Yankee Brew News Archive

Brewer's Profile: Mary Beth Brandt, Sunday River Brewing Company

Originally Published: 04/96

By: Kate Cone

Driving north on the winding, two-lane Route 26 to Sunday River Brewing Company in Bethel, Maine, I can't help noticing signs bearing the name "Mollyockett." An odd name, to be sure, and one affixed to unrelated entities like a motel, a used-something store, and, as I discovered on my arrival at The Moose's Tale Brewpub, one of the beers brewed there: Mollyockett IPA.

Okay, I'm curious, therefore I'll bite. The first question I ask SRBC's head brewer, Mary Beth Brandt is "Who or what the heck is 'Mollyockett,' and why have you named one of your brews after him/her/it?" The thirty-two-year-old graduate of Cornell University, who holds a B.S. in Natural Resources and Masters in Educational Administration, smiles and begins to tell me the story about the local favorite legend.

"Mollyockett, sometimes called Moll-ocket, no 'y,' was the daughter of a Pequawket Indian chief, born near the falls in the Saco River Valley. She roamed all over Maine and at times into Canada in the early 1800's, acting as a midwife and healer, treating patients with concoctions made of herbs, berries & bark. She is even reputed to have brewed up a medicine mixed with fresh cow's milk to save the life of a severely ill Hannibal Hamlin, who lived in nearby Paris Hill, and who went on after his recovery to become Abraham Lincoln's vice-president.

Mollyockett, it turns out, had a taste for rum, and when she visited her friend Dr. Mason of Bethel, who lived in the house where the Bethel Historical Society is now located, the good doctor saw fit to dispense her favorite spirit sparingly."

I immediately seize upon the coincidence and irony of Mary Beth Brandt's presence in this area of Maine and Mollyockett's former one. Mary Beth is the only female head brewer in New England (ed. note: Gwenyth Lloyd is now at John Harvard's in Cambridge) and ministers to locals in much the same way the legendary Native American woman did. The New Jersey native doesn't deliver human babies, but five times a week she births one or more of the half-dozen well-received microbrewed beers and ales in their repertoire.

Enough to cure whatever ails the loyal local patrons of The Moose's Tale. And let's not forget all those thirsty skiers who for several months of the year swell the winter population of this beautiful area of western Maine. These customers clamor repeatedly to have Sunday River's beers bottled so they can enjoy them on their return home.

After we chuckle over my comparison of the local brewer to her local legend counterpart, we get down to business.

YBN: I like to think that where we've been has a lot to do with where we end up. How does someone with a degree in natural resources and masters in educational administration end up as a brewer?

MBB: I had originally intended to work for a college running its outdoor program. I had just finished working at a nearby Outward Bound school and was sending out resumes, homebrewing and hanging out at The Moose's Tale. That was the fall of 1993. Dave Nivus, who was assistant brewer and bartender here, knew I appreciated good beer and that I wasn't having any luck with the job search, so he asked me if I wanted a job at the brewery until I got something else.

YBN: What was your first task here?

MBB: I broke in doing what most other beginners do: cleaning and filling kegs. Then Dave and Peter Leavitt, the head brewer who's now running Stone Coast Brewing Company in Portland, began teaching me the entire brewing process. Dave left to open a health food store in town and Peter was getting ready for his new venture, so I was made head brewer in June, 1995.

YBN: Have you had any formal training?

MBB: Right after I took over I went to Siebel Institute in Chicago for their short course.

YBN: Did you find that helpful?

MBB: It was mostly classroom work, technical aspects of the brewing process, but it was helpful. We were a small micro, but there were people there who worked for the big beer companies, and it was interesting to see the different approaches taken. A Siebel instructor asked the class what we would do if a batch of beer had taken a turn that didn't spoil it, but that didn't quite make it the type of beer intended. The big beer company reps maintained that they would have to blend the beer out. The micro people agreed, tongue-in-cheek of course, that as long as it tasted good, we'd just call it something else.

YBN: Of your 'regular' beers, Pyrite Golden, Mollyockett IPA, Sunday River Alt, Redstone Red Ale, Black Bear Porter, which is the most popular?

