The Best Breweries, Brewpubs & Taprooms in Portland
Great Coastal Maine City. Awesome place for food, fun, and most importantly, craft beer.
Written by CraftJack | Updated | 6 min read
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Swimming, boating, and hiking all lead to one thing, a desire to drink fresh craft beer. We think anyway. Check out these breweries in/near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
If you're traveling up and down the eastern seaboard, then the capital city of Maine is for you. Amazingly walkable, and, wait for the best part, action-packed with breweries. In fact, the state of Maine has the most breweries per capita in the United States, according to the Bangor Daily News. Food and Wine goes on to note that the city of Portland has the most breweries per person of all U.S. cities over 50,000 people, just beating out Asheville, NC.
Portland, Maine Brewery Map
So what are we waiting for, let's go grab a pint in Old Port!
Allagash Brewing Company
Brewery | 50 Industrial Way, Portland, ME 04103 | (207) 878-5385
Allagash is among the old guard of Portland brewers. They have a fantastic brewery just North of the city, that's roughly a 15 minute ride or so. There is plenty of outdoor space to accompany their indoor taprooms.
Many folks extol the virtues of Allagash White, and rightfully so. You should certainly order one if you plan on visiting. That said, we're equally big fans of their Belgian Tripel. It's a crisp golden ale with rich complexity and gentle notes of honey and fruit. And, at 9% ABV, it will most certainly get the job done (if that's what you're aiming for).
Austin Street Brewery
Taproom | 115 Fox Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 200-1994
Forgive us for saying so, but that makes not one, but two locations in Portland that are not on Austin street. What gives, Austin Street?! What gives?!
Then again, hard to fault them when they make quality craft brews. They also participated in the MBG Collab 2020 beer with 39 other Maine breweries. 100% of the proceeds went back to the Maine brewers guild.
Austin Street Brewery (Blending & Bottling)
Taproom | 1 Industrial Way Ste 8, Portland, ME 04103 | (207) 200-1994
Austin Street's Industrial Way brewery is labeled as their Blending, Bottling & Tasting Room. Sounds fantastic. Open every day of the week except Tuesday (really?), so you can call up a few friends and kick back a few Patinas, Bombtracks and Never Enders on the patio and feel like your day was quite successful. Those beers sound like snowboard tricks to anyone else?
They make alt versions of their brews, including the Double Dry Hopped Patina and the Barrel Aged Walcott. The brew Black is Beautiful. And, because we're in the season, they also trot out an Oktoberfest.
One of the more unique things about the Industrial Way locale is how amazingly close to a fair number of other breweries on this list. Mainers do not get sick of fresh beer. Breweries are what Dunks are to Massachusetts folk, there's one on every corner, kid.
Battery Steele Brewing
Microbrewery | 1 Industrial Way Ste 12, Portland, ME 04103
Battery Steele is another brewing company that shares in the Industrial Way collection. Also closed on Tuesday. Gotta be something with the building, yeah?
What started in an old barn in South Portland has grown into a must-stop for craft beer lovers in the state. You're probably going to order something with the word Flume in it, so we will make it easy on you. Flume is a Double IPA, Flume Lite is a Session IPA, and Flume3 is a Triple IPA that is staring down the barrell of a double-digit ABV rating. Once you figure out how much gas you wanna put in the tank, you'll figure out which Flume you want.
Belleflower Brewing Company
66 Cove Street Portland, ME 04101
One small-batch brewery that is starting to make a name for itself around the shores of Casco Bay is the East End's Belleflower Brewing Company. The tight knit, family-owned business works with a lot of local artists and artisans to supply their can labels, taproom walls, and even their neon sign. No joke, "Neon Dave" is the guy's name. If we had an official office, we'd consider calling him up for some dope office lighting.
Anyway, their suds can't possibly be stale with that sort of cachet.
Bissell Brothers Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 4 Thompsons Pt Ste 108, Portland, ME 04102 | (207) 423-3622
Brewery Extrava
Taproom | 66 Cove St, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 956-7583
Bunker Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 17 Westfield Street, Portland, ME 04102 | (207) 450-5014
Bunker Brewing has an awesome space in an old brick garage. The interesting beer of note is a 500ml bottle to-go named Townes, a Cognac Imperial Stout (10% ABV). Townes certainly beats categorical sibling, Trashmaster, in the abv race by 1% point. That said, Trashmaster is pretty hysterical for a beer name.
