Sacred Profane Brewing Launching Summer 2022

I swear this is right now by far my favorite thread on this site. A lot of interesting points being made. There was a point above made by @miguel_loves_beer that I agree with Having been there, the look and basic vibe of the place reminded me of a new, small craft brewery, regardless of what kind/how many beers they have.

 

Going back to a discussion a few pages earlier, perhaps just as the owners don't want to blatantly appropriate Czech culture and promote it as their own, they may also want to demonstrate similar respect to the sacred and traditional culture of American craft beer.

 

If I were to offer one critique of the SP concept, it’s that I’ve heard them say a lot about what it isn’t, but I don’t have a great feel for what it is supposed to be. Like I get it’s supposed to be sort of like a Czech pub, but they don’t seem to want to make it feel special in any way, like being plain is the whole point. Maybe it is. But that’s not particularly fun for the customer.

While we enjoyed our visit for the most part, neither of us felt a strong need to go back anytime soon. The two beers were quite good, but not mind blowing, and there will apparently only ever be those two. The food was good, but not special or very extensive. The vibe was fine, but not memorable, and they didn’t do anything to make it feel like an “experience.” We just sat at our table, drinking two lagers, and sharing some poutine. Which was fine for what it was, but I just didn’t feel the need to rush back until the next time I’m specifically in the mood for a Czech lager and poutine.

Whereas my favorite breweries or restaurants or bars have a fun vibe and lots of options to where I’ll feel like, “hey let’s hop over to XYZ and see what’s going on,” Sacred Profane seems to send the message that what’s going on will always be exactly the same and they don’t want to bend at all to cater to the customer, so unless it wowed me (it didn’t), I’m not feeling a huge draw to go back again and again.

 

I agree with you here. I listened to Brienne in the Born on 3rd podcast and she was quite clear about what they are not:

· “not a taproom”

· “not a craft brewery”

· “not coming here to drink the beer”

Well, I did hear Brienne use the word "restaurant" in describing Sacred Profane but folks have posted in this thread that there are times when food is not available. I personally have never been in a restaurant and food not been available while I was there. The availability of menu items would vary from time of day (i.e., lunch menu, dinner menus) but it was never to the point of no food being available.

Cheers!

 

Add another variety to the 2 beer model. They're adding maple cinnamon seasonal themed art on top of the foam now.

 

When I spoke with Brienne in May, one of the topics that came up was taproom environments. A lot of breweries not only offer the same types of beers but also kind of the same vibe and look. A lot of spots that look like a Danish coffee shop, subway tile, some wood. It all kind of blends together and there isn't really anything that differentiates one brewery from another. Somewhat to my own detriment, I just don't want to wander into a random brewery anymore. What incentivizes me to go to Brewery X vs Brewery Y? And Portland has such a density of breweries. What are the individual breweries doing to stand out from one another? Like at least one person (me) isn't going to breweries for the sake of going to breweries. I can't be alone in that.

I think that that's part of why they're trying to distinguish themselves from other breweries. I haven't had a chance to make it up (I really want to but have some personal stuff going on), so I can't speak to the environment there. It seems like there are things they still need to figure out. Thought @rightcoast7 raised some interesting points there.

 

Wish those were out when I was there. They would both be great for football Sundays. I will be up again next month but don’t know if I can stop in. I wonder if they’ll go out to stores.

 

If anyone knows pricing on 12pk can you drop a reply please.

 

$25/12pk. That sounds pricey because we’re used to $16-$18 12pks, but that is equivalent to a $12.50 6pk or a $11.11 16oz 4pk.

 

It’s a bit on the pricey side for a lager but whenever I think about balking at buying a $25 12 pack I just remind myself of how many times I’ve paid almost the same price for a four pack of Other Half.

 

That’s a fair price. I just paid like 21$ for a 6 pack of Trail Australian cascade. Not that it’s something I do regularly (it was delicious), but yeah.

Another thing, most breweries have been eating the cost of inflation over the past few years

 

Good price, beautiful packaging, still not behind the entire concept and food situation.

 

You can buy a 12 pack of Tonewood Lumberyard for 19$ Well that’s at the brewery you may see an extra $ or two at the stores by you maybe.

 

No drama post here: went down to Biddeford Sunday of the holiday weekend (2 weeks ago) and enjoyed: easy, free parking, a wonderful mixed pour of the 2 lagers (came highly recommended from 2 beer-friends,) a delicious plate of steak tartare, mix of locals, & geeks passing through, and a friendly server. Very enjoyable, nice to explore Biddeford's renaissance on foot, and...I will return. If I was a local, I'd be in there after work 3 nights a week.

 

Incredible how much drama there is in this thread lol. Who gives a fuck about the business model? This place is great! Unfortunately when I went food was done for the day, but I'd definitely make a trip out there again

 

Not for most of the beer I buy.

 

I'd gladly pay $25 for both of those over the lastest Trillium DIPA at $24 per 4 pk.

 

was that even up for debate? there was no reference to hazebro 4pks.