LEWISTON — Bud Ardolino first sipped Cantillon, a sour-beer legend whose name is whispered reverently among beer connoisseurs, about 20 years ago, at a time when the only imported beer he could find in the country was Heineken. 

It changed his life. He started drinking beer for its taste. He bought a kit to make beer at home in Scarborough with his sons, who on his birthdays buy him rare kegs to put on draft at home. Ardolino, 61, was the first in line at Saturday’s second annual Great Falls Brewfest.

“We’re not here for the party,” Ardolino said of himself and wife, Sally, but “to try the unique beers.” 

It was his first-ever festival and, like Lewiston, he was experiencing a change. 

That, according to Baxter Brewing founder Luke Livingston, was part of the plan. After holding the city’s first beer festival last year, Livingston, 30, said the second had more of everything: VIP ticket purchases, attendees and, naturally, beer. 

“We are honored to host it,” Livingston said. “We’re trying to raise the beer profile, and attract people from away.”  

Ardolino‘s beer conversion is complete. For some, Lewiston’s is too. 

“It’s my favorite festival,” Liquid Riot Brewing owner Eric Michaud said.

Michaud, who also owns the popular Portland beer-bar Novare Res, said the festival is good because it’s simple: There’s no ticket system, so people can get as many pours as they like. Don’t like a beer? Toss it out without that feeling of losing something, and move on. 

Ardolino’s favorite beer — Riot’s Autumn Berry Triple — might have startled some into throwing it away. But Michaud loves its combination of a classical strong, golden and fruity Belgian ale with a sour yeast strain that dries the beer, imparting a “funk” flavor. Balancing this are autumn olives, which Michaud said lend a savory-sweet flavor almost like tomatoes. They’re locally foraged. 

The festival offered the only five gallons of the beer, anywhere.

“We’ll try it out here first, and see how it goes,” Michaud said. 

It was a hit.

Strategies on imbibing varied greatly. Attendees didn’t just drink what was poured: They stopped, sniffed, held it up to the light and traded observations. Some drank everything that was poured. Others asked for a little to try and drank even less.  

Ardolino‘s take: “I think this is a good venue; it lends itself to moderation,” contrasted with Keith Saunders’ observation that the special beers tapped for the VIP session seemed to be boozier. 

“(After trying them all), it’s like ‘Gone in 60 minutes,'” said Saunders, 22. 

His favorite beer was Barreled Souls’ Stay Puft, an Imperial Stout brewed with graham crackers and 30 pounds of oven-toasted marshmallows crammed into five-gallon buckets, dampened with a malt sugar solution called wort and, according to assistant brewer Jesse Painter, plopped into the kettle with a huge “slurp!”

Painter, 25, said they wanted to toast the marshmallows over a campfire, but it wasn’t practical. 

“It’s a s’more without the chocolate,” Painter said. 

Waiting in a long line to get into the VIP session, Emily Bonus said she and husband, Tim, made the easy decision to travel from Bath for the good weather, mellow festival and great beer. 

“Baxter doing this has lent a lot to the city,” Bonus said. 

“It’s a renaissance,” Tim Bonus said. “People believed Budweiser was the way things were supposed to taste, but there’s so much more than that.” 

Jenna Lopresti, from northern New Jersey, said she drove up to Maine to see a friend and stopped at the festival because “you could spend days touring the state, or hit all the breweries at once.” 

She added, “The pours are generous. You have to watch yourself.”  

Justin Davis, 30, also from New Jersey, said breweries have products they should be proud to show off. 

“I’m impressed. If people want it, you’ve got to give it to them. And this is the good stuff,” Davis said. 

ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net 

Festival facts 

Where: Simard/Payne Memorial Park

Attendance (estimated): 1,500 

Volunteers: 75 

Brewers: 34 

Beers (including VIP session): 144