The 15 Absolute Must-Drink Breweries Of Portland, Maine
Maine is a lovely place to visit due to its breathtaking natural beauty, beautiful beaches, ancient town, and flourishing local beer scene. Boasting over 30 breweries, Maine is heaven for craft beer enthusiasts. With each brewery’s products distinctly different from the other, it is no wonder this region is packed with tourists all year round. If you plan to visit the area, it’s good to know some places such as the best breweries. So, here are the best breweries in Portland Maine
What are the best breweries in Portland, Maine?
The best breweries in Portland, Maine, are:
- Allagash Brewing Company
- Austin Street Brewery
- Belleflower Brewing
- Battery Steel Brewing
- Bissell Brothers Brewing
- Foundation Brewing Company
- Maine Beer Company
- Rising Tide Brewing Company
- Foulmouthed Brewing
- Urban Farm Fermentory
- Oxbow Bottling
Portland, Maine, is home to one of America’s most flourishing craft beer cultures. Due to the excellent quality and range of outstanding breweries, Portland should be on every beer enthusiast’s bucket list.
We compiled this list of the best breweries in Portland, Maine, based on online reviews and user experiences. Continue reading if you want to narrow down the myriad of options and get a few insider tips on how to visit the top breweries in Portland, Maine.
Portland, Maine’s 15 Best Breweries
1. Allagash Brewing Company
Located at 50 Industrial Way, Portland, Maine 04103, Allagash began as a one-person enterprise in 1995, employing modified dairy machinery to become the giant manufacturer of the most popular beers in the country.
Allagash is the largest and most successful local beer manufacturer in Maine. While carving their route and deciding to produce Belgian-inspired beer, their quality remains top-notch. These Portland stalwarts are renowned worldwide as remarkable and one-of-a-kind brewers who dare to innovate.
The famous Allagash White is what brought them national prominence. Their sour, funky, and wild beer collection distinguishes them from other breweries.
2. Austin Street Brewery
Austin Street Brewery, co-founded by two friends who began with a single keg of brewed beer each, opened its doors in 2014 and has grown significantly since then.
Since the owners have never sold any shares in their business, they have complete creative control over everything they do. This has enabled them to channel their creativity into coming up with over-the-moon flavors.
Austin Street Brewery makes pale ale, milk stout, double India Pale Ale, fruit beer, German pilsner, wild black ale, and even Kolsch in bottles and cans.
Austin Street Brewery ensures that your tummy remains full while enjoying their beers by having a variety of local food truck businesses sell their food at their brewery. In fact, they keep a calendar indicating the types of cuisine available on any particular day.
3. Belleflower Brewing
This family-owned brewery established itself in Portland in March 2021. Belleflower offers long picnic tables, an outside beer garden, a floral mural on the brick wall, and contemporary music screaming from the loudspeakers, which are very appealing.
Belleflower may be among the newest kids on the block, but one visit to their bright bar and a sip of their brilliantly bright beers will make you feel as if you’ve been here for years.
The owners put a lot of thought into the craft and ensure they serve their customers with nothing but the best, which justifies why despite just being a year old in the industry, this brewery ranks in the top three on our chart.
4. Battery Steele Brewing
Battery Steele founders Shane Noble and Jacob Condon are seasoned brewers, as seen by their ever-changing selection of exceptional pilsners, stouts, pale ales, and India Pale Ales.
From humble origins in an abandoned barn to now owning its brewery, Battery Steele Brewing has been topping the finest beer breweries in Portland, Maine, popularity charts.
Their flagship drink, Flume, a phenomenal double India Pale Ale with the name of a mountain peak, features distinct mango and grapefruit flavors, malt, and hoppiness, all of which are exquisitely balanced. Nothing short of delectable.
5. Bissell Brothers Brewing
Bissell Brothers began as a beer without a home, initially distributed through The Thirsty Pig, and presently brews over 10,000 barrels annually in a 100-year-old abandoned railway building in Libbytown.
Bissell Brothers are the best IPA brewery in Maine and perhaps all of New England, and they define the style. Their flagship beer, the Substance Ale, is a great IPA that is thick, juicy, and absurdly tasty.
The establishment boasts of being full most of the time because tourists and local customers usually turn up in large numbers to experience the magic of their beer.
6. Foundation Brewing Company
For some folks, brewing is life’s purpose, meaning they put their all into it. In essence, this is the impetus for the four founders of Foundation Brewing Company to go from passionate home brewers to mass-producing beer businesses.
Visiting their tasting room will allow you to learn more about them and discover your new favorite beer. One of the company’s most popular beers, Epiphany, is aggressively hopped in the kettle and fermenter for a fragrant citrus and pine flavor without extreme bitterness.
The best part? Foundation has a rolling food truck schedule that makes annual appearances at the brewery. Their primary culinary companion, though, is Muthah Truckah, a food truck that sells an assortment of fantastic toasted sandwiches most weekends.
7. Maine Beer Company
The Maine Beer Company is located approximately 20 minutes north of Portland. This brewery features eight rotating beers on tap, the most notable of which is Lunch, a traditional India Pale Ale, and Dinner, a rare and coveted original Double IPA.
In addition to serving wood-fired pizza, Maine Beer Company regularly sponsors community activities such as documentary screenings and Oyster Nights. They are only a few minutes from the LLBean Flagship store in Freeport, which offers a range of dining options for pizza lovers.
8. Rising Tide Brewing Company
Rising Tide is a family-owned brewery that emphasizes local ingredients and has a garage-like vibe.
