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(Bar Harbor, ME) – With new ownership of Bar Harbor Brewing, one of Maine’s three crown jewels will get a new look this spring (the old label is pictured to the left and the new to the right). Cadillac Mountain Stout is one of the top-ranked American/dry stouts (possibly #1) in the world and is among the top-ranked beers brewed in Maine alongside Allagash’s Odyssey and Interlude. Some fear that this gem might be one no longer. Local restaurant owner and Florida-based advertising firm director, Evan Contorakes, has bought the operations and is moving them over to the downtown area in Bar Harbor. The change in ownership is certainly meeting mixed reactions.

The move to the tourist center will make Bar Harbor’s beers a lot more accessible to visitors and will allow people an inside look at how the beer is made through tours that will now be available. Distribution of the beer should finally expand beyond Maine as well but this is what concerns most. Will the brewing process change with expanded distribution and will that negatively affect the taste and quality of the beer? Some hope that this doesn’t lead to a contract-brewing deal with Shipyard, a Portland-based brewery known for using the not-so-popular ringwood yeast in its own beers.

The concerns may be unfounded though as at least one person has been told by the original founders of the brewery, Tod and Suzi Foster, that nothing about the beer itself or the process should change. Tod and Suzi’s story is an interesting one that is discussed in Andy Crouch’s The Good Beer Guide to New England (free Google books preview) among others places. Anyway, you can join in on the discussion about the changes over at Bar Harbor at Beer Advocate.