DRINKS ABOUT TOWN

Maine Beer Company was started by brothers Dan and Dave Kleban after learning how to brew at home on a $300 system they found online. Their first location was started in 2009 at One Industrial Way in Portland, a location later occupied by the well-known Bissell Brothers brewery. The company has gained national attention from beer drinkers, particularly for Lunch – a popular India pale ale – and for its spiritual successor Dinner Double IPA. They moved their brewery to a brand new brewery in Freeport during early 2013, and eventually were brewing 13,000 barrels of beer a year on a 15-barrel brewhouse. They have just completed work on their newly expanded facility that has more than tripled their production volume and has given them the opportunity to send their beer into new states. This has also allowed them to turn their former brewing space into an impressive new tasting room and pizza restaurant. 

Stars & Stripes Brewing is a veteran owned and operated brewery founded by Brad and Nancy Nadeau that fittingly opened in Freeport on Veteran’s Day in November of 2018. Brad served for 5 years in the United States Marine Corps and was deployed to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology, worked in the cardiac rehabilitation unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and later became an insurance inspector. But Stars & Stripes really represents an evolution of Brad’s true love of brewing. For three years prior to opening in Freeport, Brad would brew as often as three times a week in his West Cumberland garage using 380-gallon stainless steel tanks. Stars & Stripes gives back to the community by donating a percentage of proceeds to veteran organizations. The 2,000 square foot tasting room is filled with military memories, and there is also a 1,000-square-foot outside deck overlooking a small pond.

Founded in 2007 by Ben Alexander as Maine Mead Works, Honeymaker Mead strives to reintroduce the world to the oldest of all fermented beverages: a wine made from honey called mead.

In collaboration with South African scholar Dr. Garth Cambray, they developed a state-of-the-art continuous fermentation system, bringing mead making into the 21st century. While traditional mead is often heavy and syrupy, you’ll be pleased to find that the team has developed a light, dry, modern take on the formula.

Learn about the secret of their success and taste their extensive list of variations, including some invigorating sparkling Ram Island mead blends.