Hidden Cove Brewing hires former Maine Beer Co. Head Brewer

The big stir on the Maine beer scene this week is the news that Kevin Glessing, Head Brewer at Maine Beer Company out of Freeport, Maine has left his position and joined Hidden Cove Brewing Company in Wells, Maine.

Announcement by Hidden Cove on Facebook

Announcement by Hidden Cove on Facebook

Kevin was employed by Maine Beer Company for 3.5 years before deciding to join Hidden Cove. Maine Beer Company has since moved brewer Mark Fulton into the position of Director of Brewing Operations. While losing a member of the team is never an easy thing, Dan Kleban, Owner of Maine Beer Company tells me “we are in a great position from an operations standpoint with strong leadership and a great production crew.” The beer and recipe devolpment at Maine Beer wont see any changes, just a realigment in the brewhouse.

I reached out to Richard Varano, Owner of Hidden Cove Brewing Company to talk about the brewhouse changes. On the phone Richard seemed excited and somewhat shocked to have Kevin on board and also very confident in what the future will bring. He informed me that they will be changing most of their regular lineup beers, brettanomyces will still be used at the brewery but more for specialty beers than their regular lineup. The First beer Kevin will be working on is a Red Belgian Trippel fermented with red wine yeast and finished in Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Collection barrels and following that a he will design and brew a new West Coast style IPA.

As the Maine Beer scene develops I don’t doubt that we’ll see more of this kind of activity, experienced brewers leaving to open their own breweries or moving to find a new challenge and creative freedom at existing breweries.

Cheers

Chaddah

Chad Lothian

About Chad Lothian

Chad Lothian lives in Old Town, Maine. He is a craft beer enthusiast and homebrewer. Chad has travelled to brewpubs, breweries and brewfests all over New England.