USA, ME: Baxter Brewing Co. expands in order to meet the increasing demand for beer

Luke Livingston, president and founder of Baxter Brewing Co., has nearly doubled his production of beer with the addition of three new 8,000-gallon fermentation tanks in order to keep up with the gowing demand for beer. Livingston said three more tanks will be installed this winter, Bangor Daily News reported on July 13.

Since three new 8,000-gallon fermenters were installed this spring, production has increased from about 8,000 barrels per year to 15,000 barrels. The canning line has sped up to one can per second. And, in December, three more equally huge fermenters will be installed, effectively doubling production again.

Yet the 3-year-old beer company is still unable to keep up with demand, according to Luke Livingston, the company’s founder and president.

“In the old days, we’d maybe package 85 barrels,” Livingston said. “This week, we packaged 185 barrels of beer. We’re getting a little closer than we were, but our total orders for this week are still more than 600 barrels.

“It beats the alternative, but it’s still tedious,” he said.

“The growth will help”, Livingston said.

Several beers were in the tap room Thursday, July, 11, including a concoction called “peachy-keen.”

“There’s a pretty constant stream of test brews here,” said Ben Low, Baxter’s director of brewing operations. “A lot of it is just to be fun and creative,” he said. “We have at least one new brew here per week.”

Livingston hopes it will entice more people to visit the tap room.

Meanwhile, his focus is on production.

When the new fermenters are installed in December, production and processing will surge to a 24-hour schedule.

17 July, 2013