At 25, his Lewiston brewery took the craft beer world by storm. Now he’s helping other local products get noticed

PORTLAND — The heady days of founding and running a regionally distributed beer brand — and the accolades that came with it — will always be a part of Luke Livingston. In 2011, as the 27-year-old CEO of Baxter Brewing in Lewiston, he was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in the food and wine category, selected alongside entertainment and music giants like LeBron James, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift. He was also selected to Uplift L/A 40 under 40 in 2016 and to Maine Magazine’s 50 Mainers charting the state’s future the same year. Baxter Brewing was a trendsetter. It was the first craft brewery in New England to package its beer in cans instead of bottles, something that is now standard industrywide. Within a decade of operation, it was the third largest craft brewery in the state, producing nearly 20,000 barrels annually. But Livingston acknowledges there was job burnout, and some boredom, too.

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