Coastal Maine Tap House Closes Following Death of Founder

An established brewhouse and tap room in Bucksport has closed its doors permanently following the passing of the business' founder.

According to WABI, Friars' Brewhouse Tap Room, located on Main Street in Bucksport, has closed following the death of Brother Donald Paul Martel.

According to a Facebook post on the business' page, Martel was last seen on October 31st.

The post goes on to say:

On Wednesday, November 1st I issued a missing person report with the Bucksport Police Department. Later in the afternoon, the police sergeant came to the friary kitchen door to deliver the news that Brother Donald was found dead in his car at the Jacob Buck Pond Boat Launch.

According to the WABI article, Brother Donald had always had a love for brewing beer and, in 2018, decided to bring that love of beer to friends and customers.

That's when the Franciscans opened the brewhouse.

In addition to serving beer, the brewhouse kitchen put out some amazing meals like lobster rolls, tourtiere pie, blue ribbon chicken, salads, flatbreads, meatloaf, and burgers.

It sounds like they had a really unique, and ever-changing, menu.

Of course, in this trying time, our thoughts and prayers are with Brother Donald's family and friends.

Catholic monks have a long tradition of brewing beer.  In fact, in some parts of the world, they have been doing it non-stop for hundreds of years.

If you want to learn more, Building Catholic Culture has put together a list of some of the most well-known monk-operated breweries in the world.  Check out their list HERE