BIDDEFORD — Beer and cars don’t typically mix, but then again, the story of Dirigo Brewing Co. isn’t typical either.

The brewery, which opened to the public on Aug. 19 in the historic Riverdam Mill downtown, is the product of two families who came together in a rather unconventional way.

“I was desperately in need of a set of tires,” Molly Bull, part-owner of the brewery, said.

It was November 2014, and Molly and her husband Tom Bull had closed their first business venture, Portland-based Bull Jagger Brewing Co., just the year before. Molly Bull said it was about midnight when she fired off an email to Mark Paulin of Paulin’s Tire and Auto Care and took her car to his Portland location the next morning.

“(Paulin) started asking about me and my life, so I told him I had a small law practice in Westbrook and my husband was a brewer,” she said. “He said he was involved in a capitalist group in Portland that was interested in investing in a brewery. By June of 2015 we had a partnership agreement, and by July of 2015, we signed our lease here.”

Just over a year later, the group of four – Molly and Tom Bull and Mark Paulin and his wife, Meesha – were able to open the Biddeford mill district’s second brewery, following Banded Horn Brewing Co. in the adjacent Pepperell Mill Campus in 2013.

Dirigo has released three ales in its inaugural lineup, including a couple of rare styles that exhibit how the company is already leading the way in true “Dirigo” fashion.

The first is a pale ale, brewed in American fashion but with German ingredients. The second is a German rotbier, a malty red ale with a strong bite and earthy complexion that combines three types of malt, flaked barley and Cascade hops for a bitter-but-balanced brew.

The third brew most have likely never seen before, at least in Maine: schöps, a Polish chocolate wheat beer made popular in the 16th century. With European dark wheat and pilsner and dark chocolate malts, it’s toasty, rich, creamy and even a little fruity.

For head brewer Tom Bull, who has been brewing for more than 20 years, crafting these styles of beer allows him to broaden his brewing horizons while experimenting with ingredients. His goal is to bring an eclectic and diverse range of beers to the Biddeford area.

“That’s my mission,” Tom Bull said. “We have an awesome team. We’ve been around beer for a long, long time.”

Tom, who is a former brewer for Portland-based Gritty McDuff ’s, primarily brews lagers, but Dirigo’s initial lineup of beers focuses on ales because they take less time to brew. But that doesn’t mean he’s skimping on quality – in fact, he’s staying as true to style as possible, even toying with the brewing water to mimic waters from across the world.

“We’re really fortunate here that the water is as clean and pure as it is. That allows me to mimic the water that would occur elsewhere in the world,” Tom Bull said.

As an example, Bull said he tinkers with the water he uses to brew his German pale pale to emulate the waters of Munich, the German city for which Oktoberfest is globally known.

“I’m really proud of Tom. He spent months agonizing over the first three beers he was going to brew because they weren’t lagers, and he needed something he knew was going to be a great bridge into his lager strong-suit,” Molly Bull said.

For Paulin, the brewery is a clear shift from his work as a mechanic. He sees it as an opportunity to try something new.

“This is a chance to diversify my business, I do love to help Tom and Molly,” he said. “Nobody likes guys in car repair. Everybody likes beer.”

And while sometimes brewers get all the credit, make no mistake: Dirigo is a team effort.

Tom Bull brews and Molly Bull tests the beer – for gravity, she says – and transfers beer from the brew tanks before cleaning them. Mark Paulin continues to learn about the science and art of brewing, Meesha Paulin is learning for herself how to brew.

As the business grows, the company hopes to incorporate Tom’s signature Eastern European lagers into the mix, and begin using locally-grown malts and hops whenever possible.

But for now, the group of entrepreneurs is just happy to have gotten their business off the ground as they work to realize their true passions.

“This is what we mean to do in life and this is where we mean to do it,” Molly Bull said.

– Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].