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A local guide to craft breweries and taprooms in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine — Baxter Brewing in the Bates Mill, the Lost Valley Brewpub, and Bear Bones Beer downtown.
Lewiston-Auburn isn't a brewery town the way Portland is — but it has a small, genuine craft-beer scene with real history behind it, and the anchor brewery sits inside one of the very textile mills that built the two cities. The three craft spots worth your time are Baxter Brewing Co. in the Bates Mill, the Lost Valley Brewpub in Auburn, and Bear Bones Beer in downtown Lewiston — all a short drive from Saffron Inn at 170 Center Street.
Here's the local rundown.
Baxter Brewing is the name most people know, and for good reason: it's one of Maine's craft pioneers, and it brews inside the Bates Mill complex in Lewiston — the sprawling 19th-century textile mill that put the city on the map. Drinking a beer in a building that once ran looms is a genuinely L/A experience.
The Pub at Baxter is the on-site, full-service restaurant — stylized pub food and a long wall of Baxter taps, including beers you won't find in cans. It's the easiest introduction to the local scene: park once, eat and drink in the mill, and you've seen the heart of L/A brewing.
About 3.5 miles from the inn, the Lost Valley Brewpub sits right at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn. It's open year-round — not just ski season — for casual dining and craft beer. In winter it's the classic après-ski stop after a few runs; the rest of the year it's an easy, low-key dinner-and-a-pint spot close to the inn.
If you're staying with us and want the shortest brewery trip, this is it.
For something more neighborhood-taproom than mill-scale, Bear Bones Beer at 43 Lisbon Street in downtown Lewiston pours small-batch, locally made brews in an inviting, personable taproom. It's the spot for a quieter pint and a conversation, and it puts you right in the middle of downtown Lewiston's slowly reviving Lisbon Street.
A good L/A beer evening: start with dinner and a flight at The Pub at Baxter in the mill, then walk over to Bear Bones on Lisbon Street for a nightcap small-batch pour — both are downtown Lewiston, a few minutes apart. If you'd rather stay on the Auburn side near the inn, the Lost Valley Brewpub does dinner and beer in one easy stop.
Pair any of it with a meal from our guide to the best restaurants in Auburn-Lewiston — the area punches above its weight on food, too.
Saffron Inn is minutes from all three breweries — across the river from the downtown Lewiston spots, and a short hop from the Lost Valley Brewpub on the Auburn side. Free parking, a 24-hour front desk, and a quiet room to come back to.
Direct booking gets our best rate, every time. Or call the front desk at +1 (207) 784-1331 — open 24 hours.