Local Craft Brewers and Festivals
The Kennebec Valley Explorer Beer Trail features over a dozen craft brewers. Cushnoc Brewing Co. in Augusta or Bateau Brewing’s Four Oars IPA in nearby Gardiner pay tribute to the area’s historic past in their naming. When the weather warms, the brew festival scene heats up.
Cheers!
The Liberal Cup in Hallowell offers English-style, house-made beers to wash down some Bangers & Smash. In Monmouth, Grateful Grain Brewing is worth a taste; they make their beers with Maine-grown hops, malts, and organic grains. Skowhegan offers choices: Oak Pond Brewery or Bigelow Brewing Company. One of the first and the northern-most, Kennebec River Brewery up in The Forks, is the perfect place to relax after a day of rafting on the river.
Many of these local breweries also offer food, whether it be a full menu or wood-fired pizza. Others sell snacks, host food trucks, or allow you to bring your own food.
Download the EXPLORER App for a self-guided tour with map and brewery descriptions.
A Season of Festivals
Augusta’s Kennebec River Brewfest delivers beer, food trucks, and live music in Mill Park in the early part of August. Then, the last weekend marks the annual Skowhegan Craft Brew Fest, where you can sample the products of 30 Maine makers.
Mid-September Snow Pond on Tap, held on the grounds of Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney and Maine’s only lakeside beer festival, serves up music and brews. Gardiner closes out the festival season in October with their Swine & Stine Craft Brew Fest.
Visit the Events Calendar for more information.
Wine, spirits, and Cider too
Housed in a renovated barn, Absolem Cider Company in Winthrop, serves house ciders alongside wines, beers, cocktails, snacks, and rotating food pop-ups. Fans of fruit-based wines should try Two Hogs Winery in Vassalboro.
Stop by Chadwick’s Craft Spirits in Pittston and enjoy their original maple craft spirit, aged in charred oak barrels. In West Gardiner, a refurbished 1858 barn is a lovely place to enjoy Run Amok Mead.
Absolem Cider Company
Winthrop
Bateau Brewing
Gardiner
Bigelow Brewing Company
Skowhegan
Chadwick’s Craft Spirits
Pittston
Cushnoc Brewing Co.
Augusta
East Outlet Brewing
Cambridge
Gordon’s Grog
St. Albans
Grateful Grain Brewing Company
Monmouth
The Liberal Cup
Hallowell
Oak Pond Brewery
Skowhegan
Outland Farm Brewery
Pittsfield
Run Amok Mead
West Gardiner
Sidereal Farm Brewing
Vassalboro
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