If you're looking for some eats, check Bunker's social media as food trucks supply the pub grub at this Libbytown brewery.
D.L. Geary Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 38 Evergreen Dr, Portland, ME 04103 | (207) 878-2337
Geary's Pale Ale is one of those beers that your Uncle (probably) raved about when he came home from a Sunday River ski trip in '89. The renovated brewery plays host to live bands on the weekends and pours out of 8 rotating taps. To their credit, the mix up their bottle pours, spreading out options from their pilot system, their heritage beers, and their contemporary lineup.
According to the company, Geary Brewing holds federal craft brewing license #13 in the post prohibition era. That's gotta earn you some cred in the brewing game.
Definitive Brewing Company (Portland)
Microbrewery | 35 Industrial Way, Portland, ME 04103 | (207) 536-1288
Foundation Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 1 Industrial Way Ste 5, Portland, ME 04103 | (207) 370-8187
Goodfire Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 219 Anderson Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 808-8910
Gritty McDuffs (Portland)
Brewpub | 396 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 772-2739
Gritty McDuffs has been around since the days of yore. You know what, your Great Grandparents probably enjoyed a pint or two at Gritty's. And, it will probably still be there for your Great Grandkids.
Gritty's is a brick bunker of good beer in Portland's Old Port. It's equally suited for a burger & beer lunch as it is for being a stop on a Portland brewery tour.
KIT NA Brewing Company
Nanobrewery | Portland, ME 04103
Kit NA brewing is brewing up some of the best non-alcoholic beers in the category. That's what polished, well-educated brewers will do for you. If they can get a taproom open, we will be first in line.
Liquid Riot Bottling Company
Brewpub | 250 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 221-8889
Can't be brewing cheap beer if your name is Liquid Riot - your beer better be scorchingly good.
Lone Pine Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 219 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 536-4952
Oxbow Brewing Company (Portland)
Microbrewery | 49 Washington Avenue, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 350-0025
Lotta blending & bottling going on up in Maine, and we're pretty sure that it ain't Moxie at Portland's Oxbow Brewing Company. Correct us if we're wrong though.
According to Oxbow, their East End facility, "is where we blend and package all of our aged beers. In addition to the hundreds of oak barrels are dozens of stainless steel tanks that hold our mixed-culture and spontaneously-fermented farmhouse ales."
Art Exhibitions, premium quality eats from Duckfat, and a chance to tour the Eastern Prom are all reasons that you should consider visiting Oxbow Blending & Bottling. Want more? They run beer & food pairings, yoga events, and all sorts of other in-person activities including live music.
Peak Organic Brewing Company
Nanobrewery | 110 Marginal Way, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 586-5586
Peak Organic brews with a hyper focus on utilizing the highest quality ingredients available. How do you ensure that for your ingredients? You establish your own organic farm.
If you're looking for a beer to try, try Peak Organic's Slim Hazy. Slim Hazy's enjoys a solid hop profile while checking in at 4.1% ABV. Plus, it's one of the best low calorie beers on the market today.
Rising Tide Brewing Company
Microbrewery | 103 Fox Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 370-2337
If a rising tide lifts all boats, then a Rising Tide beer lifts all spirits. Or something like that.
Rising Tide Brewing participates in the Portland Brew Festival, so you can catch them there if you're showing up for the annual event.
Shipyard Brewing Company
Brewery | 86 Newbury St, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 761-0807
What started in Kennebunkport as Federal Jack's has grown and blossomed into one of the largest microbreweries in the region. From there, Shipyard has expanded to bring Sea Dog and Casco Bay Brewing under its umbrella. This gives them a substantial New England footprint.
As for beer, Shipyard's Export Ale is great selection for hanging your legs off a dock and admiring the view out toward Peaks Island.
Sebago Brewing Company - Portland
Brewpub | 211 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 775-2337
We can't mention Sebago Brewing without mentioning Tang, their C.R.E.A.M. Ale. Wu-Tang may be for the children, but this craft beer is not, as it checks in at 5.8% ABV. Cash rules, but it seems like Maine breweries are only taking credit cards during the pandemic. Best to check in with Sebago if you're worried about such things.
Urban Farm Fermentory & Gruit Brewing Company
Taproom | 200 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101 | (207) 773-8331
More than just beer, though that's why we are including them, Urban Farm Fermentory brews kombucha, cider, beer (obviously), gruits, mead and jun. We don't even know what jun is, but sure, we'll try some.