Upcoming Events

*Free Wine Classes*
While you're sitting there sipping on your Summer wines, it's time to think about what you'd like for the Fall.
Stop in to see John (Farmington) or Mike (Farmingdale) and check out the new upcoming seasonal and limited edition wines. Come on over, have a sample and learn how you can make your own great wines.
The Farmington store
will be closed from
Aug 28 - Sept 6.


More details on all this and more at the news page.





 
662 Maine Avenue
Farmingdale, ME 04344
(207) 623-3368

235 Farmington Falls Road
Farmington, ME 04938
(207) 778-5276

email:
kennebechbrew@msn.com




Brewing Equipment Kit
Beer brewing starter kits, which start around $85, come with all the basic brewing essentials:
-2 6.5-gallon fermenting buckets with drilled & grommeted lids (or 1 6.5-gallon fermenting bucket and 1 5- or 6-gallon carboy)
-Hydrometer and thermometer
-Auto-Siphon rack and fill kit
-Double-lever bottle capper
-Bottle brush
-Three-piece airlock
-Sanitizer
-True Brew handbook


Beer Ingredient Kits / Canned and Dried Malt Extract
We carry a number of the handy 5gal-batch True Brew beer ingredient kits, which include Muntons malt extract, yeast, applicable grains and hops, priming sugar, and bottle caps. These kits are an easy and cost-effective option for the beginner and pro brewer alike.

If you prefer to buy in piecemeal, we're also stocked with a wide variety of canned and dried malt extracts (DME). We carry Muntons, Coopers, Brewferm, Edme, Mountmellick, and others, with styles ranging from stout and lager to framboise and kriek.


Bagged Grains and Sugars

From crystal and carapils to dextrose and 2-row, malto-dextrin and flaked maize to black patent and rice syrup solids, we've got shelves full of bagged grains and sugars to enhance the flavor, aroma, and character of your latest brew.

We're also happy to grind them up for you right in the store.


Hops
Our fridge is a bitter-scented sanctuary for plentiful hop pellets. If you're recipe calls for Cascade, Simcoe, Fuggle, Northern Brewer, Kent Golding, Saaz, Willamette, or any other type, chances are we'll have it (or at least something very comparable). Hops selection is in a constant state of flux, so either call ahead or be willing to substitute if needed!

For detailed info on hop variations, their profiles, uses, and substitutions, check out our hops page here.
How to Brew Beer (Extract brewing)

1. Sanitize the fermentation bucket, airlock, and hydrometer.

2. Fill boil pot with roughly 2gal water. Steep all specialty grains in a grain bag at 150ºF (do not boil) for about 15 minutes; remove before adding malt extract. Steeping at higher temperatures increases a sharp or tannic character.

3. Boil all malt extract for a total of 60 minutes from the point of 'hot break' (the point where the foam from the dissolved malt in the brewpot rises up and subsequently falls back down into the boil). Bittering hops should be added early in the boil; aroma and/or finishing hops are added near the end of the boil.

4. After boil, transfer wort into bucket of cold water (approx. 3gal), and top off to 5gal if necessary. Take a hydrometer reading now to get your starting gravity. Pitch your yeast at the proper temperature (a good target temp. is 80-85ºF). Try to work out your procedures so that there is no wait time between topping off your brew bucket with water after the boil, and pitching your yeast.

5. Your brew is now ALIVE! Place lid on your bucket, along with your airlock filled halfway with water. Fermentation will (usually) begin within 24 hours and will continue for several days to a week or more.

6. After approx. 7 days in primary fermentation, rack to a secondary bucket (or carboy) and ferment for another 7-10 days.

7. Following fermentation, take another hydrometer reading to get your final gravity. Siphon brew into bottling bucket, add about ¾-1 cup of priming sugar for carbonation, and transfer brew to bottles. After a few weeks to a month, you're good to go -- but often, and depending on the style of beer, maturation of 2-3 additional months can make a real improvement in flavor and character.

NOTE: This is a quick run-through of the process, which can be more or less complicated, depending on what you're making. Talk to us about your beer's particular brewing needs, and check out our videos page for more info!




 

 




 

 






Customized Beer Kits!

Our Farmingdale store assembles its own line of customized beer kits. Some of these kits offer unique spins on well-known styles; others are clones of more popular commercial beers. Here's what we're currently making up:

AMBER ALE
Clean, crisp malty ale with mellow hop profile. Similar in style to Sam Adams' Boston Ale.
AMERICAN WHEAT
Americanized version of a German Hefeweizen -- pale in color and cloudy, with less banana and clove esters than in the German style. Simple, quaffable, and nice w/ fruit additions.
BELGIAN ABBEY
Rich, malty beer with spicy, alcoholic characteristics. Mild hop bitterness. This is a medium-to-full-bodied beer with traces of candy-sugared sweetness.
BELGIAN DOUBLE IPA
Double the malt, double the hops, and tweaked with a spicy Belgian-style yeast! This is a bitter, fragrant IPA with tons of fruity and flavorful esters.
BELGIAN STOUT
Dark-as-night stout complemented by the funky sweetness of candy sugar and a Belgian-style yeast. Intriguing and tasty spin on a well-loved beer style.
BLACK IPA
Hoppy and fruity dry-hopped IPA that's dark in color due to the use of Special B and Carafa malts.
CHOCOLATE STOUT
Rich, dark stout with chocolate-y and coffee-like overtones.
GEARY'S-STYLE PALE ALE
Clean, crisp pale ale with stylistic similarities to Geary's Pale Ale.
GUINNESS CLONE
What's the secret ingredient for a true Guinness-style stout? Soured Guinness, of course! Our Guinness clone requires a can of soured Guinness to achieve that distinctive tang.
INDIA PALE ALE
Our house IPA is pleasantly bitter and citrusy. If you like hoppy IPAs, this beer's for you!
KOLSCH
Pale, somewhat obscure German beer characterized by its forward hop bitterness and dry flavor. Recommended to those looking for a spin on a traditional pale beer.
MAGIC HAT #9 CLONE
Clone of Magic Hat's popular #9 beer, a crisp pale ale with a hint of apricot flavoring.
NUT BROWN ALE
Chocolate-y, malty brown ale with rich color and assertive hop profile.
OATMEAL STOUT
The addition of flaked oats gives this stout a rich, creamy mouthfeel and solid body/head retention.
PILS-ALE
Pilsner-style beer brewed with an ale yeast. (Lager yeast can be used as well, though that requires a colder fermentation.) Gold-colored, light-bodied beer with spicy, herbal aroma/flavor from the Noble Saaz hops.
PORTER
Dark beer, not dissimilar to a stout, with burnt flavors and coffee-like aromas. Our porter has a relatively assertive hop profile, thanks to the Challenger hops.
RED ALE
Smooth, crisp, and malty beer, not dissimilar to an amber in mouthfeel, with a rich red hue from the use of melanoidin malt.