(Freeport, ME) – Maine Beer Company co-founder, Dave Kleban, joined the Beer Hear! podcast recently to chat about what’s new at the brewery.

The company now operates out of a new facility in Freeport, Maine, where it brews on a 15-barrel system. Initially, Kleban, who founded Maine Beer Company with his brother, did not want to expand beyond 3,000 barrels a year in production capacity. They later realized that he needed to hire additional people which required additional revenue.

That and the Klebans run a top-notch lab, one that Kleban thinks is more advanced than some breweries 20x their size, so the revenue covers those expenses as well.

The new cap for Maine Beer Co. will now be set at approximately 6,800 barrels of beer a year and Kleban doesn’t anticipate growing beyond that. They aim to brew 6,500 barrels next year after new tanks are in and a building addition is completed. That would be 3x what the brewery produced in 2012.

Kleban also touches base on mistakes and successes.

One mistake was originally naming what is now known as Peeper Ale as Spring Peeper Ale despite not intending it to be a seasonal.

One success has been the simplistic labels (generic white with a small piece of artwork in the center). Despite early detractors, Kleban pressed on with a ‘less is more’ approach and it worked. The company saved money and the bottles stand out on shelves in a crowded marketplace.

Finally, while Kleban didn’t mention it on the podcast, Maine Beer Company just released two new bottled beers: Another One IPA and Weez IPA.