MBB: I think because the Sunday River Alt was the flagship beer it's the most widely known, so people like it. But tastes are all over the course. We serve a lot of all the beers, brewing now five or six times a week, 2,300 barrels a year with a 7 barrel JV Northwest system.

YBN: What seasonal ales have you offered recently?

MBB: I created a brown ale, an oatmeal stout and a bitter. My assistant brewer, Tom Nostovick, worked up an eisbock and was pleased that people liked it enough to finish the batch pretty quickly. It was his first time out with his own recipe.

YBN: You mentioned that out of state visitors to the area ask when your beers will be available in other parts of the country. Many of the other micros seem to be planning wider distribution. Any plans to bottle?

MBB: We began bottling the Black Bear Porter and the Redstone Red Ale in 22 ounce bottles in November, '95, and I occasionally bottle the Alt if I have some extra. But we're selling them only out of the brewpub right now. In kegs, the Sunday River Alt is available all over the state. I feel personally, that I would rather not bottle on a huge scale. I think meeting the distributors' demands can be stressful, and when you crank up production to meet that demand, the beers' stability can suffer. That's not to say the owners agree. Bottling on a bigger scale could be part of their future plans.

YBN: Speaking of owners: many of the brewers I meet are owner/brewers. What's your experience been like working for someone else?

MBB: Grant Wilson and Hans Trupp have been great to work for. I basically have carte blanche not only to brew the beers currently on our list, but also to create my own seasonals at my discretion, run the brewery and manage the brewery staff. It's the best situation a non-owner/brewer can be in.

YBN: When you brew for a pub only, or mostly, you brew where your customers drink the beer. What's that like?

MBB: Ninety percent of our beer is served right here in the pub. I enjoy knowing I can get immediate feedback from the people who drink my beer. And believe me, everyone will let you know what they think. Most of them are very loyal and complimentary.

YBN: What is the consensus about the brewer being a woman?

MBB: We get a good dose of questions like, "Is the brewer there?" "No." "Well, when will he be back?" Assuming that the brewer is a man. But when we set them straight, they're very accepting.

YBN: Where can travelers to Maine sample the Alt?

MBB: In Portland they can get it at taphouses like Morganfields and the Great Lost Bear, among others. The Alt may also occasionally be served at Stone Coast Brewing Company.

YBN: You said winter is the busy season here, because of the Sunday River Ski area. What happens in the summer in Bethel?

MBB: There's tons to do in the summer. Hikers will like Grafton Notch State Park and the Appalachian Trail, which is right in our backyard. Lots of canoeing on the now-clean Androscoggin River. The Rangeley Lakes are nearby, and the ski mountain has begun a mountain bike park that's become popular. So we keep making the beer even without the snow.

YBN: How are things at The Moose's Tale and the brewery during the 'off' season?

MBB: We keep good entertainment coming to The Moose's Tale twice a week: mostly alternative rock, but we also have acoustic nights, funk, jazzy and original bands, too. We try to mix it up to keep it interesting. Production wise, my day is slower, but business stays brisk with all the visitors that come through who've heard about our beers and want to sample them.

A call to the Bethel Historical Society confirms Mary Beth's story of Mollyocket, and reveals that in honor of the Native American healer and lover of spirits, an annual celebration is held the second weekend of July called, what else: The Mollyockett Day Festival. Plan to take a trip up to Sunday River Brewing Company during the off season after a day's hike or canoe trip. And watch out for that picnic area on Route 26 approaching Bethel where Mollyockett was once refused shelter from a snowstorm. The place, 'Snows Falls,' is said to have been cursed...If you pass unscathed, pull into The Moose's Tale, take refuge in their cozy bar

and sip a Mollyockett IPA. Maybe it will help you get down Route 26 safely on the way home...

Kate Cone is a freelance writer who lives in Harpswell, Maine. Her book Pub Tours: A Travel Guide to New England Brewpubs & Microbreweries will be published by Down East Books of Camden, Maine in October of 1996.

Pull quote:

"We get a good dose of questions...assuming that the brewer is a man. But when we set them straight, they're very accepting."

Photo caption:

None needed---photo should run in same column as headline: Mary Beth Brandt

Please do insert credit--(Photo: Kate Cone)