Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X X I S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P "T rinken" means "to drink" in German, and is the name of one of Maine's new- est craft brewers with a focus on German-inspired beers from Pilsner to a Bavarian-style Hefeweizen. Trinken Brewing Co., at the top of Witch Spring Hill in West Bath, had a false start in March when it was forced to close two days after opening because of the pandemic. "at was a crazy time, just coming off the back end of a six, seven-month build-out and spending a lot of money," co-founder Tyler Inman recalls of the unexpected shutdown. "ere was a lot of stress, a lot of sleepless nights when we had to shut down after one successful weekend." He and business partner Ryan Bisson forged ahead, keeping busy with curbside sales of 32-oz. glass bottle howl- ers for the better part of three months. Before they were allowed to open to outdoor seating in early June, they spent two days building a fenced-in beer garden in the parking lot furnished with eight-foot-long picnic tables, shrubs and trees. "We had three months for people to have this relationship with us, so we knew that when we finally opened back up we were going to be busy, and that's very much the case," says Inman. "e silver lining is that when you start at rock bottom, and then you get held at rock bottom for months, it can only get better." While this isn't an easy year to run any business or start a new one, Trinken is one of four newcomers to Maine's craft industry in 2020. e others are NEW BUSINESS ON TAP Four newcomers to Maine's craft beer scene in 2020 keep sector's buzz going B y r e n e e c o r d e S F O C U S S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 2 0 20 P H O T O S / T I M G R E E N WAY Tyler Inman (shown here) and Ryan Bisson founded Trinken Brewing Co. as a German- inspired microbrewery in West Bath in March. It is one of four craft breweries to open this year in Maine.

• Cover