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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S its bottling line, which Adams says also helped with distributors, because "cans are everywhere." It made that decision in December 2014 and installed the can machinery in May of last year. "We also introduced two new beers and cut four beers from our lineup," he says. Currently the brew- ery is selling two year-round beers, three rotating season beers and four specialty beers, two of which come in 16-ounce cans. Most of the company's sales are to wholesal- ers, with 21% going through its four brewpubs in Portland, Scarborough, Kennebunk and Gorham. Growing pains While Adams speaks enthusiastically about the company's recent and anticipated future growth, he knows there's reason for caution. In early March the company decided to recall some of its own beer after a brewpub worker noticed it wasn't up to Sebago's standards. "We destroyed it," says Adams, adding that it was run over with a front-end loader. "It had too high a level of diacetyl. Peter, our head brewer, went back to get all the batches." Diacetyl has an intense buttery flavor, and too much spoils the beer's taste, he says. "We lost thousands of dollars," says Adams, who attributes the bad batch to growing pains at the company. "ere's a great learning lesson in how you deal with that as a leader. We are growing so rapidly and that touches all aspects of the business including attitude, culture and finances." e experience forced Sebago to look at its processes and standard operating procedures. "Everyone runs into this," he says of quality issues. Another issue is competition. Adams says bars and restaurants see Sebago as competition because of its brewpubs, notably the one in the Hampton Inn in Portland. "We don't do a ton of business in the Old Port, which is the biggest beer market in the whole state," Adams says. Some of its bigger customers in Portland are Buck's Naked BBQ and Portland Pie. Still, he says he's really charged up about the Maine beer scene. "People are excited about it," he says. "e Maine beer industry has a $450 million economic impact, which is close to the $500 million for lobster." Lori Valigra, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached a t l v a l i g r a @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ LVa l i g r a E S TA B L I S H E D 1 8 7 1 Business Group Row 1: Melissa Murphy, Julie Ray, John Upton Row 2: Bill Sheils, Phil Hunt, Joe Siviski, Paul Pietropaoli, Tim Benoit, Sara Moppin Row 3: Chris Dargie, Mark Snow, John Masland PT.business group.indd 1 5/26/16 1:20 PM Sebago Brewing Co. 48 Sanford Drive, Gorham President and co-founder: Brad Monarch Vice President and co-founder: Kai Adams Treasurer and co-founder: Tim Haines Founded: 1998 Employees: 183 Revenue (2015): $10 million Product/service: Beer brewery and brew pubs Brewpub locations: Portland, Scarborough, Gorham, Kennebunk Contact: 856-2537 / info@sebagobrewing.com www.sebagobrewing.com

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