explorer beer trail
Sample local craft brewers in Maine’s Kennebec Valley.
Craft Breweries and Festivals
Cheers!
The Kennebec Valley is home to over a dozen craft brewers. Paying tribute to the area’s historic past in their naming is Cushnoc Brewing Co. in Augusta or, in nearby Gardiner, Bateau Brewing’s Four Oars IPA. 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. Nearby in Winthrop, van der Brew
serves their brews near the shores of Maranacook Lake. 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 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.
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.
