Matt Mills
Matt Mills is the co-owner and operations manager.
Matt has worked in the restaurant and beverage service industry for fourteen years. From managing front of house operations and wine programs to independently operating a high-end retail wine company, Matthew has developed a reputation for pairing food, wine, and beer selections with his customers’ tastes, interests, and budgets.
As beverage manager at The Cliff House in Ogunquit, Maine, Matthew was responsible for the selection and procurement of a full beverage menu. He managed relationships with distributors and wine makers and coordinated staff and operations serving a main dining room, a cocktail lounge, and six bar locations. He managed beverage and service staff serving hotel guests as well catering to weddings and large-scale corporate events.
At Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s exclusive, members-only 100 Club, Matthew managed the wine list and provided fine dining service to highly selective clientele. His experience there inspired him to open his own wine retail company. In this role, he stocked and managed private collections for clients and catered intimate in-home events.
Chris Schofiled
Chris is the co-owner and head brewer.
Chris began home brewing in the summer of 2002 after getting a home brew kit from his Dad for his 21st birthday. He has spent the last 13 years learning the art and craft of beer making, and having a great time doing it.
In 2003 Chris took a year off of school and worked as the assistant brewer at Federal Jack’s brewpub in Kennebunkport. Being one of only two brewers at Fed’s allowed Chris to learn and practice all aspects of the production brewing process.
In 2004 Chris went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Boston University. He then went on to work for the Department of the Army as an industrial engineer for the next nine years.
In September 2012, Chris was hired as the lead brewing consultant for the design and development of the Railroad Seafood Station Restaurant and Brewpub. Chris designed the brewpub to operate a five barrel brewing system serving six house beers. Chris’s responsibilities included brewery design, the selection, procurement, and installation of all brewery equipment, recipe development, and training brewers and staff.
In March of 2014 Chris moved back to Maine to open Barreled Souls Brewing Company.
The Brewery
The brewery operates a fifty gallon brewing system. All of the beer produced at the brewery undergoes primary fermentation in oak barrels. The fermentation system is based off of the Burton Union system, which was a method of fermenting beer developed in England in the 1800’s. The benefits of this system are really three-fold.
When beer actively ferments in the presence of oak it begins to break the oak down releasing some tannins into the beer along with some flavor and aroma compounds. These compounds create subtle but noticeable changes that occur in all of the beers resulting in a “house character”.
The physical dimensions of the barrels themselves create a very comfortable environment for the yeast. The rounded wall of the barrel help the liquid churn and rotate during fermentation allowing the yeast to more easily move around. The fact that the barrel has a much lower width-to-height ratio reduces that atmospheric pressure on the yeast keeping them healthier leading to better fermentation characteristics.
The primary purpose for using the Burton Union system is to allow for a means of re-capturing a healthy and active yeast crop to use for subsequent batches. As the beer ferments, yeast is driven up to the surface by the CO2 created as the yeast multiply. The yeast that rise to the top are the healthiest and strongest yeast cells in the batch. By filling the barrels almost to the top, this “top crop” of yeast is pushed up and out of the barrels and into a catchment system that allows the yeast to be captured and re-used in subsequent batches. Over generations the yeast acclimate to the system resulting in a selectively bred strain the flourishes.