E-Malt.com News article: USA, MA: Bangor-based Geaghan Bros. unveils new brewery in Brewer, Maine

Andrew Geaghan, owner and head brewer at Geaghan Bros. Brewing Company, has been involved in craft beer for as long as he’s been alive. His parents even stopped at their company’s Bangor pub before bringing him home from the hospital the day he was born, Bangor Daily News reported on May 14.

After 10 months of construction, Geaghan’s unveiled its new $900,000, 3,600-square-foot production space on May 12. The expansion will allow the company to increase its production eightfold and sell bottled beer throughout central and northern Maine for the first time in the company’s 40 years.

The Geaghans, a family with deep roots in Brewer, started Geaghan’s Pub in Bangor in 1975 and started brewing in 2011.

“We’re ready to roll, I can’t wait until beer is in here and rolling out the doors,” Andrew Geaghan said.

Geaghan expects to brew up to 1,280 gallons at a time at the new location. That’s enough beer for one person to drink two beers every day for the next 12 years. Brewers will continue brewing at the Bangor location, however, their focus will shift to beers that take more time or are more experimental in nature.

The pub in Bangor will still be the hub of the business but the expansion will put Geaghan’s closer to a category of breweries that includes Bar Harbor’s Atlantic Brewing Co., and Gritty McDuff’s of Portland, which reported making 111,000 gallons in 2012. It will also bring more jobs to the area. Since starting to brew in 2011, the company has gone from 55 employees to more than 85 after the expansion is complete.

There aren’t currently any plans to expand the pub in Bangor, but Geaghan said it’s always a possibility.

Prior to opening the new space, the company brewed in a small addition connected to the pub in Bangor. However, as demand grew, it quickly grew out of the space.

Geaghan said his company’s expansion is indicative of the nationwide trend toward microbrews. However, he said, it takes more than creating a good-tasting beer.

According to the Brewers Association, formerly the Brewers’ Association of America, 38 percent of microbrew sales are based on the story behind them.

“People are looking for an experience, a sense of place. They’re willing to pay a dollar more to feel like they’re part of something,” Geaghan said.


15 May, 2015