The brewing setup at Mast Landing Brewing Co.’s new Westbrook location is the same as the one that used to occupy Ian Dorsey’s garage in Freeport – but now it’s in a much larger space.
Dorsey, the president and CEO of the company, and business partner Neil Fredrick were already hard at work Tuesday, creating their first “pilot batch” brew in the company’s new 12,000-square-foot space at 920 Main St. It’s a building that dwarfs the average residential garage.
When work is complete, Mast Landing Brewing will open a tasting room, another first for the city, but it will also have room to expand. The Westbrook Planning Board approved a special exception for the building on Nov. 17 to allow it to be used as a microbrewery. Dorsey estimates the tasting room would be ready in three weeks.
Dorsey, a former financial adviser, said the company has a three-year and five-year strategy, which begins with small-batch brewing and getting the tasting room up and running.
There are many examples of craft breweries in Greater Portland that have operated from small spots until they’ve overflowed the space. Maine Beer Co., which began in a small industrial garage just over the Westbrook line in Portland, stayed in its space until moving in 2013 to its current state-of-the-art brewery and tasting room in Freeport.
Dorsey, 29, said Maine Beer Co. has been a model to him, but for Mast Landing, there will be room to grow for some time. Dorsey said he’s recently ordered larger brewing equipment that they’ll eventually use, but for now, they are continuing to brew small batches of their signature beer, Tell Tale Pale Ale, until construction on the new space is complete.
A backhoe had been in and out of the building’s large garage door, while a crew was laying concrete this week in what will be the brewery’s tasting room. Fredrick was periodically hosing down the concrete floor surrounding their equipment to keep the dust away.
“It will look relatively small in this giant space,” he said, referring to when customers enter the brewery and tasting room. “But over time, as we expand, people will be able to see the bigger kettles and the brewing process.”
For the time being, they’ll only be producing two barrels per brew. Dorsey said he also speaks regularly with the owners of Austin Street Brewery, another up-and-coming microbrewery based on Industrial Way in Portland. Industrial Way is also home to Bissell Bros. Brewing and the former home of Maine Beer Co. and Rising Tide.
Fredrick said Austin Street Brewery has been operating now for 18 months, and readying to upgrade to larger equipment, which he sees as a comparable timeframe for Mast Landing.
The tasting room will feature a bar with taps, restrooms and seating. Dorsey said that since it often takes a long time to get a brewery going, the business needs to keep its profile up to keep growing. A thriving tasting room and regular events, he said, can keep them relevant.
“There are so many breweries in the state, you just want to be the top of mind as much as possible,” he said.
According to the Craft Brewers Association, there are now 4,000 craft breweries in the country, up from 500 in 1995. Almost half of those are producing less than 500 barrels of beer a year, marking a serious trend of small-craft breweries.
The building, at 920 Main St., is owned by Dave Elowitch, owner of Storage Realty. Elowitch also owned the now-razed Maine Rubber property next door.
“This just kind of fell in our lap,” Dorsey said about the facility.
He said he had been looking at spaces in Freeport to no avail, and that Elowitch was willing to take a chance on Mast Landing. But, the operation has been a significant investment for them. Dorsey estimated the total for equipment and the tasting room buildout at this point is roughly $150,000.
Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said Wednesday that the addition of a brewery downtown adds multiple positives for the city. He said Mast Landing will add to the diversity of businesses, create a destination with the tasting room that will attract “a very committed following of younger consumers,” and could also be the start of a revitalization of that section of the downtown.
“Of course, we are expecting it to be joined on that lot by another great business on the Maine Rubber site,” he said.
Baker also hinted at the potential for more breweries to make the move to Westbrook.
“I have been communicating regularly with two large industry leaders for more than a year – both of whom have great interest in Westbrook,” he said.
Larger breweries nearby include Allagash and Geary’s, both in Portland, and Sebago Brewing Co. in Gorham. Sebago Brewing, located in the Gorham Industrial Park, was looking to relocate its headquarters to Mosher’s Corner, but tabled that request in October.
Gorham Zoning Administrator David Galbraith said Wednesday he expects to get word from Sebago Brewing soon.
“I’m hoping to keep them in town,” Galbraith said.
As for why Dorsey chose to open Mast Landing, he said brewing as a hobby was getting too expensive, and he faced a decision to either cut back, or forge ahead as a business.
“We like doing this so much that we didn’t want to give up on it,” he said.
Neil Fredrick, left, and Ian Dorsey of Mast Landing Brewing Co. work on their first batch of beer at their unfinished Westbrook location Tuesday. The microbrewery, at 920 Main St., will feature a tasting room open to the public, a first for Westbrook. Staff photo by Andrew Rice
Work on what will be the tasting room at Mast Landing Brewing Co. is expected to be complete in three weeks. On Tuesday, a new concrete floor was poured. Staff photo by Andrew Rice
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