A few BlogAboutBeer.com readers probably already know the news I’m about the share but I’m pretty sure that most 
do not. What I am about to write has been a non-stop, full-time eleven months in the making (and many years in a dream): I am opening my own brewery.
Baxter Brewing Co. will be the first brewery north of Connecticut to can its entire line of beer. Located in the historic Bates Mill in Lewiston, Maine, Baxter beers will be distributed throughout the state of Maine beginning in September 2010 and across northern New England in 2011.
What’s With the Flying Moose?
The creature in our logo is Pamola, an Abenaki and Penobscot legend of a spirit which is said to be the god of Thunder, the cause of cold weather and protector of Mt Katahdin, the tallest peak in the state of Maine. The Indians described him as having the head of a moose, the body of a man and the wings and talons of an eagle. Pamola was both feared and respected by the tribes who believed in him.
Personally, I will be handling the marketing, sales and administration side of the company and have hired local Brewmaster Michael LaCharite – who founded Casco Bay Brewing Co. in the mid 1990s – to run the brewing side of the business. You can expect to see cans of our flagship Stowaway IPA across the state of Maine beginning around Labor Day. Our brewery itself will feature a nearly-new, state-of-the-art 30 barrel brewing system, manufactured by Newlands Systems Inc (NSI) and an automatic canning line capable of filling thirty cans a minute from Cask Brewing Systems Inc.
What Happens to BlogAboutBeer.com?
What does this mean for the future of BlogAboutBeer.com? Well, undoubtedly I won’t have the time any more necessary to devote to the blog (clearly, since it’s been nearly a week since my last update and posts are getting much less frequent as my schedule gets busier). And it would be unfair to all of you if I were to either turn this blog into an entirely Baxter-centric blog (I will have one of those I’m sure, but it will run as part of BaxterBrewing.com), or abandon it all together (the last thing I want to happen). I do plan to list the site for sale on Flippa and would hope for it to get what it’s worth, but more importantly, I hope that whatever hands it ends up in continue to develop the site, its content and its culture in the same vein I have been doing for the past 2+ years. So if you have an idea for the site, or are interested in purchasing it or taking it over, please get in touch with me.
So in Conclusion…
As for Baxter, I’m sure there will be questions from the crowd, so I’ll leave it at that. But please fire away (maybe they will require a couple of follow-up posts). And check out www.baxterbrewing.com and follow us on Twitter @BaxterBrewing.
Most importantly, I want to thank you all so much for all of the support you have shown BlogAboutBeer.com since its inception in August of 2007. Thousands and thousands of people have visited the site, have commented on posts, emailed me, introduced themselves, written guest posts, sent me beer and schwag, invited me into their events and into their homes and bars and without the site and without all of you, I certainly wouldn’t love craft beer nearly as much as I do and I damn sure wouldn’t be starting a brewery. So I thank you all from the bottom of my heart (and my glass) and please keep reading and keep in touch! Cheers!
12 Comments
This is amazing news Luke. I’m very happy for you and will be rooting for Baxter. We’ll miss BAB, and thanks for everything you’ve done with it. Good luck!
Fantastic news! Congratulations and I really look forward to your future posts about your endeavor, and I look forward to having some of this brew!
B
This is amazing news! Fall 2010 = Conan on TBS AND our states 1st canned Micro? Could it get any better? OK Luke, my question then is, are there any other Northern New England bloggers out there that I could go to now that I won’t have BAB?
Great News! I hope my across the border corner store in South Berwick will be stocking it. Your first batch should be timed perfectly to celebrate my return from sea and the end to four months of complete sobriety!
Congrats! I am both pumped for you and consumed with envy. cent’anni.
Congrats, Luke! And good luck. Looking forward to trying a can (or two). And thanks for helping to revitalize my old hometown.
And your neighbor microbreweries in New Hampshire:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2905354/new_hampshire_microbrews_three_top.html?cat=22
*grin*
great news and best of luck. Can not wait to try some of the canned brew on a visit to ME (or in my home town of Boston, when it comes down here :).
That’s awesome, man. Good luck!
Dude, that is so awesome! There’s not a beer blogger in the world that wouldn’t love to be able to do this. I, at least, will live vicariously through you.
Have you started looking at distribution? Do you think your humble libations will make it down to the Washington, DC area?
Lol, I love the site and concept. Become a beer blogger ha! Great site over all, good luck selling it when you do. I would recommend also trying http://www.PostIt.ws for listing your site. As well as a few others. Good Luck!
Can’t wait to try some of that canned beer! Congratulations Luke.