E-Malt.com News article: USA, ME: Maine breweries’ production increases

According to data recently obtained from the Maine Department of Public Safety's Liquor Licensing and Inspection Unit, output by Maine breweries in 2012 increased by more than 20 percent for the third year in a row, hispanicbusiness.com reported on May, 24.

Over a three-year period, from the end of 2009 through 2012, beer production by Maine breweries has increased from 4.1 mln gallons to 7.9 mln, or by more than 90 percent.

In 2010, the amount of beer produced by Maine breweries increased by 20 percent, from 4.1 mln gallons the previous year to nearly 5 mln. The following year, state wide beer production increased 30 percent, from 4.97 mln gallons to nearly 6.5 mln.

In 2012, all but one of the 13 largest breweries in the state saw their production rates increase from the prior year.

Because Maine is a small state, Dee Germain, the owner of the Portland's Allagash Brewing Company said, the growth in craft beer brewing is relatively more significant in Maine which, with 33 breweries, ranks fifth in the country with one brewery for every 40,000 residents, according to the national Brewers Association. All, or nearly all of the state's breweries, are members of the Maine Brewers' Guild, she added.

Shipyard, the largest brewer in Maine, produced nearly 5 mln gallons of beer in Maine in 2012, an increase of about 900,000 gallons or 22 percent over the previous year. Allagash, Maine's second-largest brewer, increased production by 36 percent in 2012 to 1.4 mln gallons.

Eight other breweries in Maine, with 2012 production levels ranging from 26,000 gallons to 202,000 gallons, had output increases between 16 percent and 63 percent. Those breweries are Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, Baxter Brewing in Lewiston, Island Brewing of Saco, Kennebunkport Brewing, Maine Beer Co. in Freeport, Peak Organic in Portland, Sebago Brewing in Gorham, and Sea Dog, which has locations in Bangor, South Portland and Topsham.

These increases stand in crisp contrast to Maine sales of non-Maine beers. Of the 10 out-of-state brewers that had the highest sales in Maine last year, only two - Boston Beer Co. and Canada's Labatt - had double-digit percentage increases. Boston Beer pumped up its Maine sales by 43 percent, from 1.3 mln to 1.9 mln, while Labatt boosted its Maine sales by 12 percent, growing from 213,000 to 239,000.

Anheuser Busch, the largest brewer in the country, sold just more than 16 mln gallons of beer in Maine last year, an increase of only 1.3 percent. Sales of Miller and Coors both decreased in Maine while other nationally sold brands such as Pabst or Heineken had single-digit increases.

According to Brewers Association, a national craft beer industry group, domestic sales of American-made craft beers increased from around 11.5 mln barrels (or about 355 mln gallons) in 2011 to about 13.2 mln barrels (or 410 mln gallons) in 2012. The association defines craft brewers as companies that make fewer than 6 mln barrels (186 mln gallons) each year, have less than a 25 percent ownership stake by any non-craft beer alcoholic beverage company, and that brew mostly traditional-style beers.

Marshall Wharf Brewing, located on the Belfast waterfront, is relatively small compared to other Maine breweries - it made less than 15,000 gallons in 2012 - but it increased its production total from 2011 by 27 percent.

Carlson, who founded Marshall Wharf in 2007, said that the recent growth of the industry in Maine is due in large part to the early success of the state's larger craft brewers. Geary's, founded in the mid-1980s and followed by Shipyard in 1992 and then Allagash a few years later, all helped establish Maine as a place where high-quality, hand-crafted ales were made, he said.

"We have a great reputation; we're really blessed now with some good to great breweries."

According to Carlson, the national craft beer explosion in the late 1980s and early 1990s produced some not-so-great, short-lived beers as customers and investors rushed into the expanding market. Some consumers literally were left with a bad taste in their mouths, but the more recent growth in the industry is different, he added. Craft brewers now have more experience, even those starting new breweries, and customers do, too.

"I don't see that happening now," Carlson said about inconsistent quality among new craft beers. "It's a much more informed beer-buying public."

Oxbow Brewing in Newcastle is relatively small compared to better-known Maine breweries - it brewed just under 22,000 gallons in 2012 - but its growth rate last year outpaced all others. Production increased by more than 400 percent from 2011, the company's first year of operation, when it brewed slightly more than 4,000 gallons of beer.

Tim Adams, co-founder and head brewer at Oxbow, said that the brewery plans to keep growing, though not to the size that Shipyard has achieved. He said the brewery has a general production goal of around 30,000 gallons in 2013, with similar year-to-year growth in the next few years.

"We love Maine," he said of his Oxbow colleagues. "It's an incredibly exciting time to be part of the Maine beer scene."


29 May, 2013