Gardiner Congregational Church to House Lost Orchard Brewing Company

Gardiner's Lost Orchard Brewing Company has walked a long road so far. As the Kennebec Journal reported,

The city's Planning Board unanimously approved a zoning exception at its meeting Tuesday for Lost Orchard Brewing Co. to open a hard cider brewery and tasting room at the former Gardiner Congregational Church on Church Street. The approval came three months after the board first reviewed the proposal and nearly a year after the company first targeted the century-old church building for its location.

That was last October, when founder David Boucher was still hoping to have product on shelves by the end of 2014. Fast forward another half year to April 27, 2015, when Lost Orchard announced via Facebook that it had finally closed on the property in question. Barring any divine intervention, the cidery in a church now aims to have its alcoholic apple juice in drinkers' clutches by July 4.