Rural brewer looks to join growing scene in East Bayside
Photo / Jim Neuger
Abraham Lorrain, left, and his father, Paul Lorrain, of Funky Bow Brewery & Beer Co., at the brewery in Lyman. They exploring adding a tap room in Portland.
One of Maine's best-known rural brewers is looking to tap into an urban presence.
Paul Lorrain and his son, Abraham Lorrain, owners of Funky Bow Brewery & Beer Co. in Lyman, have formed an "exploratory committee" to look at space in Portland's East Bayside neighborhood.
"All we're doing is exploring," Paul Lorrain said by phone on Friday. He added that while they had found a possible space to lease, "everything is tentative until it's done."
At home in Lyman, Funky Bow offers live music, "growler nights" and events from weddings to retirement parties on a sprawling wooded property in York County. Funky Bow draws big crowds on weekends and hosts a six-guest yurt that's listed on Airbnb.
Nevertheless, Paul Lorrain said that having a presence in East Bayside's emerging brewing hub would be a major plus.
"People don't come to Lyman for anything but us," he said, saying the explosive growth in breweries across the state makes it harder to attract customers to out-of-the-way locations.
"There are a lot more places for people to go, and we feel we're actually doing OK here. If we can be in that circle of East Bayside people where people just walk around, we'll be doing a lot better. It's proactive."
If things do work out in East Bayside, Funky Bow would be moving into a neighborhood that includes Rising Tide Brewery at 103 Fox St., Austin St. Brewery at 1 Industrial Way and Lone Pine Brewing at 219 Anderson St., along with several other new businesses.
Though Paul Lorrain didn't want to reveal the location they're considering, Funky Bow last week posted a Facebook message saying it's looking for space in Portland to open a tasting room.
Lorrain told Mainebiz on Friday that the post prompted 800 likes and several responses from brokers and others in real estate offering to help. There were also four comments on the Portland Food Map site, which picked up the post.
"It show's there's an interest," he said. "You could call that market research."
But he reiterated that expanding into Portland may or may not happen, saying, "it's all up in the air."
Funky Bow, profiled in the Mainebiz June 10 cover story, is one of a growing number of rural brewers in Maine.
The craft industry as a whole added $260 million to the state's economy in 2017 and employed 1,190 people.
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