Sacred Profane’s future home at 50 Washington St. in Biddeford, pictured last winter. Photo courtesy of Sacred Profane

Sacred Profane, the much-anticipated Biddeford brewery and restaurant under construction at 50 Washington St., may open by early August, its owners said.

The restaurant will offer a menu of classic beer hall fare, and the brewery features a state-of-the-art beer service system engineered by Czech firms Lukr and GS Technik. The system will be the first of its kind in North America, the owners said.

Carson James, co-founder of Lorne Wine and part of the Sacred Profane ownership team, said the timeline for opening the brewery has been contingent on the eight-week brewing process for its beers. The building will have electric power sometime next week, he said, allowing them to begin brewing and plan for an opening sometime in early August.

“We haven’t had that many hiccups on the buildout front,” James said, noting that the venue will have more than 80 seats between its upper and lower floors.

The lager-focused brewery is meant to deliver a Czech-style tank pub experience to southern Maine. “Our friends in the Czech Republic say that the brewer brews the beer, but the tapster makes the beer,” said Sacred Profane founder and head brewer Brienne Allan. “And we agree 100 percent that how you maintain and serve the finished beer is just as important as how you brew it.”

COFFEE BY DESIGN MARKS JUNETEENTH WITH SPECIAL BLEND

Coffee By Design is releasing its second Juneteenth Blend to honor the June 19 holiday that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

The medium-roast Juneteenth Blend is $18.50/lb. and will be available online or in Coffee By Design shops through the month of June. Coffee By Design will donate $2 from each pound sold to the nonprofit Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity, which aims to promote diversity and equity in the coffee industry.

Juneteenth specifically commemorates the granting of freedom to the enslaved people in Texas; they weren’t freed until June 19, 1865, three months after the Civil War ended, because emancipation wasn’t enforced there until Union soldiers reached the state. Walmart sparked controversy in early May by launching a new line of Juneteenth party supplies like drink koozies, plates and drinks – each bearing the slogan, “It’s the freedom for me” – along with a red velvet and cream cheese-flavored ice cream.

Critics argued that the mega chain’s Juneteenth offerings are a cynical and exploitive cash grab. The company has said it is reviewing the products and will remove any from shelves if it deems necessary.

Coffee By Design owner Mary Allen Lindemann pointed out various differences between her shop’s Juneteenth offerings and Walmart’s, most notably that Coffee By Design is using its special blend to raise funds for racial equality in the coffee industry and awareness of the issue itself.

“Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity is an extraordinary organization that a friend of ours (Phyllis Johnson) founded. We also wanted to raise awareness about them,” Lindemann said.

Lindemann said her team met with the Coffee Coalition board to discuss the language they planned to use for promotion of the special roast. After multiple revisions, the board signed off on the shop’s marketing language and bag label.

“You have to be careful, because it’s another organization lending its name to the effort,” she said. “And we wanted to make sure how we represented the holiday maintained its integrity.”

Coffee By Design has regularly offered special blends to raise funds for charitable causes for years. Last year, it launched its first Juneteenth Blend to help raise funds for the restoration of Portland’s Abyssinian Meetinghouse, one of the country’s oldest Black churches.

SCARBOROUGH FARM DEDICATES NEW LABYRINTH

To give visitors a place for quiet contemplation, Goronson Farm in Scarborough (not to be confused with Goranson Farm in Dresden) has built a 54-foot meditative labyrinth, which it plans to dedicate in a ceremony this Friday.

The newly built meditative labyrinth at Goronson Farm in Scarborough. Photo by Maureen Goronson

The stone labyrinth features paths 3 ½ feet wide, marked by about 2,000 granite stones that are stacked into low walls that run more than 500 feet within the structure and form several lanes. Z Construction of Saco built the feature over the winter.

Maureen Goronson, owner of the small certified organic farm that she said brings a “spiritual perspective” to its operations, had the labyrinth built around a nearly 80-year-old fir tree. A landscaper had earlier suggested cutting it down. “We’ve been careful not to cut down trees on the farm,” she said, and so instead, they’re preserving the tree and honoring it with the labyrinth.

Maine-based labyrinth designer Yadina Clark drew up plans based on the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence, numeric relations that play out in nature in numerous ways, from body measurements to the spiral dimensions in seashells. Clark says the design “creates a vortex of energy” at the labyrinth site, Goronson said.

“We figured that with everything going on in the world right now, people need to go somewhere quiet sometimes to reflect,” Goronson said.

The dedication ceremony runs from 3-6 p.m. and begins with a farm tour and a talk about labyrinths led by Clark. Guests will then walk the labyrinth together, and plant medicinal herbs and perennials around it. The event also will feature complimentary farm-to-table snacks and beverages, guests can take home Goronson’s certified organic vegetable and flower seedlings. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased on the Goronson Farm website.

NEW DANFORTH VENUE OPENING

The new bar and restaurant being built in the former Little Giant location on Danforth and Clark streets is on track to open in early July.

A spokesperson for the ownership company, Gin & Luck  – parent company to Death & Co. bars in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Denver – said the new venue, The Danforth, will feature “Continental-American cuisine,” and “classic dishes updated with fresh ingredients and contemporary technique.” Craft cocktails also will be a strong focus.

Gin & Luck partner Alex Day lives in Portland.

The Danforth will seat about 100 people, including 30 seats in a three-season outdoor patio. According to Gin & Luck, The Danforth will be hiring 35 staffers, including five managers.

SAMPLE GOODIES IN GORHAM

The 14th Gorham Taste Walk is scheduled for Sunday with 16 stops planned for the event.

Lead organizer Suzie Phillips said the walk returns to its usual format this year, after some downsizing and safety concessions due to the pandemic for the past two years. Depending on the weather, Phillips said the event could draw as many as 600 people sampling food, beer and wine from participating venues. The Taste Walk starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m.

Maps can be purchased ahead for $5 online or for $7 on the day of the walk at the Robie Gym lawn. Gorham Taste Walk supports Young Life Sebago, which helps teens in Gorham and Windham, and money raised from the event will be used to send kids to summer camp.