With the opening of Biddeford’s 6th brewery (sorry Run of the Mill, you don’t count) does Biddeford now have more breweries per capita than Portland?
We did the math, watch the video below for more info:

Transcript

A few weeks ago Brickyard Hollow opened their 10th location and Biddeford’s 6th brewery! Does this mean that Biddeford has surpassed Portland as Maine’s beer capital in terms of breweries per capita?

Let’s do the math!

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Biddeford Breweries

The secret is out that the beer scene has exploded in Biddeford. In just the past 2 years, 4 breweries have opened. 

You of course have Banded, Biddeford’s OG brewery, just celebrating its 10th year anniversary. On the other side of mills complex you have Blaze, which has one of the best views out of any brewery in Maine. Newcomers include gluten free Lucky Pigeon, tank-pub Sacred Profane, Batson River in the basement of the lavish Lincoln Hotel and now Brickyard Hollow right on Main Street. 

Run of the Mill would make 7, buuut they’re in Saco, so I won’t include them in the tally. Sorry Run of the Mill, I didn’t draw the city boundaries.

All these breweries are extremely close together by-the-way. Biddeford has become a sneaky great spot for brewery hopping.

So that’s 6 breweries for a city of 22,000 according to the 2020 census. That gives Biddeford 0.27 breweries per 1,000 residents.

Portland Breweries

Ok, now lets go to the reigning champion – Portland – where the brewery scene has been a bit more tumultuous with several breweries closing over the past year including Banded, Flag and Strips and Liquid Riot.

Let’s start in Old Port – we have legacy brewer ShipYard, Brickyard Hollow, Gritty’s and Camp Pennant, which just opened in Liquid Riot’s old space. This is the only brewery I have not been to on this list, let me know how it is if you’ve been.

So that’s 4 right there. Let’s move to the East Bayside beer mecca. Got Austin Street and the venerable Rising Tide. Moving down you also have Portland Zoo (we love the Mesa Cerveza), Bellflower, and newcomer Orange Bike which specializes in gluten free beer. Further down you have HiFidelity (which if you want something unique or funky, you’ll never know what you’ll find on tap there), everyone’s favorite Lone Pine and Good Fire hidden in the back there. 

That’s not all because we have to remember Newscapes and Oxbow up on the hill along Washington Street. That’s TEN breweries in just this small area – crazy!

That brings the total up to 14 for Portland.

Moving to West Bayside we can add newcomer Aegenta which specializes in low ABT lagers and Baxter River. 

That brings us up to 16.

Moving to the Thompson Point area we have the legendary Bissel Brothers, Sacred Profaine’s new Portland outpost and Bunker Brewing.

We’re now at 19.

Last we have Portland’s OG brewery district with stalwarts like Allagash, Foundation and Definitive as well as Battery Steele. Not too far away you have Maine’s oldest brewery Geary’s. I always found it interesting that despite being the oldest, a lot of people straight up have never heard of Geary’s. If you never had Geary’s go grab a summer variety pack from your favorite grocery store. Hashtag not sponsored.

OK Portland has a total of TWENTY FOUR breweries in Portland proper – daaayaaam.

Portland has a population 68,000 according to the 2020 census. That gives Portland .35 breweries per 1,000 residents.

Conclusion

So Portland is still the undisputed brewery capital of Maine – for now – but the brewery scene in Biddeford has really matured and is starting to give Portland’s a run for its money. Biddeford would just need 2 more breweries to surpass Portland.

So what’s your favorite brewery in Portland or Biddeford? Any that you feel are overrated or underrated? What about other Maine cities? Do you think Bangor, Lewiston or Augusta might have more breweries per capita? Write your thoughts in the comments below.

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