#68: Matthew Bateman | Kennebec River Brewing

The beer industry and the state of Maine are both such special
places to exist, due in large part to the people you meet within
them. Both deserve equal credit for bringing this week's
IN-STUDIO guest to us - Matthew Bateman. Matt works at Northern
Outdoors, an operation in The Forks, ME that includes within it
rafting, guiding, camping, and lodging services. Since 1996, the
company has also included a brewery - Kennebec River Brewing,
located within the Northern Outdoors lodge. 
The BBB crew recently spent a couple nights on premise for a team
getaway, camping a few nights, rafting the Kennebec (water) and
thoroughly enjoying drinking Kennebec (beer) on-site. We met Matt
as one of our boats' guides, only to find out he has also been
cutting his teeth in the brewery since spring. We get into the
many things that makes Northern Outdoors such a truly unique (and
HIGHLY recommended), and Matt's life as both a whitewater rafting
guide and new brewer. He gives us the ins and outs of rafting,
talks about some of the craziest water he's ever been on, and
defines the new-to-us term, "hydrology". 
On the beer side, Matt talks about what makes Kennebec River
Brewing so unique, touching on how it's bucked the usual brewpub
pitfalls, avoided Ringwood in a pre-Y2K Maine, and had been run
by ONE GUY (shoutout Mike!) from inception until Matt was brought
on six months ago. We also get into his experience going from
beer fan to actual brewer, discuss the distinct satisfactions
he's taking from it, and mutually lament the punishing heat a
brewery comes with. 
This was an extremely fun one and felt particularly special in
its full-circle nature. As you'll hear, we can't recommend the
many things Northern Outdoors has to offer enough. Special thanks
to Matthew for making the trip to Milo to join the shortlist of
in-studio guests, and to all of Northern Outdoors for making our
staff trip so special a few weeks ago!