Region & History

How many breweries does Maine have? According to the Brewers Association's 2025 statistics, there are 157 craft breweries. Measured against adults aged 21 and over, the state ranks second in the US with 14.2 breweries per 100,000 residents, though in absolute terms it only places 21st. Craft means: small, independent, and brewer-owned—not a brand belonging to a large corporation.

It all began with a ban. As early as 1851, Maine became the first US state to outlaw the sale of alcohol. The scene we know today is young. In Portland, on December 10, 1986, the first pints of Geary's Pale Ale were poured at Geary's, and the brewery is considered one of the pioneers of the state's craft movement.

Shipyard followed soon after. Fred Forsley and brewmaster Alan Pugsley opened the Federal Jack's brewpub in Kennebunkport Harbor in 1992. In 1994, this gave rise to the Shipyard brewery on Hancock Street in Portland. By sales volume, it was the state's second-largest brewery in 2024.

In 1995, Rob Tod founded the Allagash brewery in the corner of a Portland warehouse. He welded together the 15-barrel system himself, roughly 17 hectoliters by US measure. At first he brewed just a single beer: a hazy Belgian wheat beer that innkeepers and merchants initially didn't quite know what to make of.

Not every founding story stayed in the same hands. Geary's was sold to a businessman from Freeport in 2017, with Alan Lapoint taking over management. There is no protected designation of origin for beer from Maine. The name on the label simply indicates where the beer was brewed, not under what rules.