PORTLAND, Maine - Craft brewers in Maine are joining with the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip to sell more beer abroad.
They are retrofitting a refrigerated cargo container with 50 taps on its side to float a sampling of the state's beers from Portland to Reykjavik.
The "Maine Beer Box," as it's called, is the brainchild of David Carlson, co-owner of Belfast's Marshall Wharf Brewing.
"Is it a marketing stunt? Sure," he says. "Is it sexy? Sure. I mean at the end of the day it's beer, which is great."
But the intent is serious - to open up markets in Iceland and other European nations served by Eimskip, and to create new pathways for European beers - and malts - back to the states.
The Maine Beer Box's maiden voyage is scheduled for June.