Bissell Brothers is closing its Milo brewery at the end of the summer
By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff
MILO — Bissell Brothers will close its Three Rivers location in Milo at the end of the summer.
The Portland-based beer brewers opened their second location at 157 Elm Street in 2018 with plans to to concentrate on more experimental beers that take longer to brew and to bring the business back to their hometown.
BISSELL BROTHERS THREE RIVERS — Customers attend the release party for Seed, the first sour beer made start to finish in Milo, at the Bissell Brothers Three Rivers location in 2019. The Milo location will close at the end of the summer.
In a letter on the company’s website, owners Noah, Peter and Hester Bissell described how the expansion “simply felt right” but was undertaken “knowing full well that it would be a huge undertaking and uphill battle” that would have to be subsidized with income from the company’s flagship store in Portland.
“While we were able to absorb this loss for the better part of the last decade, a variety of economic factors both internal and external to our business have regrettably made this impossible to continue,” they said, noting later that “expenses in literally all categories — payroll, cost of goods, transportation, maintenance, and utilities — have ballooned at a staggering rate.”
The Bissells said they plan to leave the building as it is in hopes that someone will take over “what’s in essence a turnkey brewery and restaurant.”