Maine brewers deliver 70 craft beer varieties to festival in United Kingdom
Photo / Knack Factory
Maine Beer Box to be featured at the 7th annual Leeds International Beer Festival taking place on Sept. 6-9.
The Maine Beer Box has arrived in the United Kingdom for the Leeds International Beer Festival loaded with over 400 kegs, from 65 breweries and 78 different beer varieties ranging from New England IPAs and sour ales to an oyster infused stout and a spruce pine ale.
Carrying forward an international beer trade launched last year with Iceland, brewers from across the state filled the Maine Beer Box with fresh craft beer and sent it aboard a freighter ship over 3,000 miles to Leeds, England. The Maine Beer Box is a custom-built, 12-meter long, refrigerated shipping container, complete with 78 beer taps on the side and a fully self-contained, CO2 draft system.
Its function is to allow Maine beer to be served anywhere that can be reached by land or sea, and it serves as a symbol of the collaborative spirit of Maine’s brewers.
The Maine Beer Box and Maine brewers will be the centerpiece of the Leeds International Beer Festival that runs Sept. 6-9 and draws over 12,000 international beer lovers to the Yorkshire region. Festival attendees will have the chance to try 78 different Maine craft beers over the course of the four-day festival.
"We are thrilled that the Maine Brewers' Guild have chosen Leeds International Beer Festival as the U.K. destination for the Maine Beer Box. With the shared aspiration of promoting and supporting breweries and beer making in our own parts of the world, the Maine Beer Box will be an incredible, and exciting addition to the 7th Leeds International Beer Festival," said John Kelly, event organizer for the festival. "The festival is also proud to act as a platform and host this reciprocal initiative.”
More than an outlet to introduce beer to new markets, the Global Brewers Trade project is a way to forge collaboration between brewers across the globe and give brewers from both countries a change to discover new flavors, techniques and styles. Representatives from 25 Maine breweries will travel with their beer to the United Kingdom, where they will meet with local brewers, share their craft and pour beer side-by-side at the festival.
“For decades, American brewers have looked to European and British brewers for inspiration,” said Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers’ Guild. “Now, brewers and beer lovers around the world have their sights set on New England as the hotbed of global brewing innovation — and Maine is leading that charge.”
After global beer lovers get a taste of Maine beer at the Leeds International Beer Festival, brewers from across the United Kingdom will load the Maine Beer Box with their own craft beer and ship it back across the North Atlantic to Portland, where beer from regions across the United Kingdom will be featured at the Guild’s Winter Session Beer Festival in November, thereby completing the global brewers trade.
Official beer list
Here are the Maine beers that will be served at the Leeds International Beer Festival Sept. 6-9:
- 2 Feet Brewing Co.: Barn Burner, Dark Saison
- Airline Brewing: Brown Porter
- Airline Brewing: Red
- Airline Brewing: Rye
- Allagash Brewing Co.: White
- Andrews Brewing Co.: Andrews Northern Brown Ale
- Atlantic Brewing Co.: Coal Porter
- Austin Street Brewery : Patina Pale Ale
- Banded Brewing Co.: Greenwarden Spruce Tip Ale
- Bangor Beer Co.: Brite - Lager
- Battery Steele Brewing: Trek Pale Ale
- Baxter: Einstein Lager
- Bear Bones Beer: Stillis Sour Ale
- Bigelow Brewing Co.: Bigelow Brown Ale
- Bissell Brothers Brewing Co.: Lux Rye Pale Ale
- Boothbay Craft Brewery: Thirsty Botanist
- Brays Brewing: Mosaic IPA
- Brays Brewing: Pleasant Mountain Porter
- Cushnoc Brewing Co: Lawyer Up Coffee Porter
- Definitive Brewing: Definitive Ale - IPA
- Dirigo Brewing Co.: Maine Pilsner
- Flight Deck Brewing: Flying Fokker Berliner Weiss
- Fogtown Brewing Co.: A Clockwork, IPA
- Fore River Brewing Co.: Preble-R Sour
- Fore River: Rye Barrel
- Foulmouthed Brewing: Subtle Tea Brown Ale
- Foundation Brewing Co.: Method 5
- Funky Bow Brewery: Jam Session IPA
- Funky Bow Brewery: Midnight Special Coffee Porter
- Geaghan Brothers Brewing Co.: King's Pine IPA
- Geary Brewing Co.: Geary’s London Porter
- Geary Brewing Co.: Hampshire Special Ale (HSA)
- Gneiss Brewing Co.: Sonnenschein - Kölsch
- Goodfire Brewing: CMYK: IPA
- Gritty McDuff's Brewing Co.: Gritty McDuff's Best Bitter
- Hidden Cove Brewing Co.: Compadre Pale Ale
- Island Dog Brewing: Unit 15 Belgian Style Ale
- Kennebunkport Brewing Co.: Taint Town Pale Ale
- Lake St. George Brewing Co.: Kerplunk! Blueberry Sour
- Liberal Cup: For Richer or Porter
- Liquid Riot Bottling Co: Tropical Storm
- Lone Pine Brewing Co.: Diamond Unicorn DIPA
- Lost Valley Brewing Co.: Base Lodge Blueberry Ale
- Lubec Brewing Co.: Quoddy Head Red
- Maine Beer Co.: Lunch IPA
- Marsh Island Brewing: Nebulous Pale
- Marshall Wharf: 49 Cream Ale
- Marshall Wharf: Bitter Truth ESB
- Marshall Wharf: Pemaquid Oyster
- Marshall Wharf: Phil Brown
- Marshall Wharf: Sherry butt & Icelandic Brennivin Marzen
- Mason's: Hipster Apocalypse
- Mast Landing: Gunner's Daughter Milk Stout
- Moderation Brewing: BoxShop Girls - Breakfast Stout
- Monhegan Brewing Co.: Balmy Days Citra Kölsch
- Nonesuch River Brewing: NRB Red Ale
- Northern Maine Brewing Co.: Wheat
- Norway Brewing Co.: Ghost In The Stairs Saison
- Odd Alewives Farm Brewery: Odd Union Farmhouse Saison
- Orono Brewing: Tubular IPA
- Penobscot Bay Brewery: Wildfire Rauchbier - Lager
- Rising Tide Brewing Co. : Maine Island Trail Ale
- Rock Harbor: Storm Surge IPA
- Sea Dog Brewing Co.: Wild Blueberry Ale
- Sebago Brewing Co.: Frye's Leap IPA
- Sebago Brewing Co.: Hop Swap IPA
- Sheepscot Valley Brewing Co.: Pemaquid Ale
- Shipyard Brewing Co.: Island Time Session IPA
- Shipyard Brewing Co.: Monkey Fist IPA
- Shipyard Brewing Co.: TeaBrew Maui Mango
- Simplicity Brewing Co: Venerable Jimmy Stout
- SoMe Brewing Co.: Agamenticus Amber
- Threshers Brewing Co: Brown, English Style Brown
- Tributary Brewing Co.: Tributary Pale Ale
- Tumbledown Brewing Tumbledown: Red
- Two Gramps Brewing: Nostalgia Cream Ale
- Urban Farm Fermentory/Gruit Brewing: Helles
- Woodland Farms: Medico Lager
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