Heather Sanborn, the company’s owner and head of operations, oversees Rising Tide, specializing in hand-crafted artisanal ales brewed in small quantities. Under her strict control, the brewery has continued to produce quality beers loved by the local people.
Their best drink is Mountainside. A somewhat hazy, tropical IPA with pineapple and grapefruit notes appears more appropriate for winter but can be enjoyed all year round.
9. Definitive Brewing
The 2018 Definitive on Industrial Way opening makes it one of Portland’s newest breweries.
Despite this, its beer menu’s diversity and inventiveness, as well as its spacious and modest tasting room, made it an instant must-visit destination.
Definitive Brewing is one of the best brewers in Portland, Maine, offering an extensive selection of beers.
They produce hundreds of unique sorts of beer and pridefully offer something for everyone. The flavors include vanilla, peach, barleywine, milk stout, and blackberry. There is so much range here that they also offer a vast selection of non-alcoholic beverages!
Therefore, rock out while sipping from their quality variety of wines, hard ciders, and non-alcoholic drinks.
They even have excellent goods available if you want to leave with a super fantastic memento.
There are many t-shirts, hoodies, caps, and four-packs to take home and consume later.
While there are no full meals available on-site at the establishment, Red Door Market and Deli offers a variety of healthy snacks and finger foods to assist you in slaking your thirst.
Therefore, indulge in tasty snacks like chips, pretzels, and pesto potato salad. Because, much as with their beers, everyone will find something here that complements their preferred beverage.
10. Foulmouthed Brewing
Foulmouthed, which runs out of a converted garage just across the Casco Bay Bridge, is well-known for its unique beer selection and upscale pub grub that stresses the use of commodities from local farms.
Foulmouthed Brewing has plenty to choose from, providing frequently-changing options. Since its inception in 2016, Foulmouthed has made roughly 100 distinct beers, ranging from German lagers to saisons, and has mastered every type.
Foulmouthed has a lively ambiance and provides inventive meal deals and beer cocktails. How creative! With beer labels and posters created by local artists.
Their branding is also on point, where they incorporate puns and jokes into naming their drinks. Foulmouthed is well aware that you have visited their establishment to have fun, and they don’t miss.
11. Urban Farm Fermentory & Fruit Brewing Company
Urban Farm Fermentory’s gruit brewing techniques enable them to incorporate herbs, roots, vegetables, flowers and leaves to create uniquely flavored beers.
Urban Farm manufactures kombucha, mead, cider, and Jun, a fermented green tea, in addition to beer. All beverages will contain elements of the ingredients foraged by the brewing team. Visiting their tasting room is like taking your taste buds on a beer safari.
Just bring a snack, as there is no on-site restaurant. However, they do sell small snacks, but you are much better off having your meal planned out. You can even plan to go foraging with them if you consider yourself a nature enthusiast.
12. Oxbow Bottling & Blending
Located in rural Newcastle, Maine, 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oxbow has created over one hundred. You may experience its unusual, rustic décor and Belgian-style farmhouse beers at their little Portland location. This vast warehouse has a bar, event space, and art gallery.
The Surfer Rosa, a gently funky alternative, is one of the brewery’s extended-aging mixed-fermentation or sour beers. Inside, local art adorns the walls, and a Ms. Pac-Man beckons from the corner of the taproom.
Make sure you try the Barrel-Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale, an American-hopped, mixed-fermentation Saison matured in oak barrels.
13. Shipyard Brewing Company
Stop by Maine’s top brewery’s flagship tasting room for a flight of hand-crafted beers ranging from old favorites to new experiments. Smashed Pumpkin, Smashed Blueberry, and a variety of IPAs are among Shipyard’s most popular seasonal beers.
Kids and others who prefer non-alcoholic, all-natural, caffeine- and gluten-free beverages will appreciate the Portland-based company’s hand-crafted Root Beer and sweet, luscious Strawberry Pop.
14. Lone Pine Brewing Company
The Lone Pine Brewing Company is the place to go for excellent beer and a breathtaking view. In South Portland, you may enjoy casual beers with a view of the ocean at a brewery perched on the water’s edge.
People travel from around to unwind with friends in the laid-back ambiance of their brewery while enjoying their fantastic brews.
Lone Pine is a modest property in a picturesque part of the East End that produces approximately 13,000 barrels per year. The appropriately named Portland Pale Ale is Lone Pine’s flagship beer, and it is a pleasantly light ale with scents of stone fruit and citrus.
This brewery does not serve food; you are welcome to bring your own or order from one of the numerous nearby restaurants.
In contrast, the setting is charming because the terrace in South Portland is directly on the river. It’s one of the favorite outdoor breweries in Portland, Maine, throughout the summer. It is lovely to have a beer garden!
15. Liquid Riot Bott
Liquid Riot Bottling is yet another of Portland’s most renowned brewers. This one, however, differs from the others in that it is located in a historic distillery!
The tasting room’s lofty ceilings and exposed wooden beams are revealed to complement the brickwork. Large windows let in ample light, and you can see the sparkling stainless steel beer tanks. The ambiance is quite stylish!
There are board games on every table, including Jenga, Monopoly, Connect Four, and Yahtzee, which is excellent for taking a drink break.
All of their beers are highly original and of superior quality. They are one of the breweries in Portland, Maine, with so many selections that you may always try something new.
Liquid Riot does not offer food, but that’s okay because they have partnerships with several local restaurants that deliver directly to your table. It is also possible to bring outside food, which is helpful if you want to grab a slice from the neighboring Pizzeria Magpie.
The only notable downside of this brewery is that it lacks parking. However, there is plenty of parking available on the surrounding streets.