Bray's Brew Pub

Location & Contact:

678 Roosevelt Trail
Naples, Maine 04055
207-693 - 6806

Description:

After having spent 13 years in Washington State, Michael Bray decided to return to Maine where he had gone to college. He made the 3500 mile trip back to the East Coast to pursue his dream of opening a unique style of brewpub at the location of a 120 year-old inn in Naples. The Mansard roofed Victorian Farmhouse had everything going for it: traffic counts, visibility, charm and an excellent former reputation as a gourmet restaurant. The attached barn would eventually house a small, custom-made 3- barrel brewing system with a lot of hard work and determination.

Work on the Brewery in the barn began in June of 1995 in preparation for opening Bray's Brewpub in August. In spite of the fact that Michael had never run a restaurant before, things came together quickly. There was almost a strange sense of "deja-vu" about the entire venture though it wasn't until they looked into the history of the old farmhouse did they discover some interesting and almost eerie coincidences.

According to the Naples Historical Society, this was not the first time a tavern had occupied the site. In the late 1700's, it was the site of a tavern and inn which served travelers on the stage stop run between Portland and Bridgton. The tavern burned down in the early 1820's, but was quickly rebuilt, then sold to a man named John Chute and his wife Elizabeth. John was a believer in temperance and turned it into a temperance inn called the Elm House which promoted abstinence from alcohol. His son-in-law Nathan Church took over the operation around 1840 and it became known as the Old Church Tavern. Temperance prevailed at the site until 1876 when the tavern again burned down. The present building was built around 1880 on the east side of the Old Church Tavern's former location.

As if that weren't enough, a local resident who was knowledgable in the history of Naples remarked that they thought it was great that the Brewpub had been named for one of the town's original founding fathers, Washington Bray. This bit of information totally took Mike by surprise, not only because their last name was the same, but because he too was a Washington Brays, having just moved from Washington State.

One could almost imagine Bray sitting in the Old Church Tavern in deep discussion, over a pint of good ale, about the future of this new town which was about to be created. There was only one problem. At the time Naples was founded in 1835, the tavern didn't serve any alcohol. Maybe that's why Bray felt he had to return to this site. Naples needed a place that served some really great beer in the old fashioned, truly hand-crafted tradition. Well now it has one.

(P.S. John Chute may not have approved, but we think his wife Elizabeth does since she visits in spirit once in a while to join in the fun that we have here, but that's another story..........)

Reservations:

recommended