The Maine Brew Bus Expands Tour Staff

PORTLAND, ME — The thirst for Maine-made craft beverages shows no signs of abating as both locals and visitors to the state continue to fill seats on “Lenny,” Portland’s brightest, greenest former school bus. The Maine Brew Bus is a popular draw in the food and beverage destination of Southern Maine, and the 16-month old company is the #1 TripAdvisor Activity in Portland.

With plans to add more stops and diversified tour offerings, the Maine Brew Bus is proudly growing its team to keep up with existing demand and prepare for an aggressive schedule starting in April.

Adam Callaghan, a native of South Portland and a well-rounded fermentation fan, comes with prior experience leading tours for the historic Victoria Mansion and the Maine Beer Tours. He spends part of his time working at the respected craft retail shop Bier Cellar, and is also a veteran of another stop on the tours, Urban Farm Fermentory, which produces hard cider, mead, and kombucha in Portland’s “yEast Bayside” neighborhood.

The Maine Brew Bus is excited to have Mr. Callaghan, a Certified Beer Server with the Cicerone organization, aboard to take over many of the responsibilities involved in guiding tours. He is also taking a development role within the company.

His first emphasis will be developing an Industry Training Program for local restaurant and bar staff. This new program will not only bring hospitality employees to local breweries that are poured in their workplaces, but will also provide an overview on beer flavor profiles, proper tasting techniques, and selecting beer to pair with food.

Mr. Callaghan joins other recent additions to The Maine Brew Bus team:

  • Aaron Connolly of Portland is an avid craft beer drinker and homebrewer. His business travels take him around the Eastern U.S. where he can sample the beers that the region has to offer.
  • Tiffany Caron of South Portland is a long-time front-of-house employee of the Sebago Brewing Company brewpub in Portland’s Old Port, and creator of their popular pilot batch Black IPA called “Bub”.
  • Haley Campbell of Portland is an assistant brewer and lab technician at Sebago Brewing’s production brewery in Gorham.
  • Bob Bartholomew of Biddeford is a trained wildlife biologist and homebrewer who has just relocated from California. He brings a wealth of knowledge of craft breweries from around the country.

These staff additions will allow the founder of the company, Zach Poole, to spend more time developing the business.

“There are now fifty breweries in the State of Maine, and another dozen that we know of are in planning. We plan to design more and unique Maine Brew Bus tour offerings in expanded areas so that our guests can visit the established and respected breweries, as well as being among the first to visit newly opened ones,” said Mr. Poole.

Demand for The Maine Brew Bus tours is aided by the relentless growth of Maine’s locally-made beer scene. In the last two months alone, Portland has seen the addition of Bissell Brothers Brewing to the Riverside Industrial Park, Biddeford has gained its first brewery in Banded Horn Brewing, and York has also become home to its first brewery, SoMe (short for Southern Maine) Brewing.

People are eager to visit Maine beverage producers with enthusiastic, knowledgeable guides and perhaps learn some of the secrets of how this small state has such a vibrant industry and some of the best craft made alcohol beverages in the country. The Maine Brew Bus, Portland’s original brewery tour bus company, provides an all-inclusive opportunity to visit the exciting breweries, distilleries, and other beverage producers in the area.

The addition of Drivers and Guidance Counselors will help more visitors to Portland to enjoy new opportunities on The Maine Brew Bus, living up to their slogan “Driving You to Drink Local”.