MODERATION BREWING COMPANY co-owners Matthea Daughtry and Philip Welsh with installed set of tanks at the future brewery on Maine Street in Brunswick.
Three years of planning and saving are about to pay off for a pair of Brunswick beer enthusiasts. Moderation Brewing Company on Maine Street in downtown Brunswick is set to open in March.
Co-owners Matthea Daughtry and Philip Welsh are both lifelong Brunswick residents. This is Daughtry’s latest venture. She is in her third term representing Brunswick in the state Legislature and has since 2006 owned Matthea Daughtry Media, a photography and video production company.
MODERATION BREWING COMPANY co-owner Philip Welsh and some newly arrived brewing equipment at the future brewery on Maine Street in Brunswick.
Welsh said he has been home-brewing for about 10 years — having created what’s called a “nano brewery” at home — but sees Moderation as bringing his brewing to the next level.
MODERATION BREWING COMPANY co-owner Matthea Daughtry opens some brewing equipment at the future brewery on Maine Street in Brunswick.
Welsh said Moderation will feature “a wide range of modern and historic ales” including, Daughtry said, a flagship red ale.
BREWING EQUIPMENT arrives at the future brewery on Maine Street in Brunswick.
The beer, brewed on-site, will be sourced with local ingredients. They will try to use as much Maine-made malts as possible, and hope to source future hops right in town from Woodside Hop House.
“Maine-grown ingredients and it gives you a chance to literally cook up something that’s unique to your area,” Daughtry said. “Everyone makes an IPA, but every one is different.”
The business is located at 103 Maine St., between Bombay Mahal and Jenney Station, in the former Looking Glass hair salon. The 1880s-era building originally served as an American Express office at a time when the company was still in the express mail business.
The space has been gutted during an extensive renovation in order to house brewing equipment, tasting room and, in the rear of the building, a beer garden that may seat 50-60 people. The renovation consists of local laborers using local materials, and recycling some material used in the original construction of the building.
The heart of the operation will be in the tasting room, said Daughtry, though bottling may come at some point in the future.
Patrons can bring their own food, which should be easy to do, considering the vast array of restaurants that offer carry-out in downtown Brunswick.
Daughtry and Welsh hope to invoke the feel of local, pre-Prohibition-era taproom gatherings.
“Every place had a neighborhood gathering spot,” Daughtry said. “That’s what we want Moderation to be. We want to grow with the community. We were shaped by this community, and we see this as being the gathering spot.”
Daughtry noted that the company’s logo, two hands clasped in front of a pint, is a nod to her political background. “I was talking to some folks across the aisle, saying we need to get more folks to grab a beer after session to keep things civil and together,” she said.
Microbrews have steadily gained in popularity since the 1980s and grew to more than 4,000 by 2015. It’s very popular in Maine, which was ranked fifth in craft breweries per capita in the U.S., and second only to Vermont in New England, according to vinepair.com.
However, craft brewing doesn’t appear to have yet over-saturated the local market. Freeport’s Maine Beer Company recently expanded. A recent visit to a Thursday trivia night at the area’s most recent brewery and tasting room, Flight Deck, revealed a booming business at Brunswick Landing. In downtown Bath, renovations are underway at 141 Front St. in anticipation of the new Bath Brewing Company, which will include an in-house brewery, likely this spring.
“If you look at the number of breweries there were before Prohibition, we’re nowhere near that number,” Daughtry said. “The more breweries you get in a hub, the more it creates a destination. … The more of us there are, the stronger, the better it makes our product.”
Moderation has gotten some help in getting off the ground. A 21-day Kickstarter crowd-sourcing campaign garnered 115 backers pledging $12,541 toward getting the brewery up and running.
Daughtry said they hope to eventually have a staff of 10. The brewery is now hiring, according to its Facebook page.
Visit moderationbrewery.com for more information.
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