Despite tariff hangover, Maine's largest brewer holds prices steady — for now

Screen shot Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing Co., said tariffs will cost the Portland-based brewer more than $300,000 this year.

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By Renee Cordes

In an effort to cope with hundreds of thousands of dollars in tariff costs, Portland-based Allagash Brewing Co. has kept prices steady but signaled things could change next year.

"We have not made any tweaks to our prices yet. It's certainly been an unanticipated expense," Rob Tod, founder of the Portland-based brewer, said in response to a question from Mainebiz during Monday's annual business recap via Zoom.

"The tariffs on aluminum instantly worked their way through to our can supply and it's no small number — it'll probably cost us over $300,000 this year in unanticipated expense," he continued, noting that it's tough to predict whether tariffs will go away tomorrow or are around to stay.

"We haven't made any pricing adjustments in the near term," he said. "We'll see what next year brings. We're in the middle of our budgeting right now, but it's certainly one additional challenge that we had not predicted."

Tod's observations come about five months after the Trump administration doubled the tariff on aluminum imports from all countries except for the United Kingdom to 50%.

Allagash, founded in 1995, was ranked Maine's largest brewer in the 2025 Mainebiz Book of Lists based on 2023 production volume in barrels. This year, the brewer estimates 150,000 visitors to its tasting rooms in Portland and Scarborough, which opened this summer. Allagash is staffed by 130 year-round employees.

Looking back on 2025, Tod noted that while Allagash sales volume fell 10% in the first quarter, by the end of September it had managed to shrink the drop to 2% as "we continue to see momentum with our core beer and momentum with our innovation."

With beer down 5% and craft down 7%, "we are absolutely beating beer trends and absolutely beating craft trends," said Tod, a James Beard Award-winning industry trailblazer who was recognized as a Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year in 2025. "That's something we're very proud of and excited about."

Winning in a 'tough environment'

Tod said that Allagash has navigated difficult times before, including its first decade in business.

Early on, when Tod visited bars to pour samples of Allagash White, the flagship brand, many customers were struck by the beer's unconventional look and taste. The craft beer business as a whole was also in a bit of a downturn in 1995 when Allagash opened for business, according to Tod.

"We're beating the trends right now, and to me it's a lot more fun to win and beat the trends when it's hard than when it's easy and everyone is up," he added.

On the innovation front, plans for 2026 include releasing Rosé Cider in six-packs of 12-ounce cans and four-packs of 16-ounce cans of Clementine Kölsch in New England. In Maine, Allagash plans to release four-packs of 16-ounce cans of Kickabout Lager, the brewer's collaboration beer with the Hearts of Pine soccer team.

"We're trialing new innovations in condensed footprints [and] identifying what really resonates with our consumers," Josh Fruchtman, Allagash's sales director, said in Monday's presentation. "This allows us to keep focus on our core portfolio while laying the groundwork to roll out proven winners more widely in the future."