Brew Review

Bissell Brothers serves up the magic elixir for the music crowds at Thompson’s Point.

BY JASON SINGER & PETE LYONS

When Noah and

Peter Bissell

sought a loan in the early 2010s to turn Noah’s home-brewing passion into a business, the bank turned them down, so they raised half their initial stake from private sources and in 2013 moved into the space on Industrial Way previously occupied by Maine Beer Company. e Bis-

sells gave bartenders and servers around Portland free T-shirts with their nowiconic logo, as well as the occasional tasting to drum up excitement.

“We realized we were part of this sea change of people turning industrial compounds into places to visit and drink and eat,” Peter Bissell says. “We made an e ort to secure a food truck every day we were open.”

But with production growing by 200-plus percent per year, “We said, ‘We can’t settle in here. ere’s no space to grow.’”Developers for ompson’s Point— still only vacant buildings and a dream— showed them an 112-year-old hub of the Maine Central Railroad Company. It was dilapidated. It had dirt oors. Noah and Peter took a chance on the space anyway, and 15 months later opened in their current location.

STICK TO THE POINT

ompson’s Point—the peninsula o the peninsula that juts out into the Fore River—has always been integral to Portland’s economy. Lumber and products like masts, barrel parts, and box parts were shipped from the point in the 1600s and 1700s. In the early 1800s, with canals all the rage, the state authorized a fundraising lottery and chartered a bank to run the Cumberland and Oxford Canal from ompson’s Point all the way to the far end of Long Lake, a distance of 38 miles.

In the 1850s, when the canal fell into disuse as railroads became central to Portland’s economy, ompson’s Point reinvented itself again as a train repair and storage facility. e good times ended in the 1960s, when I-295 ripped through the surrounding Libbytown neighborhood, cutting ompson’s Point o from the rest of Portland. e area quickly fell into disrepair, and a 40-year downturn ensued.

But today ompson’s Point is once again central to Portland’s economy and identity, and Bissell Brothers is the centerpiece, sharing the former train depot with Stroudwater Distillery, Rwanda Bean Co ee, Rosemont Market & Wine Bar, and the quirky International Cryptozoology Museum. Portland’s Children’s Museum + eatre of Maine is across the parking lot, and there’s a 3,000 to 8,000-seat outdoor concert venue that has hosted the likes of Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Alabama Shakes, Lake Street Dive, e Lumineers, and every American Nobel Prize-winning musician (read: Bob Dylan). When the concerts stop for winter, the space becomes an ice-skating rink. A distinctive structure at the concert venue is a fragment of the train shed that once stood close by at the now-demolished Union Station.

STYLE WITH SUBSTANCE

e original development plans for ompson’s Point involved demolition of old structures to build anew, prompting concerns about style over substance. But the brewery’s vast space is vibrantly colorful and inviting, with multiple levels and outdoor seating, the tables spaced for privacy, with conversation from neighboring tables unobtrusive. Ordering is easy, with one-stop shopping for all your food and beverage needs. e drinks come immediately, and a buzzer lets you know when the food is ready.

Bissell Brothers’ agship beer, e Substance (6.6% ABV), is the poster child for New England IPAs: fruity and avorful, with a dry-hopped nish that kicks up the haze and mellows the bitterness. Swish (8% ABV) is a double IPA that hits you like more of a slam dunk. Shoot the moon with their Sigil (10–14% ABV) blended stout series aged in bourbon and rum barrels or

cool down with Lux (5.1% ABV), a solid pale ale brewed with Maine-grown rye.

Initially Bissell Brothers typi ed “the tasting-room revolution and food-truck renaissance that was going on [in the twentyteens]. It was a blast,” says Peter Bissell. “But a er a while, you have standards, and you can’t count on others to maintain them. Customers want familiarity, but they also want to be wowed by new things, and you have to deal with that duality with both beer and food.”

NOUVEAU SHISHITO

The brewery now has staff who’ve worked in Michelin and James Beard-recognized restaurants, and a large farm-to-table menu that showcases local farms and produce, incorporating high-end flavors and textures into traditional brewpub food like vegetarian (mushroom) and non-vegetarian (spicy braised pork) taquitos, burgers, and beer brats. Here the ubiquitous charred shishito peppers stand

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out with lemon aioli, preserved-lemon vinaigrette, and pine-nut crumble; a honey miso butter glaze ramps up the umami of the High & Tight Fish Sando; and the Brussels sprouts are dressed up with arbol honey vinaigrette, queso fresco, and tortilla-lime crumble.(That said, be forewarned that the Nashville hot chicken sandwich ain’t kidding around.) There’s even ice cream, a kids’ menu, wine, and cider. e walk to Bissell Brothers isn’t scenic, but once there you’re well-placed to explore the natural and human history of the area. Portland Trails’ Fore River Trail has a trailhead at ompson’s Point. Hike a mile out along the river to reach the Fore River Sanctuary, where much of the trail is on the old canal towpath. Boardwalks through wetlands and trails through woods bring you to Jewell Falls, Portland’s only waterfall. When your energy ags or your thirst grows, retrace your steps to the brewery to eat, drink, and take in a spectacular sunset. n

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