Luke Livingston is opening a new brewery in Lewiston, Maine, Baxter Brewing Company, which expects to ship its first cases of beer in September of this year. However, Baxter is not just another craft brewery. In fact, it will be the first craft brewery north of Connecticut to can its entire line of beer. What follows is a discussion with Livingston on how Baxter came to be and what makes it (and cans) different.

BrewingKB.com: How’d you get into the industry?

Livingston: I actually sort of stumbled into the industry quite differently than most brewery founders. While I have been homebrewing since I turned 21, I started to really get into craft beer through a beer blog I ran for a number of years, and through professional advertising sales for a local niche weekly newspaper, so I learned both the industry as a whole and the local Maine beer market that way. And I think coming at my start-up from a marketing and sales standpoint, rather than just some homebrewer-turned-professional, will be a breath of fresh air for the industry and sets us up for success in the long run. I’ve hired a veteran Masterbrewer to handle the brewing operations, which allows me to focus on the business side of the business.

BrewingKB.com: There are already a lot of breweries in Maine, how are you going to be different?

Livingston: Well, the current beer landscape in Maine is dominated by either the Alan Pugsley/Ringwood yeast-influenced English-style ales of companies like Shipyard, Sea Dog, Geary’s, Gritty’s, etc. – all of which are very low profile, un-adventuresome beers which all taste remarkably similar – or the incredible but pretty far out there Belgian-style beers from Allagash. There is very little in the middle – those up & coming, highly-hopped, West Coast-style, American ales. In addition to putting all of our beer in cans (something not done in this region), we’ll be brewing beers and styles currently not found here. I’ve seen the way Mainers palates have changed and expanded recently and I think they are ready and anxious for something new, something flavorful and something other than Ringwood. That’s where we come in.

BrewingKB.com: Why Cans?

Livingston: The benefits of cans are threefold: first, they are much better for the environment than glass bottles. Cans require less energy to create and less energy to ship than glass bottles, they are made from more than 70% recycled material and Americans are statistically twice as likely to recycle aluminum than they are glass. Secondly, cans are better for beer because they are completely light and oxygen free, keeping the beer in them fresher longer. And third, cans have much superior portability to glass. You can take a can everywhere you can’t take glass bottles (because they’re either too dangerous or too cumbersome), like the beach, the boat, the golf course; camping, hiking, fishing, snowboarding, etc.

BrewingKB.com: Does beer that comes from a can taste any different than beer that comes from a bottle if both are poured into a pint glass?

Livingston: If both types of beer are poured into a glass, I have a very hard time thinking that any normal palate would be able to taste a difference. The cans we will be purchasing will have a water-soluble solution coating the walls of the can so aluminum and beer never touch. Meaning there won’t be any of that “tinny” taste drinkers of early canned beer seem to ascertain goes with beer in a can. If anything, our beer will taste fresher than a comparable beer from a bottle.

BrewingKB.com: Are you starting with just one flavor or will there be several? What about seasonals?

Livingston: We will be releasing two beers initially – Stowaway IPA and Pamola Extra Pale Ale. Stowaway IPA, which is the beer we are considering our flagship release, will be a very highly-hopped, West Coast-style American IPA truly unlike any other beer produced in the state of Maine. Pamola XPA will be a very easy-drinking, session beer. While it will still be a very full-flavored ale, its light, golden taste will be the perfect ending to a long summer hike.

BrewingKB.com: Is anybody making a big deal about your age? After all, you’ve only been able to legally drink for about 5 years.

Livingston: Well, it’s closer to 5 years J but no, people seem to be more impressed with it than anything else. And I am joined by a veteran cast – my brewer, Michael LaCharite, has been homebrewing for more than 25 years and professionally brewing for more than 15 years – of employees and advisors. Besides, Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (the 2^nd largest craft brewery in the country) was only 24 when he went into business. And Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head was 25 when he opened his brewery. So there’s a long history of young entrepreneurs in this industry.

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