USA, ME: DeepWater Brewing Company comes to life after a barn restoration

The story of DeepWater Brewing Co. began more than 300 years ago in an old horse barn at the top of a hill, Bangor Daily News reported on May 18.

Built in the 1700s in a traditional post-and-beam style, the barn was once home to half a dozen horses. Thirty years ago the barn moved from its original location across the street. These days, instead of livestock, the cream-colored, shingle-sided building is home to bubbling vats of fermenting beer and sacks of malt grain.

DeepWater owner John Hikade and his son Tim restored the barn with the intention of brewing beer to sell at Arborvine, an adjacent restaurant.

Prior to starting restoration in 2012, the barn was virtually unused. But after refurbishing six other buildings in Blue Hill, Hikade knew he could do the job.

The barn transformation was completed in two years and Hikade said his goal with the restoration was to preserve as many historic details as possible while still adding modern conveniences.

John and Beth are not new to opening and running businesses in historic locations. Their restaurant Arborvine, on the same property as the brewery, occupies the former B.W. Hinckley house, which John and Beth restored.

“The history that they tell is a very gratifying part of working on old buildings,” John Hikade said.

Visitors to the brewery in the summer can expect an informal history lesson as Hikade shares the details, perhaps unnoticeable to the untrained eye, that make the building a living piece of history.

He knows every beam and every nail has a story.

DeepWater Brewing Company is located at 33 Tenney Hill in Blue Hill.

20 May, 2015