How Maine Beer Company is "Doing What's Right"

Meta Description: The Maine Beer Company, a family-owned, independent craft brewery in Freeport, Maine, is a popular destination for beer enthusiasts. The founders based the business on the motto “Do what’s right” and are committed to a mission of doing right by their product quality, their customers and the community.

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How Maine Beer Company Is "Doing What’s Right"

Visitors to the Maine Beer Company go there for a number of reasons. They’re on vacation and want to stop at the brewery they’ve been hearing about to try a new ale in the tasting room. They want to meet with friends for pizza and beer and enjoy the atmosphere. They’ve been there before, and they love the friendly, attentive staff. Others appreciate the family-friendly environment and bring their children with them. Regardless of the reasons, visitors to the Freeport, Maine, brewery typically have one thing in common: They like the beer.

This, of course, pleases co-founders Dan and Dave Kleban to no end. The brothers and business partners created the mantra “Do what’s right” as the motto for the company, and the phrase is stamped on every beer bottle and company product. The motto is the commitment from the company to its employees and customers, as well as to creating a quality product.

Doing Right by Customers

Based on its many four-star and five-star reviews on Trip Advisor, Yelp and Google, quite a few customers believe that Maine Beer Company is doing what’s right. One Yelp reviewer from Washington state made the cross-country pilgrimage to Maine to visit the brewery and was definitely pleased. She described all of the beers as “delicious, clean and fresh,” while also giving high marks for the attractiveness of the décor. Another Yelp reviewer gave the brewery an “A-plus” rating and cited the patio as being dog-friendly. One review on Yelp described the taproom as having a “good vibe” and stated it was an open area with a good view of the brewing area.

On Google, a reviewer praised the brewery for providing “absolutely fantastic service,” stating that the staff acted quickly to serve a large group and made no mistakes while doing so. Another Google reviewer described Maine Beer Company as being the best brewery out of all visited in the state. The reviewer declared Lunch, one of the beers offered, a favorite and also mentioned it was ranked one of the best beers in the state by Beer Advocate, an online beer resource. One Google reviewer from Connecticut stated that she tells everyone she meets about Maine Beer Company because she enjoys her favorite beers there, and now that pizza is also being served, she believes it is better than the pizza sold in her own state.

A Trip Advisor reviewer also liked the fire-cooked pizza as well as the beer, but specifically mentioned the family-friendly atmosphere, with toys and coloring books for children. Another Trip Advisor reviewer liked the no-limits approach to the purchase of beer, stating that there were no limits on the amount of beer allowed for purchase to take home, and also mentioned the daily tasting. One customer arrived during the last half-hour of operation and was very pleased at the warm welcome he received. In his glowing review on Trip Advisor, he stated he actually had dinner with two of the staff members he met that evening, and he described them as “amazing.”

Obviously, there’s much ado about the beer offered by Maine Beer Company. Currently, the brewery offers 12 beers: Peeper, Lunch, MO, Another One, Zoe, a tiny beautiful something, Mean Old Tom, Woods & Waters, King Titus, Dinner, Post Ride Snack and Thank You 2018.

Doing Right by Creating Quality Beers

Each beer has a story. Peeper, a pale ale, was the first beer created by the company’s founders in 2009. Lunch, an India pale ale, is named for a whale spotted off the Maine coast. It has a distinctive fin that looks as though a bite was taken from it, inspiring the name. MO, a pale ale, is a nod to Dan Kleban, the brewer, who welcomed a set of twins shortly after the brewery was founded. When the brewery expanded in 2013, Dave Kleban was inspired to create Another One, an India pale ale. Zoe, an amber ale, is named for Dave Kleban’s daughter. a tiny beautiful something is a pale ale with candied orange. Mean Old Tom, a stout, is fondly named for the founders’ uncle. Woods & Waters, an India pale ale, was brewed in honor of the establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. In support of the efforts of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s research in Rwanda, the company created King Titus, a porter, to honor the silverback gorilla of the same name. Dinner, a double India pale ale, is a popular offering with a citrus theme. Dave Kleban, a bicycling enthusiast, created Post Ride Snack, a session India pale ale, to enjoy after a ride. Thank You 2018, an India pale ale with fruity flavors, is the latest offering, paying homage to the customers who have supported the company through the years.

The popular tasting room is the place for customers to sample and enjoy eight beers on tap, as well as wood-fired pizza. Bottles are available for to-go purchases, as well as gift certificates and other merchandise. The tasting room is open almost every day, closed only on major holidays.

How It All Began and Took Off

The idea for the company came to Dave Kleban while on a family vacation in 2006. He announced that he should start a brewery. He just needed a good business partner. Unable to find the right one, he shelved his plans. In the meantime, younger brother Dan took a fun lesson in brewing from a partner in the law firm where he was completing a summer internship, and he liked it. Upon graduation, he and his brother drank beer on the weekends for leisure, and then they decided to start brewing their own beer.

After several months of brewing for their own pleasure, Dan Kleban declared he would rather be a brewer for the rest of his life than be a lawyer. The dream of starting a brewery was reignited, this time with the brothers as business partners. The idea was to create one beer that both of them liked and that others would like too. If the plan failed, they decided they would stay with their day jobs.

After trial and error, the first beer, named Spring Peeper Ale (later shortened to Peeper) was created, with Dave Kleban making deliveries door to door, accompanied by daughter Zoe. It was 2009, and Maine Beer Company went from a dream to reality — and the first brewery started in Maine in quite some time. Originally founded in Portland, the brewery relocated to its current location in Freeport in 2013, with more fermenters, a warehouse, tasting room and office. The company recently completed an expansion of the brewery in Freeport and is adding a distribution and storage site in Westbrook. As of the spring of 2018, Maine Beer has a staff of 35 as well as a CEO, Steve Mills, to oversee the brewery’s rapid expansion.

The Kleban brothers admit they did not expect their weekend hobby to become this successful. In an interview with Mainebiz, Dan stated that last year it was a challenge to keep up with the growing pace of the business, and Dave admitted in a separate interview that he and his brother were not professional managers and did not anticipate the rapid growth of the company. Now with a CEO at the helm, they can handle their increasing obligations while staying true to the “do what’s right” mantra.

Doing Right by the Environment

A big part of doing what’s right is the company’s association with 1% for the Planet, an international nonprofit network of businesses, environmental nonprofits and consumers committed to environmental issues. Maine Beer Company, as a business member of the network, donates 1 percent of its sales to 15 nonprofits, including Protect Our Winters, Center for Wildlife, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Bicycle Coalition of Maine and Freeport Conservation Trust.

The company also sponsors a Do What’s Right Ride, a noncompetitive bicycling fundraising event. Participants choose either a 25- or 50-mile route through Freeport and the surrounding area, while raising money for various environmental nonprofit agencies. The goal is for this ride to become an annual event. The 2018 ride is scheduled to take place Oct. 13, and will benefit 317 Maine and Freeport Conservation Trust, with support from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. An afterparty at the brewery will follow, featuring dinner, games, live music and, well, beer.

Declaration of Independence

Another element of the company is its proud independence. As a family-owned, independent craft brewery, it has adopted the Brewers Association Seal of Independence, attaching the logo to its products. Dave Kleban, a member of the Brewers Association board of directors, explained to blog Good Beer Hunting that a growing number of consumers care about the company that is making the beer they are drinking, in addition to the quality of the beer itself. To those consumers, the display of the logo is a value add, signifying the beer as being crafted by a brewery that stands on its own and is not owned by a corporation or parent company. He also stated that he and his brother started the company not only to make beer, but to show that a small brewery could make massive strides.