Maine couple fulfill dream, open brewery in Skowhegan, ME.
Robert and Patricia Lawton like the feel of a good pub.The laid-back, convivial atmosphere. The feeling of friendship. The taste of good beer. People laughing, talking, having a good time. The TV on the wall. The barkeep behind a carved, gleaming wooden bar.
They created their own pub in their house in Gorham and tagged it Snerben's Pub, borrowing Robert's college pen name. There was the TV on the wall. Jukebox. Popcorn machine. And beer. It was a warm place to entertain friends.
But they dreamed of owning a real pub. The Lawtons' plans to go pro with a pub in Portland got snarled in red tape. Their Hedgehog Pub, opened last year, wasn't exactly what they wanted. More restaurant than real pub.
It was their continuing effort to fulfill their dreams that brought them back to Skowhegan, Maine, where they opened, not a pub, but a full-fledge microbrewery they call Oak Pond Brewery.
The Lawtons are the type of folks that can make the most accomplished feel like underachievers.
Robert, 43, has a medical degree from Dartmouth College and a doctorate from Cambridge University in England. He works as a scientist at Idexx, the veterinary diagnostics firm in Portland. Patricia, 40, is a professional photographer in Portland who also runs the Hedgehog.
Both grew up in Skowhegan - Robert on the property where the brewery is now, Patricia just down the road on the hill behind Lake George. They rode the same bus to school back when they were in grade school.
That's how their dream business came to be located on Oak Pond in a converted chicken barn next to Robert's father's house.
The Skowhegan chicken barn was available, with lots of room for expansion. There were no zoning problems. There was ample well water. And the Lawtons' kids could go to summer camp just down the road.
Instead of hens, the chicken barn now houses a gleaming new stainless steel, 15-barrel - or 500 gallon - brewing system.
In the mash vessel, enzymes convert the starches in the malted barley to fermentable sugars. The sticky sweet liquid, now called a wort, is piped to a brew kettle, where it's boiled with hops. Then the liquid goes to one of four temperature-controlled fermentation vessels, where the yeast converts the wows sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The next-to-last stop is a conditioning vessel. The last stop is a finished beer holding tank.
The process is overseen by brew master Chris Morton. At 25, Morton looks like he should still be in high school. He's thin, has an earring in one ear and long hair.
He grew up in Portland, Maine, and went to college in Portland, Ore., graduating in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology. A homebrewer while in college, he decided he wanted to brew full-time. After a stint at a beer and wine supplies wholesaler, he signed on as a brewer at Oregon's Full Sail Brewing Co., where he spent a couple of years learning his craft.
It was serendipity that landed him at Oak Pond Brewery in Skowhegan, ME, last fall.
Patricia Lawton was photographing Chris' mother for his parents' 50th anniversary and mentioned that she was starting a brewery and needed a brewer. It wasn't long before Chris was talking to the Lawtons about a job.
Morton is one of the investors in Oak Pond Brewery PB, as the Lawtons fondly call their new venture.
While the average microbrewery starts up with a $1 million investment, the Lawtons say they have kept their costs down to about a third of that by trading shares in the company to people who do the work.
The guy who put in the steam boiler is now an investor. The carpenter is an investor. Rob's father is an investor. Chris the brew master is an investor.
Oak Pond Brewery shipped its fast keg - of Somerset Lager - July 18. So far the company has about a dozen customers, including pubs in Portland, Waterville, Newport and Skowhegan.
The Brewery also sells "growlers," or half-gallon bottles filled at the brewery.
So far they're producing Somerset Lager and OPB Nut Brown Ale. Plans call for a small lineup of year-round offerings supplemented with some seasonal brews such as an upcoming German Doppelbock.
As it is for most breweries, distribution is one of the main problems. The Lawtons are loath to pay a distributor $25 a keg to get their beer into pubs, restaurants and other outlets. They plan to hire a driver to do their own distribution.
Patricia says she wants to sell 1,000 barrels of OPB beer this year. "We may not reach that, but we'll come close," she said. She would like to be selling 3,000 to 4,000 barrels within three to four years.
OPB's markets are expected to expand next year when the company adds a bottling line - a $100,000 to $200,000 investment in itself.
The craft beer industry - the trade term for smaller breweries and brew pubs that produce full-flavor micro-brewed beers in a variety of traditional and new styles - has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years.
In Maine, there are some 20 microbreweries and brew pubs, compared to only a handful a few years ago. While the micros do compete for tap space at bars, Morton says the true competition is with the mass market brands - the Budweisers and Miller Lites. "A lot of people that haven't tried craft beer before sometimes expect a real thick and chewy product," he said.
"But we make a clean and complex and distinctive beer that's been doing very well in the places we sell. Our line of beers is diverse enough so they complement one another. We have a whole array of styles. We're strong competition for everything people have on tap."
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| Title Annotation: | Robert and Patricia Lawton; Oak Pond Brewery PB |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Modern Brewery Age |
| Date: | Dec 9, 1996 |
| Words: | 973 |
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