LISBON

After chugging nearly 2.5 liters of Moxie on Saturday during the annual Moxie Chug-n- Challenge, Beau Bradstreet held his empty bottle in the air in triumph at the end of the two-minute contest.

The event was just one of many making up the three-day Moxie Festival in Lisbon which draws thousands of people to town from all over, and every year it’s a main draw. Crowds gathered as close as possible around the chuggers, undaunted by the excessive belching they spewed forth. It turns out they drew in more air while chugging from the larger 2-liter warm bottles of Moxie soft drink rather than the cans.

Bradstreet, of Bridgewater, is the reigning champ since he first decided to enter the fledgling contest five years ago, winning for the fourth time in 2014 after downing 10 cans of Moxie in two minutes. On Saturday, he beat out the other nine contestants and walked away with two cases of Moxie and the $50 in entrance fees.

It’s a tradition now and he and an entourage of family traveled down from Bangor on Thursday night and hit Splashtown on Friday before the Moxie Festival on Saturday. Bradstreet again wore his “You’ve either got it or you don’t” orange Moxie shirt with his last name on the back. His little boys wore T-shirts that said “chugger in training.”

His two snow sledding buddies talked about the festival and so he checked it out in 2010, “and I entered the competition and then I’ve come ever since.”

He called that initial entry a “what-the-heck” moment. He won that first year and every year since then. What is it about him that makes him a champion?

“I don’t know, good receptacle I guess,” Bradstreet said. “And you’ve got to give yourself a chance to mend.”

He said one must like what they’re chugging to be effective. He can chug beer, soda and water. He likes Moxie because it’s different, and “it’s got a bite to it. That’s what I like about it.”

If it was cold, he said he could chug even more. He had read ahead of time that this year contestants would be drinking from the 2-liter bottles and wouldn’t be able to use a knife to poke a hole in the smaller cans as was his method in past years. But he wasn’t worried.

“I just landed here and started dumping them,” he said. “Just a little frost heave.”

When you chug, you focus on what’s in front of you and don’t worry about where the other chuggers are at. Wellpressurized after his win, he shook hands with well-wishers and was asked to pose in photos and give interviews.

One lady admitted to him she can’t really stand the taste, so he told her it makes a great dessert.

Because Bradstreet doesn’t just drink Moxie; he cooks with it.

“It makes great cheesecake,” Bradstreet said. “I make meatballs with it, barbecue sauce, pie, cheesecake, ice cream.”

He buys a 12-pack a week and you’ll always find some in his refrigerator. His sons, age 2 and 5, like it too.

“It’s a nice little vacation, and it’s good times; good family fun,” he said.

A John Deere mechanic, he was happy to see festival organizers had a John Deere Gator utility vehicle for him to face as he downed the dark brew.

The first time he won and was asked to pose with strangers, “I didn’t know I was a celebrity,” he said. “It’s a big deal down here.”