Moderation Brewing Company’s move into the redeveloped Brunswick Central Fire Station in June cleared the way for a second brewery to expand into its own new space.

Black Pug Brewing Company, owned by couple Sam and Emi Wilson, will open at the former Moderation location on Maine Street later this summer. Moderation still owns the building but is leasing it to their fellow Brunswick brewers. Black Pug Brewing moved out of 30 Bath Road, its home since 2018, in late June.

The relationship between the two Brunswick brewers allows them to share ideas and equipment, and stay afloat during tough economic times, Sam Wilson said.

“It gives us a lot more power together,” he said. “For instance, with the price of shipping these days, if we can get one big order shipped to one of our breweries, it allows us to save on that.”

Black Pug will use Moderation’s old equipment in the Maine Street building, allowing them to scale up beer production exponentially, Wilson said.

Collaborating with other Brunswick businesses is a big focus for the Black Pug team, Wilson said. For example, the brewery carries a pineapple chai IPA using chai mix from their Maine Street neighbor cafe, The Abbey.

The brewer said he’s excited to be moving into “the thick of it” in downtown Brunswick.

“There’s definitely an increased feeling of community, where now we have access to things like pub crawls and art walks, farmers markets,” Wilson said.

Moderation is co-owned by two Brunswick natives: Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Cumberland, and Philip Welsh.

After the Brunswick Fire Department moved into its Pleasant Street headquarters, the town sold the 1919 fire station to Developers Collaborative for $200,000.

The developers converted the upstairs of the building into five affordable apartment units for tenants who earn 60% or less of the average area income, while the downstairs became Moderation’s taproom and brewery.

Moderation officially opened the fire station doors on June 19.

The owners of Black Pug and Moderation Brewing met at a Maine Brewers’ Guild trip to Halifax, Canada, years ago, and have been involved in each other’s lives and businesses ever since, Wilson said.

Wilson describes two teams as “friends first, collaborators second and competitors dead last.”