Fred Forsley’s Shipyard Brewing was a pioneer in a number of ways. It was part of the first wave of craft brewers, dating to the mid-1990s, following Geary’s. Shipyard also helped spark the revival of Portland’s East End, moving into a former factory site on Hancock Street. Forsley and brewmaster Alan Pugsley started Kennebunkport Brewing Co. and Federal Jack’s brewpub in Kennebunk in 1992, then launched Shipyard in 1993. Later, Forsley took over one of Maine’s original brewpubs, Sea Dog Brewing. And still later, Forsley led the development of a hotel on Hancock Street. While he’s been known in the brewing industry, his background has been equally as strong on the real estate development side. Fun fact: Forsley was featured in a story in the very first issue of Mainebiz, in 1994 (when the publication was known as Biz).
Mainebiz: Can you describe the Hancock Street building when you first acquired it? What was the neighborhood like?
Fred Forsley: At the time it was seven different buildings, a little over four acres … We tore down three buildings. We had to clean up the property. We probably took away, I’m guessing, 60 30-yard containers full of debris. The neighborhood was, you had the Village Cafe, which was great, but other than that there was not much — it was a pretty rough area. There was nothing on the waterfront, there was tourist-facing [property], there was no trail. [Bath Iron Works] had left. There was not a reason to go down there. [Munjoy] Hill had good neighbors and we got [tax-increment financing] from the city — I like to say it was one of the most successful TIFs in Maine. Real estate taxes were in the $12,000 range, and now I think the city collects more than $500,000 in various taxes, including excise taxes, real estate and so on.
MB: In the 1990s, were you confident craft beer wasn’t just a fad?
FF: I had been in Pensacola, Fla., at McGuire’s Irish Pub and Brewery. It was so successful — I knew Portland could be a successful market. With [brewmaster] Alan Pugsley, we had someone with world-class capabilities. On June 15, 1992, we had a kickoff — it was a huge success and I knew, “We can make this happen.”
MB: What did your parents think of the venture?
FF: My Dad had passed away — he never saw that I went into the beer business. My mom didn’t drink, she had MS, but she did go into places and ask for the beer. She was a networker. My parents had a boardinghouse in Gray, so they knew about being self-sufficient, working for yourself. My mom was very proud of what we did in Kennebunk with Federal Jack’s. My mom trusted my judgement and got behind it.
MB: How did you fund the growth of Shipyard and the brewpubs?
FF: The growth of the brewery was fueled in the early days by the necessity to have some place to sell the beer [outside of tourist areas] — because it was so dead in October and November in those days. I loaded beer into my S10 Blazer and drove it up to Three Dollar Dewey’s [in Portland] and Great Lost Bear — that’s when the craft beer thing was just starting. At the time there weren’t a lot of investors and, at the time, the banks didn’t really understand it, but what they understood was real estate.
MB: What’s ahead for you?
FF: We’re trying to grow people within our company. I’ve done some new ventures, like Wildcat Whiskey and we have a distillery down in Dover, N.H., in which we do Icepick Vodka. We’re creating a Shipyard Gin in America — there’s actually one in the UK. We’re looking to branch into tequila and looking at some non-alcoholic areas. We also have a nonalcoholic Pumpkinhead coming out this fall.
