USA, ME: Rusty Bus Brewing Co. looking for a Lewiston-Auburn home

Rusty Bus Brewing Co. is on the move, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported on February 29.

Early plans to set up in Continental Mill space fell through, according to a company Facebook post: “Although it was a great old building, and we had a lot of romantic notions on how it would turn out, in reality, it would cost a small fortune to get to the point that we needed.”

Co-founder Peter Ouellette, who is opening the brewery with his wife, Nichole, said that he’s been looking for between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet, enough for a microbrewery and taproom.

Proper drainage and build-out costs have so far been among the biggest hurdles in the search.

“We would like to be open this year,” he said. “I grew up in the Lewiston and (brewer Nathan Chisholm) grew up in Auburn, and we really want to contribute in the revitalization of this area, so staying local is very important to us. If finding a suitable location means locating in a suburb, then we will.”

The company has a one-barrel brewhouse and 10 one-barrel fermenters to brew about 300 gallons at a time. It plans to brew an array of beer styles along with carrying ciders and kombucha.

“We bought our brew system from Grateful Grain Brewing in Monmouth about a year ago as they expanded their brewing capacity,” Ouellette said. “We have been home-brewing for about four years and have been working on establishing Rusty Bus for about two years.”

As for the brewery name? Ouellette is the manager at Hudson Bus Lines and Chisholm his dispatcher there.

01 March, 2020