The meetings were largely informal, cultivating a casual sense of community and friendship more than professionalism and purpose. Marsh-Sachs recalls, “We weren’t trying to jam information down their throats.” Mahaffey remembers the meetings as drinking events, “Farmhouse often would have a keg of something they had brewed to share. There was always way too much beer there, but we also grilled each other on how the beer was made.”
But those who attended these early club meetings were not just in it for play. “That group was really passionate about beer. The people who were serious about it were really serious,” says Marsh-Sachs. While Mahaffey adds, “The club was primarily attended by people who were overzealous in the hobby. There were people who came from as far away as Belfast. It was a pretty nerdy bunch of people.” The interest was there, homebrewers were just waiting for a chance to share their passion.
Before long, the store began hosting homebrewing competitions. The Farmhouse started the Maine Homebrewers Competition. They invited homebrewers from all over to bring some beer to be judged by local beer buffs. Hobbyists who were not directly involved in the club came out to brew and compete. Some entrants came from as far as Fort Kent on the Canadian border to submit their beers. The competitions expanded the scope of the Farmhouse’s influence.
Suddenly, in the mid 2010s, members of the original Central Street Farmhouse homebrewer’s club began opening legitimate breweries. The list of Farmhouse connections is impressive:
2013:
-The Franciscan Friars, although not part of the club or competition, opened a brewpub out of their Bangor bakery with the assistance of the Farmhouse. They moved to Bucksport in 2018 closer to their monastery. Their website now advertises them as, “Franciscans of Bucksport formerly ‘Francisans of Bangor.’”
2014:
-Joel Mahaffey and John Bonney who met at the Farmhouse club opened Foundation Brewing down in Portland.
-Marsh-Sachs left his position managing the Farmhouse to become part owner and head brewer at Orono Brewing Company on New Year’s Eve 2014.
2015:
-Marsh Island Brewing opened with Maine Homebrewers Competition winner, Clay Randall (whom Marsh-Sachs signed up for his first home brewing competition before he agreed to it), as head brewer and homebrewers’ club member, Richard England, as Brewery Manager.
2016:
-Cory Ricker, a Farmhouse club member, opened 2 Feet Brewing in 2016 where his wife Nit-Noi sells a cake of the day.
-Mason’s Brewing Company opens and has since employed several brewers who were involved in the club.
2017:
-Bangor Beer Company opens and Jared Lambert, who was involved in the club and competitions, becomes head brewer.
2019:
-The Community Supported Agriculture brewery Frosty Bottom Brewing opened thanks, in part, to the efforts of another Farmhouse club member.
These businesses, although in slight competition with one another, often still share the camaraderie of the early days of homebrewing. Lending each other a bag of malt, hops, or some technical advice, should the other ask.