural beauty; is that where the infamous Maine tagline ... The way life should be comes from?

What: A review on Beer Advocate appropriately defines why the brewery is celebrating 15 successful years in operation. After polishing off a pint of their English Pale Ale, the expert taster had this to say ‘…This is a great session beer. I should really drink this more often. The subtleties of this beer are easily overshadowed by Maine's more adventurous and better funded brewers, but this is an exceptional brew. If British session beers were as popular as the average Russian Imperial stout, people would be lining up at Andy's door for this beer. Highly recommended.’

When: Andrews Brewing Company will join the Maine Brewer’s Guild family at the Craft Beer Comes to Boothbay event on July 14th. Tickets are on sale now for this sell out event, featuring a huge collection of some of the finest brews on the market, a traditional New England BBQ, awesome music and tons more.

Get to know the Andrews Team:

Follow them on facebook
Schedule a brewery tour


Who: Atlantic Brewing Company, located in well known Bar Harbor Maine, has been brewing fine ales for well over a decade, reaching retailers in select areas across the country. Their brews boast number one positioning in the entire Bar Harbor Region. The Brewery recently moved into its new facility that was built on the site of an old farm a few miles from downtown Bar Harbor and designed to ‘create a more visitor-friendly environment similar to country wineries and breweries found throughout Europe.’

What: In early 2012 the brew team announced the release of a new IPA to the Manly Men Beer Club Series, Big Wicked IPA. In their eloquent words: ‘The Manly Men Big Wicked IPA is like any other IPA, only more so. This is the big brother to our New Guy IPA and is similar in many ways. It uses Columbus Hops. Columbus has a 15% Alpha Acid and is earthy, spicy, pungent, with some citrus over tones. We also decided to balance these hops with more malts, resulting in an AVB of 6.8% and a powerfully pleasing IPA that may make you forget your Mama's name, or, at least any other IPA.’ Big Wicked IPA is available in draft only and distributed by Wicked Wines of Bangor.

When: 7 Days a week, Memorial Day to Columbus Day, All-You-Can-Eat BBQ Saturdays.

The Knox Road Grille is home to Mainely Meat Barbecue offering pulled pork, sausages, ribs and chicken, as well as baked beans, cole slaw and potato salad. The Atlantic Brewing Company's full line of ales, (as well as Seasonal Specialties), are available on tap at the bar. You can enjoy a pint and a great meal in the restaurant, or take it outside to sit in the sun in the courtyard. FMI call: 207-288-9200

Get to know the Atlantic Brewing Team:

Follow them on facebook
Visit their website
Schedule a brewery tour