USA, ME: Footbridge Brewery coming to Boothbay Harbor
A new small batch craft beer brewery is coming to Boothbay Harbor, and its named for one of the best-known icons in the harbour, the Boothbay Register reported on February 27.
Footbridge Brewery is still in the beginning stages, as owners and best friends Nick Ullo and Dan Pangburn continue to develop new recipes and brew their unique beers for test trials.
The two have been friends for several years, and have always shared a love of beer. A few years ago, they started talking about a common dream to open a brewery.
Both of us had brewed beer prior to brewing together, Ullo said. And the first beer we brewed together turned out good, so we brewed another beer. And then another.
Beer runs through the brewers veins. Pangburns grandfather owned a brewery one of the first to reopen after prohibition and contracted for Haberle Congress Brewing Co. Ullos great-grandfather owned a pub in Minnesota.
Ive always had an interest in perhaps opening a bar, Ullo said. Dan had a similar interest, in opening a brewery, so it seemed like it was something for us to explore.
The shared dream soon started taking shape, and the business partners began brewing beer and refining recipes together around three years ago. Last year, they started getting serious about the possibility of opening a brewery together and bringing more craft beer to the Boothbay region.
Pangburn explained some of the process of producing the different flavors.
Theres mainly two categories of hops. Theres a bittering hop and theres an aroma hop. Youll get different tastes and aromas depending on what types of hops you use, and when you add them to the brew, he said.
As of now, the partners have settled on three different recipes. They call one the SMaSH series. Nick and I both had recipes that we really loved, Pangburn said. But 99 percent of our ingredients are being sourced from Maine, and most of those recipes call for ingredients that are not available in Maine.
SMaSH is an acronym for Single Malt and Single Hop. They started out very basic, using one malt and one hop, then they started tasting. We went through six renditions, Ullo said. The nice thing about doing it that way is that its very controlled. You can use one of each, and the next time you brew, you can change to a different type of hop, and you can really taste the difference. This allows us to zero in on what flavors we like from certain hops and certain malts, and what we dont like. But whats fascinating is that we havent made a SmaSH that we didnt like.
The second brew they introduced is called Winterbush, with coriander, orange peel, lemon zest and ginger. People need to be prepared for this one, Ullo said. Its really different. Its warming, its tasty, and it has a nice smell.
And there will be a blueberry beer, made with Maine blueberries. It changes the color of the beer and makes it pretty unique, Ullo said. Its very purple.
A fourth brew, using jalapeno and habanero peppers, is still in the experimental stage. As the name implies, its spicy. Pangburn said its good paired with anything with a red sauce and dough (pizza) and tortillas. It has a great jalapeno smell, Ullo said. Its very different, but its still beer.
A couple different hard ciders will be in the mix, too. One is a tart cherry hard cider, created by Ullo.
Ullo explained that a lot of microbreweries have one or a few standard beers they offer year-round, and a rotating tap, where more seasonal ingredients are introduced, to warm you in the winter and cool you in the summer.
The brewers will determine which beers work for them, and which dont, but they said its the consumers who will ultimately determine whats seasonal and whats year-round.
Ullo, originally from Pennsylvania, came to Boothbay Harbor to work for the Boothbay Region Land Trust in 2012. Pangburn, who works for Osman Page, came to the Boothbay area three years ago from outside Ithaca, New York.
Thanks to a pretty rigorous following on Facebook, where theyve been posting teasers, Ullo and Pangburn said theyve had quite a few curious people stop by their temporary brewery in an undisclosed location. Its been great meeting all the people whove come in and tasted our beer, Ullo said. And I think everyone, so far, has enjoyed it.
Contrary to some talk around town, the brewery will not be at the footbridge house, or the Bridge House, as owner Pam Burke calls it. We were getting lots of calls asking what we were doing, she said in an email. Everyone thought the brewery was going to be in the Bridge House.
Theres not a designated location for the brewery yet, but the partners are hoping to secure a spot close to the entrance to the west end of the footbridge.
Ullo said the name Footbridge Brewery was an obvious choice. When we got serious about opening a brewery here in Boothbay Harbor, we tossed around a few different names, and I tried to think of something thats unique here and perhaps speaks to not just the people who live here, but also the people who visit. One of the most unique features of Boothbay Harbor is our footbridge.
Its famous, its been around for so long and survived for so long, and we expect our brewery will do the same. It ties us locally to Boothbay Harbor, and hopefully well be able to attract even more beer drinkers down to the Boothbay peninsula, by having two craft breweries here.
Were committed to doing this, and its going to happen. If we could blink our eyes and make it happen right now, wed make it happen. But it will happen in time, and were getting there.
The two men said brewing beer has been a great experience. Its a lot of fun when youre making beer with people you love. Pangburn said. Other than getting to brew with best friends and family, we love meeting the people who have come in. Weve made a lot of new friends since we started brewing beer.
New friends are coming out of the woodwork, Ullo said with a grin. There are a lot of friends out there.
Footbridge Brewery beer isnt available for sale yet. They hope to start selling their beers by 2019. Right now were just Dan and Nick future brewery owners, refining our recipes, and finalizing our business plan, Ullo said.
E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .