Yankee Brew News Archive

Casco Bay Brewing Company Debuts as Portland's Fourth Microbrewery

Originally Published: 07/94

By: Ron Lachance

Michael Lacharite first started home brewing eight years ago. He has lectured and educated people in the art of home brewing. He has won three "Best of Shows," about the same number of "First Runner-up" and "Second Runner-up," and numerous first, second and third place ribbons in regional homebrewing competitions. He's also a National Beer Judge, the only one in Maine, and has judged numerous beer competitions throughout New England and nationally.

Michael LaCharite has now combined his extensive and successful brewing talents with the business talents of Bob Wade, and both have established the Casco Bay Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Casco Bay joins Geary's, Gritty McDuff's, and the also recently-opened Shipyard Brewery (see article elsewhere in this issue) as Portland's fourth microbrewery.

"I designed, built, and brewed using a fifteen gallon system in my basement," Mike recalls. "I started making a lot of beer. I had kegs and bottles...I always had a lot of beer around, and I would go to parties with this beer. My beer was very good, and people kept saying 'Gee, you ought to put this on the market, this is good'. Enough people said that, where I started thinking that I would like to be a brewer at a brew pub. It came to a point," he remembered, "after doing a lot of research, where I said, 'This is really something I want to do'. With some more research, it turned from brew pub to

a microbrewery because I didn't want to get into the restaurant business." Originally, the brewery was planned to be located in Brunswick, but a lease could not be secured, forcing them to look elsewhere.

Casco Bay Brewing began brewing two different styles of beer in mid-June; Katahdin Golden and Katahdin Red. Katahdin Golden is a flavorful cream ale with a respectful bitterness and hop flavor. Mike plans to brew Katahdin Golden with the same care and flavor that ales were brewed with at the turn of the century. Katahdin Golden, like the cream ales at the turn of the century, will be a hardy, light colored, and flavorful beer.

"Cream Ale is a hybrid beer," Mike explains. "Essentially you're using an ale yeast to produce a lager-like beer. It takes a certain procedure, and that procedure I've perfected at home...and it's something I worked on a long time. This beer will be very well balanced between malt, bitterness, and hop flavor." Katahdin Red is a full bodied Irish Red Ale which has a good balance of hops with plenty of malt sweetness.

To achieve the different taste profiles of his beer, Mike designed the Recirculating Infusion Mash System used at Casco Bay Brewing. "It's a very high tech system," he stated. I incorporated a lot of things into this system that makes it very unique." In some brewing systems, step infusion is achieved by removing a portion of the mash and heating it to a higher temperature. The mash is then returned to the mash tun which increases the temperature of the entire mash.

Mike's Recirculating Infusion Mash System allows step infusion without removing a portion of the mash. Using automatic thermostats, steam jacket, and motorized rakes, mike increases the temperature of the wort and recirculates the wort throughout the mash which increases the mash temperature. This method allows step infusion without removing and replacing the mash in the mash tun.

Mike and Bob initially plan to distribute their beer throughout Maine. Katahdin Golden and Katahdin Red will be sold in half-barrel kegs, 22 ounce bottles, and 12 ounce bottles in a six pack. Different styles of beers are in the forecast for future brewing. Additionally, Mike and Bob plan to expand distribution of their fine beer throughout New England sometime in the future.

Bob Wade's business experience compliments Mike's brewing experience. Bob was associated with Hannaford Brothers, the largest retailer in the state of Maine, for 21 years. Bob held numerous positions within Hannaford Brothers; financial analyst, Director of Marketing, Treasurer, and finally Vice President of Finance. Bob is also a home brewer. In fact, Bob was a student in Mike's home brewing course, which is how they met.

Casco Bay Brewing Company will offer tours to the public. "We want to educate the public about beer," says Mike. "This is a very important part of this company. We're going to invite people into the brewery and show them how our beer is made."

Mike plans to personally explain the process of brewing as the people walk through the brewery. He will also have displays showing the different ingredients used in brewing. "I'm going to teach people what malt, hops, water and yeast are, and how I use them to make the beer."

"I bring modern technology and modern brewing and packing equipment, and make a very clean, quality, consistently good beer," asserts Mike. "Because of my knowledge, and where I'm at as a brewer now, I feel that Casco Bay Brewing is going to benefit, and that our beers are going to be some of the finest around."

For more information, you can write to Mike or Bob at Casco Bay Brewing Co., 57 Industrial Way, Portland, Maine, 04103-1071, or call them at (207) 797-2020.