{"id":11944,"date":"2016-09-29T17:04:27","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11944"},"modified":"2016-09-29T17:04:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:04:27","slug":"brew-masters-%e2%80%a8of-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/brew-masters-%e2%80%a8of-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Brew Masters \u2028of the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2016 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

From the spark of an idea to a fully fledged business, The Bissell Brothers<\/strong> <\/span>haven\u2019t just created a brewery, they\u2019ve created a cult following.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Olivia Gunn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"bissell-bros-oct16\"My brother-in-law first tasted what he now considers \u201cthe nectar of the gods\u201d\u2013Bissell Brothers\u2019 Substance IPA\u2013during his trip to Maine last summer. It wasn\u2019t long after that our entire family vacation seemed to be scheduled around one Maine brewery. Forget lighthouses. Who needs lobster rolls? We\u2019ve got to get to Bissell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to wake up to go stand in line? For beer?\u201d my mother asked us. \u201cI don\u2019t get it. You don\u2019t like good beer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the real question is, even if you \u201clike\u201d good beer, maybe you even \u201clove\u201d good beer, are you prepared to wait in line for it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Once, band shirts from Nirvana to Zeppelin declared your cultural allegiance. Today in Portland we adorn ourselves\u2013and define ourselves\u2013with apparel from our chosen brewery. From T-shirts to bumper stickers \u2013one brewery employee even boasts a tattoo\u2013there is none more recognizable than the three-B triad of the Bissell Brothers logo (think Illuminati, but less covert). \u201cIt started with us giving shirts to friends while we were building the company,\u201d says business manager and elder of the two brother Peter Bissell, 33. \u201cWe liked that the shirts didn\u2019t say anything on the front, it just showed the design. It was like a secret club.\u201d For a brewery that\u2019s a little over three years old, Peter (above right) and younger brother and head brewer Noah Bissell, 26 (above left), have proven to be as much the masters of their brand as of their brew. The numbers add up, too. Bissell has doubled production in the past year alone, and their starting crew of three staff has expanded to 17 employees. While we know the key to success isn\u2019t that simple, you\u2019ve got to admit, they make it look effortless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today the brothers seem right at home in their new 7,500-foot space at Thompson\u2019s Point, currently Maine\u2019s largest tasting room. Taproom Hostess Samantha has been with Bissell since the relocation to Thompson\u2019s Point in June and says the brothers knew the move to an old industrial lot would be \u201ctaking a big chance.\u201d However, over the summer she\u2019s seen \u201clines extend past Circus Maine, out the parking lot, and over the railroad tracks.\u201d But Peter Bissell isn\u2019t surprised by the swarms of beer pilgrims lining up outside. He admits that he himself would do the same. \u201cBeer tourism is now a thing\u2013and Portland is certainly known for its beer. I\u2019ve waited for beer, food, memorable experiences. Good things are worth waiting for.\u201d However, when questioned, he shies away from acknowledging the hype that surrounds the brewery. \u201cTruthfully, we have paid almost no attention to how popular or unpopular we are, in Maine or otherwise, because it\u2019s all relative. Each day we are just trying to make better beer and deliver a better and more memorable customer experience.\u201d An admirable sentiment, but it\u2019s hard to believe that the fervent following has gone unnoticed by the shrewd business mind behind the Bissell brand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thompson\u2019s Point space is the brothers\u2019 very own Mount Olympus where, in their words, they \u201cspend every day trying to get better, and treat every opportunity to give this beer to the people of Maine every week as the gift that it is.\u201d The demand for this small-batch \u201cgift\u201d frequently outstrips supply. The brewery shares its weekly release schedule in advance with the ready and poised public. Purchases are limited to four packs of each beer per customer to try and create an even distribution. Regardless, they sell out quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n

My kinsmen arrive at Thompson\u2019s Point around 10:30 a.m. to a surprisingly bare parking lot, but it\u2019s not long before the beer zealots begin to flock. \u201cDon\u2019t these guys have work?\u201d asks my uncle. During one exchange, a self-proclaimed beer connoisseur who resembles a member of ZZ Top asks my cousin, \u201cWhat do you drink?\u201d Not taking the man\u2019s worldly beer palate into account, he answers, \u201cYou know, Corona.\u201d With obvious dismay, the high priest of beer responds, \u201cWhat are you doing here then?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And that, my friends, seems to be an attitude the Bissells themselves would shun no matter what list they make or at least, I hope they would. Because at the end of the day, a beer is a beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The family returns from their pilgrimage donning Bissell Brothers apparel and bearing glad coolers of joy. Was it the Mecca they\u2019d imagined and more? Let\u2019s just say, the brothers now have a small following in Bedford, PA whether they meant to or not. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 2016
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