Baxter Brewing & DC Brau Collaborate on The Daughters of Poseidon

(LEWISTON – AUBURN, MAINE)  – “One of the things I like best about the craft beer industry,” says Luke Livingston, founder of Baxter Brewing Co., in Lewiston, Maine, “is the chance to meet such great people. The industry is like a big club, and we all look out for one another. We work together, we play together, and we all do what we can to grow consumer interest in great beer. And now we’ve had the chance to work with our good friends at DC Brau to produce an outstanding new beer together, a collaboration that introduces a whole new style to our fans,” he added.

DC Brau, founded in 2009, is the first production brewery in Washington, DC since the end of prohibition. Baxter Brewing, founded in 2010, was the first brewery in New England to package all its beers in cans, introducing the new micro-canning technology that has since become widespread throughout the northeast.

“When we first talked to DC Brau about doing a collaboration brew, we wanted to use an ingredient that was common to both places, and oysters came to mind,” Livingston said. “So we put 800 pounds of whole oysters into the mash of Daughters of Poseidon. We know what you’re thinking… Yes, seriously. Oysters.” The result is a unique recipe, more like a dark IPA than a stout, brewed with precisely the same ingredients at both DC Brau and Baxter. Except that the DC version uses locally sourced Rappahannock Oyster Co. Olde Salt oysters, and the Maine version uses oysters from Glidden Point Oyster Company in the Pemaquid (ME) area.

“The kinship we share with Baxter goes beyond the fact that we are both proud canning breweries. It is rooted in our friendship,” said Brandon Skall, founder of DC Brau. “A friendship that began two years ago in Boston at ACBF (American Craft Beer Festival) and has grown as our businesses have done the same. The concept of the brew shines a nostalgic light on the time we spent together in Boston enjoying fresh New England oysters on the waterfront.”

A limited edition, one-off beer, Daughters of Poseidon will be sold in four-packs of 16-oz. cans, emblazoned with the logos of both DC Brau and Baxter. The public will get its first taste of the distinctive new brew at a release party at Meridian Pint in Washington, 5:00pm on May 8, where the DC Brau version will be introduced along with 11 other taps of both DC Brau and Baxter’s beers. It will be Baxter’s first time in Washington.

Both DC Brau and Baxter’s versions of the beer will come to New England at Boston’s Deep Ellum, on May 29, along with lots of other varieties from both breweries, followed by both versions being poured at the American Craft Beer Festival, the largest beer fest on the east coast, May 30-31 at the World Trade Center in Boston. And then the beer will arrive in Maine the next day, with a joint release party in Lewiston, where cans will be for sale for the first time. Founders and brewers from both breweries will be on hand at all events.

“We’re both young breweries,” Livingston said, “and this is definitely one of the most exciting things we’ve gotten to do so far.” Skall agreed, “We can’t wait for our fans and friends, both here in Washington and up in Maine, to get to taste this great new beer! This collaboration has been great fun and it’s produced something we’re all really proud of.”