The Portland Brew Festival Arrives on Labor Day Weekend
The calendar for beer festivals in Maine is getting more crowded every year. The Maine Lakes Brew Fest, Central Maine Brew Fest, Ebenezer’s Belgian Beer Festival and the perennially popular Maine Brewer’s Festival are big happenings every summer – and that’s not to mention all the smaller events put on by breweries and restaurants. Just a month ago, the Maine Brewer’s Guild joined the fray with Craft Beer Comes to Boothbay.
On Labor Day Weekend, there’s one more big momma of an event to mark on your calendar – the first-ever Portland Brew Festival.
Advertised as Portland’s “newest and most exciting brew festival,” the Portland Brew Festival is bringing over 25 breweries (and 75+ beers) to the Old Port on September 3rd and 4th. Breweries from all over New England will be in attendance, from newbies like Baxter Brewing to stalwarts Narragansett Brewing and Shipyard. Also in attendance are a couple cider- and mead-makers, as well as a handful of homebrewers.
Tickets to any of the events’ three sessions – Saturday evening and Saturday and Sunday afternoons – are $30.
The Portland Brew Festival does a lot of things I really like at beer shindigs. Multiple afternoon sessions make for a slightly less rowdy crowd (less pre-gamers), and a generous number of drink tickets mean you can sample without feeling too stressed about your choices. Good food and a huge number of breweries (and cider and mead brewers) add that variety that can be missing at smaller fests.
Coupons to restaurants in Portland, a foodie paradise, ain’t bad, either.
Event organizer Mak Sprague was kind enough to answer some questions about the event for the Hop Press.
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How did you come to craft beer in Maine? Do you work in the business, or are you simply an advocate for good, local beer?
I’m a novice home brewer so I’m definitely a fan of craft beers, and of course, whenever I travel, I love to sample local beers, preferably on location at the brewery. My folks have been hosting the annual Maine Boatbuilders Show and Portland Flower Show for 25 years, and it seemed like time to bring a festival of this kind to the city.
Nationally and locally, beer festivals are becoming more popular every year. How is the Portland Brew Festival different than the other Maine beer fests?
Maine has some awesome beers and nearly every festival in the state focuses on just these great in-state brewers, but I made the conscious decision to invite brewers from across the region–there are so many up-and-coming brewers and unknowns who should be known… I want the people who come to this festival to leave with an “aha” moment about a brewer or beer or cider they discovered here. I’m also coming at this from a homebrewer background. I’ve been to a number of festivals, but never one where they are brewing live at the event.
Which brewers will be attending the Portland Brew Festival? Is the aim to showcase a specific type of craft brewer, or Maine and New England brewers in general?
It’s all about regional and beyond. We’re excited about so many of the exhibitors: Naragansett out of Rhode Island; Switchback Brewing from Vermont; and Tuckerman Brewing from New Hampshire. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Maine festival without our own Shipyard, Baxter Brewing, Sea Dog, and Sebago Brewing. We are still adding participants, and the lineup is strong and very regional, as hoped.
Maine-made mead and cider have really taken off in the last year or two here in New England. Will any meaderys or cidermakers be in attendance?
Absolutely. Woodchuck Cider [Vermont]; Fatty Bampkins and Kennebec Cider [Maine] are confirmed along with Portland’s own Maine Mead Works, and we hope to add others in the next week or so.
The information on the festival notes that it includes “home-brewing supplies and demonstrations.” How will homebrewers be involved with the event?
The exhibitors will be showcasing equipment and supplies, and the experts will be on hand to answer brewing questions and help folks either get started or move to the next level in their brewing. The tractor-powered cider equipment that my father and I built has been delivered to the buildings, and we are bringing in equipment so we can brew beer during the event. That should put a great smell in the air.
How are your sponsors – Maine Today Media, Sail Maine and LiveME – involved with the fest?
Maine Today is being a fantastic media partner and really helping us promote the event. LiveME is our official apparel provider and we are working with Sail Maine to support their grassroots sailing programs. A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to this great cause… it’s a natural fit.
Are ticket sales capped at a certain number of attendees?
No more than 2,000 tickets will be sold per session…we want folks to have the space and time to move around and engage with the exhibitors, and we believe that is a comfortable number.
What does a ticket to one of the sessions buy an attendee? Are beer samples limited to a certain number of drink tickets?
First off, as they come through the front door, each visitor will get a show program with 24 tear-out drink tickets. Each brewer has their own page describing their brews so that readers can decide where they want to go. We will have 2 buildings of brewers and another building just for homebrewing displays and live brewing on-site. BBQ and other local fare will be for sale on site, and the program will have discount coupons to various places within walking distance in the Old Port so folk can create their own after-party.
Is it exciting to be able to host an event right in the heart of the Old Port?
I’ve been dreaming about this for years–I ‘m very excited and really looking forward to a successful event where attendees leave looking forward to the next one!
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For more information on the first Portland Brew Fest, check out portlandbrewfestival.com.
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[...] Labor Day weekend, there’s a new beer festival coming to Portland. This week, I devote my Hop Press column to profiling the event and asking organizer Mak Sprague a few questions about the first Portland [...]