BRUNSWICK — Ebenezer’s Brewpub on Pleasant Street has closed for the immediate future, according to its owners.
“The place is closed. And we may or may not re-open it,” co-owner Chris Lively said over the phone Monday. He said he and his wife are considering “multiple avenues” for the business, and any plans are too preliminary for him to discuss publicly.
But just a mile away, a new brewery is getting ready to launch later this year.
Plans for a downtown brewery advanced Monday night when the Town Council adopted a new zoning ordinance that will now allow breweries in the district without being part of a restaurant.
Mattie Daughtry and Philip Welsch, the business partners behind the venture, said they hope to open Moderation Brewing within the next six months.
Daughtry, who is also the state representative in House District 49, said Monday morning the pair purchased the commercial building at 103 Maine St. last week in anticipation of the council action. Their business plan is modeled around the downtown location, where they hope to snare pre-dinner pedestrians and thirsty shoppers.
The space is the former home of The Looking Glass salon, which moved to 17 Mill St. In anticipation of the brewery’s plan to pay homage to Prohibition-era Maine, two posters of flappers have appeared in the papered-over windows that face the street.
A tattoo parlor on the second floor will stay put above the brewery, Daughtry said.
The space still requires significant renovations to make it a production facility, which Daughty said could take about the same amount of time the business will need to acquire federal, state and local licenses.
Ebenezer’s Brewpub, by contrast, combined a full-service restaurant with an in-house brewing operation, Lively Brewing, which also provided beer to its world-renowned “mother ship,” Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell.
Though Lively Brewing’s output dropped from more than 7,800 gallons of beer in 2015 to 3,900 in 2016, Lively denied that was the reason he shut the brewpub.
He declined to discuss details of the reason publicly, although a sign on the door of the brewpub made reference to a family emergency.
For now, Lively said he and his wife, Jen, will continue to focus on the Lovell pub, which has been named “Best Beer Bar” in U.S. by BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com.
The couple bought the 30-year-old business nearly 15 years ago, and started the Brunswick-based brewpub in 2014, Lively said.
The former home of The Looking Glass salon at 103 Maine St. in Brunswick will be the home of Moderation Brewing. The town’s first downtown brewery is expected to open in the next six months.
Ebenezer’s Brewpub at 112 Pleasant St. in Brunswick has closed for the immediate future. Co-owner Chris Lively said he is concentrating on running his other business, Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell.
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