Gritty McDuff's Brewing Company, commonly contracted to Gritty's, is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, with locations in Portland and Auburn,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States.

History

Gritty's began as a brewpub in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, founded at 396 Fore Street in 1988 by Ed Stebbins and Richard Pfeffer. The Fore Street location is considered the first brewpub to open in Maine since

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

ended. In 1995, a second location with a larger brewing facility was opened in Freeport, Maine. The company experienced a downturn in sales in the late 1990s, as did most craft breweries. A third brewpub was opened in

Auburn, Maine Auburn is a city in south-central Maine, within the United States. Settled in the foothills of the Western Lakes and Mountains region of the state, The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The popul ...

, in 2005. The company's production volume that year, 2005, was in excess of 250,000 gallons. By 2006, Gritty's was the third-largest Maine brewer, after Shipyard Brewing and D. L. Geary Brewing. The company's Freeport location closed on November 30, 2024.

Critical reception

Among the microbrews produced by Gritty's was Vacationland Summer Ale, reviewed for the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

'' in 2008, and Gritty McDuff's Best Bitter. Gritty's has frequently been awarded the titles of "Maine's Best Brew Pub", "Best Maine Microbrew" and "Best Bar" in statewide polls. In 2011 Gritty's was awarded Restaurateur of the Year by the Maine Restaurant Association. Gritty's ales have been repeat winners at the annual Real Ale Festival in Chicago and have also appeared as Featured International Selections at the Great British Beer Festival. To celebrate Gritty's 21st anniversary, the brewery released its 21 IPA. The brew was created at the Freeport brewery and originally called "Punch You in the IPA", a reference to the

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

song "Punch You in the Eye".

References

External links

Official website
Beer brewing companies based in Maine Companies based in Portland, Maine American companies established in 1988 {{Beer-stub