thePULSEBy Josh Lyford
If you enjoy beer, at one point or another you’ve probably given a little thought to crafting your own ~ and if you are a serious beer connoisseur, you have more than likely salivated at the thought of fine-honing your own perfect recipe. Luke Livingston is one of the few who started out as a craft beer enthusiast, pursuing brewing as a hobby, and then actually created his own successful brewing company ~ Baxter Brewing Co.
Livingston, 27, grew up in Auburn, Maine and is a graduate of Worcester’s own Clark University. He was bitten by the brewing bug early when he received a home brew kit for his birthday during his junior year. The brewing equipment would eventually be confiscated from his dorm room, but losing the equipment never deterred Livingston from pursuing his interest ~ and ultimately career ~ in beer.
After graduation, he returned to Maine and founded the in-depth BlogAboutBeer.com while focusing on his professional life, first as sales rep and then as a college admissions counselor. From there, Livingston says, “I developed my own passion for the [beer] industry and learned as much a I could about [it].” Livingston also began to recognize the benefits of canning craft beer. As he recounts, “It was very new at the time, only a handful of breweries were doing it and almost no one in New England was.” The portability, recyclability and marketing possibilities started to come together. Livingston put the idea away in the “First person to do this will get big” file and let the thought marinate for a while.
Then, in 2009, everything changed for the young beer enthusiast; Livingston’s family lost his mother to breast cancer. “I had a life’s too short moment,” Livingston remembers. “I was unhappy with my career and I left my job with no plan.” The brewery idea still burned though: “With home brewing comes the daydream of at least working in a brewery, I sort of ignored that for a long time.”
After setting the gears in motion and after much planning and fundraising, Baxter Brewing Co., so named for the largest state park in the Northeast where Livingston and his father would backpack, shipped their first batch of beer in January 2011. Since then, the company has received numerous accolades and has broken a record by brewing 5040 bottles of beer within its first year. They are set to continue building on that momentum and Livingston himself was named one of Forbes Magazine’s “30 Influencers Under 30.”
You can check Baxter Brewing Co. out online at BaxterBrewing.com ~ and keep an eye out for their craft beers, spilling their way across the Northeast!
THIS JUST IN! Baxter Brewing Company has just released its first seasonal beer, Celsius Summer Ale! “With our distribution now taking us to over 1,000 locations in Maine, and across the state of Massachusetts, we’ve had lots of demand for a series of seasonal varieties,” said Livingston. “And there’s no better way to start than with this really special, deliberately different new ale, ideal for warmer weather and warm weather activities; just right for picnics and the beach, sailing, hiking, softball; golf, with balls or discs; or just kicking back and relaxing.”
The distinctive recipe for Baxter’s Celsius Summer Ale is the brainchild of interim head brewer Ben Low. “Celsius has a solid base of citrusy American hops,” Low explained, “which gives us a crisp bitterness, without overpowering the summery touches that make this beer so unique: lemon and lime peel, Kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass. And while it’s intended to accompany warm-weather activities, it pairs great with summer foods, too ~lobster, clams, oysters; green salads, curried chicken salad; burgers and hot dogs; Italian ice. Did I mention lobster? I think this is the start of another great New England summer tradition.”
We couldn’t agree more, Ben!
Photo credit – Peter Jensen Bissell
