USA, ME: Baxter Brewing expands production in Lewiston

As cans clattered down the production line in the hops-heavy air of Baxter Brewing Co., founder Luke Livingston fretted over plans to quadruple the flow of beer, Bangor Daily News reported on January, 31.

The two-year-old company is currently able to meet only about 30 percent of orders for its Stowaway IPA, Amber Road, Pamola Xtra Pale Ale and seasonal creations.

The work that’s being done will create space in the brewery for six more fermenters. If the schedule holds, two will be delivered in April. Two more will come this fall and two more will arrive in the spring of 2014. The cost of the project will be about $2 mln.

Each pair of fermenters will add about 180 barrels of beer per week to the facility’s production capacity, said Ben Low, director of brewing. Production will increase to a 24-hour schedule.

Livingston said the initial increase in production should make the beer more widely available throughout Maine and Massachusetts. He hopes to get his beers into stores and bars in New Hampshire and Vermont, once the work is complete.

Livingston said he’s trying to find the right balance between keeping up with the business’s daily needs and watching the company grow. Though it feels like things are moving fast, Livingston said he’s careful not to let the growth happen too fast.

“Our top priority will be to fill the orders we have,” he said. “The rest will come later.”

01 February, 2013