First Ever Brew Festival Coming to Aroostook County

Four Aroostook County entities announced a collaboration to bring one of a kind beer and wine tasting festival to the area on October 17th, 2015.

Bigrock Mountain of Mars Hill, The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, Aroostook Hops of Westfield, and Maine Malt House LLC of Mapleton, have been working collectively on the project since January 2015. The Aroostook County Brew Festival will be first event of its kind to be held in Maine’s largest County.

Theresa Fowler, Executive Director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, said “We are pleased to work with Bigrock Mountain, Aroostook Hops, and Maine Malt House to host the first brew festival in Aroostook County.” Fowler also said “With each event the Chamber is involved in, our objective is to promote area businesses and attract people to Aroostook County.” At the time of the press release Fowler had said they have commitments from 14 Maine breweries with 45 taps to choose from.

“The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce reached out to gauge our interest in hosting a first of its kind event at Bigrock and we felt this was a great opportunity to help stimulate the local economy with the microbrewery industry in Maine growing rapidly” said Bill Getman, General Manager of Bigrock Mountain. He also noted that this event came at “perfect time” because it falls on the same date as the Rocktoberfest fundraiser for Bigrock Mountain which is one of the ski area’s largest off-season events.

Aroostook Hops is owned and operated by Jason Johnston and Krista Delahunty in Westfield, ME. Over recent years they have increased production of hops to provide the booming brewing industry in Maine with locally grown products. “We are one of Maine’s longest established hop growers, producing sustainable organic hops” said Johnston. Many of the brewers slated to be at Aroostook County Brew Festival, are using the hops produced at Aroostook Hops.

“The Brew Festival will be a great opportunity for the people of our region to learn about our new venture, as well as Aroostook Hops, and how we are both playing a role in the industry” said Jake Buck from Maine Malt House LLC.  He went on stating “We look forward to showcasing several beers at the Brew Festival that are brewed with our malt.” The Mapleton based business has been increasing production over the past year and has gained professional relationships with breweries from Maine at events similar to the Aroostook County Brew Festival.

The event will have a VIP session beginning at 12:00 pm and will be capped at 250 people. This will allow people the opportunity to access brews available only during the 1 hour session. The general admission session will begin at 1:00 pm. VIP session tickets are $50 and general admission session tickets are $35. Tickets will be available the day of the event at $60 for VIP and $45 for general admission. There will be live music at the Brew Festival featuring a slate of local musicians.  For a schedule of events, a list of breweries attending, list of sponsors, musical acts, and to purchase tickets to Aroostook County Brew Festival go to the event’s website at www.aroostookcountybrewfestival.com.