Yankee Brew News Archive

Brewer's Profile: Alan Pugsley

Originally Published: Win/92

By: Brett Peruzzi

Dubbed by one Maine beer buff as the Johnny Appleseed of New England's brewing renaissance, Portland-based brewing consultant Alan Pugsley certainly has advised an impressive amount of successful microbreweries and brewpubs in our region. As a representative of Britain's Peter Austin & Partners (Contracts) Ltd., Pugsley provides consulting services to both start up breweries and established brewers. The services he provides range from equipment design and engineering to recipe formulation, to performing the actual brewing. While several of his clients are New England breweries, the North American brewers he works with range from Ontario and Quebec south to Maryland. The YBN caught up with Alan as he was getting ready for a trip south to Wild Goose Brewery in Maryland.

YBN: Your name is one that seems to be mentioned often in connection with New England microbreweries and brewpubs. Can you tell us which ones you've been involved in?

AP: Geary's in Portland, where I was brewmaster for a few years, Gritty McDuff's, Portland's brewpub, the Mountain Brewers in Vermont, the Hartford Brewing Company in Connecticut, and most recently, I helped start up the Kennebunkport Brewing Company in Maine.

YBN: That's quite a resume`. But you don't work exclusively in New England...?

AP: No, I've personally been involved in the start up of 35 breweries worldwide, about 15 of them in North America. In addition to my New England activities, I also consult with Wild Goose Brewery in Maryland, Arrowhead in Pennsylvania, Hart in Ontario, and McAuslan's in Montreal.

YBN: What made you decide to relocate recently to Portland, Maine?

AP: Several reasons. First, it's pretty much in the center of the area in which I work - from Canada down the East Coast. Second, my most recent brewery start up was in Kennebunkport. And finally, I just love Portland. It's a great town.

YBN: What is your background and training in brewing?

AP: I've been a professional brewer for 11 years. I earned a degree in biochemistry in Manchester, England, and got a job with Peter Austin at the Ringwood Brewery in England, a small, traditional English brewery. There I learned how to design and engineer breweries, as well as the actual brewing process. I came to the U.S. to be the brewmaster at Geary's, and then I began consulting.

YBN: How would you assess the current New England brewing scene, compared to five years ago?

AP: It's night and day. There were very few craft brewers back then. Geary's was one of the pioneers, along with Catamount, but now there are a lot of quality beers being produced by so many microbreweries and brewpubs. It's great. What does Boston have now, four brewpubs? Portland has one, but it could probably support one or two more.

YBN: Where do you see the New England brewing scene five years from now?

AP: I see more brewpubs. The microbrewery side of the business is stabilizing now. There is more competition, and breweries need more capital to successfully compete, and be able to advertise and promote their products.

YBN: As an Englishman living in New England, how would you compare our region to England in terms of their respective beer cultures?

AP: The American bar will probably never become the English pub. The English don't drink at home much. They go down to the pub and meet their friends and have a few beers. Eighty per cent of the beer sold in England is draught. It's the exact opposite in the U.S. - most beer here is consumed at home.

YBN: How do you think homebrewing affects the development of regional micro- and pub-breweries?

AP: Some good quality beer is being made by homebrewers. I recently judged some fine beers at a homebrewing competition here in Maine. It obviously stimulates interest in quality beer, and can only help in the development of microbreweries and brewpubs. Homebrewing is a 100% positive influence - it gets people away from what I call the "white sliced bread" style of beer that has dominated in the U.S. That's a good thing.