Can-brew attitude | Baxter Brewing puts a unique spin on craft beer
Photo/Amber Waterman
Luke Livingston's already expanding his facility after six months in business
This article was corrected to reflect the source of the award as the city of Lewiston.
When Luke Livingston decided to open a brewery in Lewiston’s Bates Mill, he spent $1.3 million and five months renovating the 7,400-square-foot space. Now, only six months later, Baxter Brewing Co. is undergoing more construction, adding equipment to double its production capacity to 720 barrels, or 22,320 gallons, a month.
During a mid-June visit to the brewery, two gaping holes in an interior brick wall sat waiting for a crane to deliver three massive tanks used for fermenting and conditioning the beer. Though Livingston had always planned to expand, “I didn’t expect to take the walls down quite as quickly,” he says. “I might not have made the walls so permanent had I known.”
The fledgling brewery has been well-received since opening in January. Last month, the company won an economic achievement award from the city of Lewiston presented at the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council annaul dinner, its beer has been added to the microbrew selection at the Sea Dogs’ Hadlock Field in Portland and soon will appear in Hannaford stores across the state. By the end of May, Baxter beer was available on draft at 175 locations — up from 75 only a month before. Its beer is available in 400 stores.
Livingston, 26, an Auburn native, decided to chase a dream to open a brewery after his mother died in early 2009. He sought help crafting his business plan, then spent more than a year raising capital, which came from private equity, a line of credit through People’s United Bank and a $50,000 loan from the city of Lewiston.
With nine employees, Baxter brews 360 barrels a month, making two varieties: a hoppy Stowaway IPA and a lighter Pamola Xtra Pale Ale (named after the company’s mascot, an Abenaki and Penobscot mythical creature comprised of the head of a moose, the body of a man and the wings and talons of an eagle). The company plans to introduce a third beer this fall, when it’ll also begin shipping to Massachusetts.
And while Maine may be home to more than a dozen craft breweries, Baxter Brewing’s product is unique in a few ways, says Livingston. For starters, it’s in a can, making Baxter the only brewery in New England to forgo glass bottles completely. Livingston touts the can’s benefits over glass: it’s lightweight and cheaper to ship; light-blocking to preserve the beer’s flavor; and appealing to outdoor enthusiasts looking to bring craft beer where glass would be a hazard. “I know a lot of people who sail in Portland who have thanked me, because they don’t have to downgrade to a domestic beer to take it on the boat with them,” he says.
Canned craft beer is an untapped market. Canned craft beer sales jumped 30% last year, Livingston says, but only 3% of the nation’s craft breweries use cans, according to the Brewers Association. He hopes to sell 5,000 barrels of beer this year and bring in $1.2 million in revenue.
The company also emphasizes sustainability. The bar in its tasting room was made from floorboards torn up from the mill, its lighting is Efficiency Maine-certified and its cans are made from 50% recycled materials. A stack condenser on its kettle tank condenses steam from the brewing process into hot water, which is reused, and spent grain is picked up by a local farmer to feed his cattle. Baxter Brewing also uses at least one Maine ingredient in its beer, including barley grown in Aroostook County.
And rehabbing a 150-year-old space was the ultimate green project. “Seeing those mills vacant — I really liked the idea of breathing life back in them,” Livingston says.
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