Maine Beer Co. is set to start construction on an expansion that will more than triple the size of its Freeport brewery and tasting room.
Freeport’s Project Review Board voted Wednesday to approve a 20,330-square-foot addition to the brewery on Route 1. The expansion will include areas for brewing, bottling, storage, staff offices, employee break rooms, lockers and bathrooms. The company’s tasting room and retail store will be widened into the existing 6,000-square-foot brewery and an expanded outdoor seating area with room for food truck parking will be added. Parking will be expanded from 30 spaces to 125.
The expansion will allow the company to boost production, but the aim of the project is to give customers and employees a better experience, said spokesman Jesse Weyl.
“As long as we have the ability to make good-quality, consistent beer and the market demands it, sure, we’ll make some more,” Weyl said. The company plans to start construction this winter and start brewing in its new space in 2018, he said.
Expansion plans have not changed substantially since the company submitted them this summer, but Project Review Board members required more extensive landscaping in the final version, said Town Planner Donna Larson.
Maine Beer Co. started in Portland in 2009 and moved to Freeport in 2013. The brewery has gained national attention from beer drinkers, particularly for Lunch, a popular India pale ale. According to its website, the company distributes to 16 states and the District of Columbia.
The company is one of a number of Maine breweries that have expanded in recent years, taking advantage of the appetite for craft beer and the state’s reputation as a leading state for craft brewing. Most recently, Bunker Brewing in Portland has moved from East Bayside into an expended brewery and tasting room on Westfield Street in Libbytown that is set to open Friday.
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