The new owner of Mainescape, a longtime garden center in Blue Hill, wants to add beer service from his brewery this year as he expands production.
He might one day create an onsite taproom on the property, he said.
Spencer Janney, owner of Naiad Country Brewery in Orland, bought the center from founder Don Paine and his wife, Althea, in February.
He’s continuing to run the garden center as it has been, a resource he said he’s committed to maintaining, while brewing onsite and adding community events.
Janney wants to “recenter beer as an agricultural product,” which led to the purchase of Mainescape. He aims to create outdoor space there for customers to linger, with tables for beer and hot food among the plant displays.
“I really hope those things will uplift each other,” he said of the brewing and garden center.
When the existing glass house onsite isn’t full of plants, he’ll continue hosting weekly winter markets and add other community events, markets and plant sales.
Naiad brews mostly low-ABV beers such as pilsners using Maine-grown malts, like wheat, barley and rye, with Vermont-grown hops. Hops aren’t a big industry in Maine, though Janney is growing some of his own in Orland and may add some to Mainescape.
The craft beer industry has contracted nationally in recent years after a long period of growth, and some Maine breweries across the state have closed.
But Janney’s business is growing. He thinks the current industry shakeup is an opportunity for operations like his own that are focused on product quality and provide in-person experiences, not just cans on a shelf.
Brewing beer where it’s intended to be consumed adds character and energy to it, he said, creating a wholesome and cohesive experience that also shares part of himself.
“For me, beer is an intensely creative process,” Janney said, describing it as an artistic endeavor.
He’s currently trying to find staff for the two locations and awaiting the delivery of production equipment that will make his production capacity eight times larger. He hopes that will make it possible to start bottling beer for sale on the Blue Hill Peninsula and the Bangor area.
Janney aims to be brewing in Blue Hill by the end of May and hopes to add beer service of some kind onsite this season, if licensing is approved.
The Orland brewery reopens for the year on May 16 and may add additional hours and days of the week once the new production equipment allows Janney to spend less time brewing. It will also feature hot meat pies from Portable Pie Place in Searsport and Bavarian pretzels from Hot Freshies in Blue Hill, he said.
