Here’s what some local craft beer makers have brewing for summer:

BAXTER BREWING CO., LEWISTON, has a new beer coming out in June, a limited release brewed in collaboration with DC Brau in Washington, D.C. The beer, available on draught and in 16-ounce cans, is a black IPA brewed with oysters, and it’s called The Daughters of Poseidon.

BANDED HORN BREWING CO., BIDDEFORD, has a spruce beer called Greenwarden coming out in early June. It’s made with locally sourced spruce tips instead of hops.

 D.L. GEARY BREWING CO., PORTLAND, has just released Ixnay, a beer crafted to remove gluten. It is the first New England craft brewer to offer such a product.

GRITTY MCDUFF’S BREWING CO., PORTLAND, FREEPORT, AUBURN: Gritty’s doesn’t have any new brews coming out this summer, but it is offering its Best Bitter, the beer on which the company was founded, on nitro gas. Putting it on nitro, according to Thomas Wilson, Gritty’s marketing director, “adds a whole new dimension to drinking the beer. Nitro gas (instead of CO2) makes the Best Bitter creamier, smoother and have a very nice ‘mouth feel.’ ” Look for it on tap at all three Gritty’s locations and at select bars and restaurants around Maine.

MAINE BEER CO., FREEPORT: Dinner, the brewery’s first double IPA, comes out today (in the Freeport tasting room only, three-case limit) and again in late July. To maximize hop flavor and aroma, the brewer dry-hopped Dinner twice, with more than six pounds of hops per barrel.

PEAK ORGANIC will have its dry-hopped summer ale, Summer Session, in May; its imperial German hefeweizen, Weiss Principal, in June; and a Citrus Saison brewed with organic lemon in July – just right for beating the heat.

SEBAGO BREWING CO., GORHAM, will release its Trekker Pale Ale after Memorial Day Weekend. The beer is brewed annually with the help of Sebago fans during the Brewing for a Cause event. Proceeds support the Sebago Brewing Company Trek Across Maine team. Trekker is only available on draught at Sebago brewpubs and select local accounts. It is one of the company’s fastest-selling beers and will likely only last a few weeks. Sebago also will have Hop Swap IPA, brewed only once a year and released in July. The brewer swaps out the hops with each batch while maintaining the same malt build, creating a brand new but always hop-forward IPA.

– Meredith Goad, Staff Writer


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