D.L. Geary Brewing Company

“We didn’t enter the market,” recalls David Geary of the day when he and his wife, Karen, opened their brewery in Portland, Maine. “We had to make a market.”

- Tom Major

Billing itself as the oldest craft brewery east of the Mississippi, the D.L. Geary Brewing Company tapped its first keg on December 10, 1986, introducing Maine—and eventually the entire Northeastern US—to locally crafted, small-batch beer. Brewed on a Peter Austin brick kettle open fermentation system with the Ringwood yeast strain, Geary’s Pale Ale set the standard for malty, English-style ales.

At its peak, Geary’s produced about 18,000 barrels per year and distributed to 10 states in the Northeast. Changing tastes and increased competition stunted the trail-blazing brewery’s growth—the same Austin brewing system and yeast strain that fueled its success have been factors in the brewery’s declining sales. Now, a new owner has big plans to revive the pioneering microbrewery.

Bringing England to New England

Intent on opening a brewery but lacking local mentors for guidance, Maine native David Geary spent the winter of 1984 studying styles and techniques by training at various breweries throughout Scotland and England. While in Hampshire, England, he recruited Alan Pugsley, associate of British microbrewing pioneer Peter Austin, to help him establish D.L. Geary Brewing. Pugsley brought the iconic Ringwood yeast with him, and would go on to design and install more than 80 other Austin-style breweries throughout North America, including Portand’s Shipyard Brewing Company.

The proliferation of the Ringwood yeast strain in the Northeast tightened competition among English-style brewers, while a wave of new brewery openings increased demand for new styles and bolder flavors. As the craft brewing community changed around it, Geary’s stuck to tradition, citing concerns about yeast strain cross-contamination for limiting its options.