photo/Jessie Banhazl
Ward McGovern
Age: 66
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Bar of Choice: Sacred Profane, Biddeford
Drink of Choice: Dark Lager
It’s hard for a craft brewery to stand out in Maine, but that hasn’t been a problem for Sacred Profane. Since opening in Biddeford in 2022, the beer company has made a name for itself with its delicious Czech-inspired light and dark lagers, and the quality service and unpretentious atmosphere at its “tankpubs” in Biddeford and on Thompson’s Point in Portland.
“The reason we started our brewery is because we love Czech beer culture and service,” said head brewer Brienne Allan, who owns Sacred Profane with her husband, fellow brewer Mike Fava. “It’s all about going out and being surrounded by other people, enjoying the beer with other people. You really feel it when you are at our establishment, and I just never really get that feeling at most other breweries. I’m just glad that what we set out to do is happening.”
Ward McGovern wandered into Sacred Profane’s Biddeford tankpub the day it opened, and he’s been a fixture ever since.
“Ward was like the first customer that walked in,” Brienne remembered. “The funniest part is the only beer he drinks is Heineken. So I have no idea why he would even come here, but he was our first customer. He walked in, had a sip of the dark, and he was like, ‘This is the best beer I’ve ever had.’ And he literally never left!”
We sat down with Ward and his wife Katie to find out what keeps them coming back to Sacred Profane.
You’re originally from Brooklyn, right? How did you end up in Maine?
Ward: I’ve been in Maine for a little over forty years. I live in Old Orchard Beach. I’m retired, but I was in the car business and the restaurant business for about twenty years each. I had an opportunity to sell cars, and I came up here and did that for like twenty years. And I’ve always liked to cook, so I went to cook at a place called the Lily Moon Cafe in Saco. The owner, unfortunately, got diabetes and had half his leg cut off, and so I was there just helping him out, doing dishes and stuff. Next thing you know, three months later, I was a head chef, and I did that for seven or eight years. That was a great little place — small, cool, everybody knew everybody.
How did you end up being a regular at Sacred Profane?
Ward: I used to work at a restaurant called Sea Salt Lobster Company. They had a guy there who knew more about beer than just about anybody, and he told me there was a place opening in Biddeford that was right up my alley, because he knows that I like European beer. So, the first time I came over here they hadn’t opened yet. But I came back a couple of days later when they were opening, and I just became a regular.
What do you like best about Sacred Profane?
Ward: I like the beer. The people are great. Brienne and Mike are just awesome. Between them, they’ve got to have twenty-five years or more in the beer business. They’re so knowledgeable.
And how did you get into European beer?
Ward: I was always into Heineken — I love Heineken — and I like beer from the Czech Republic, like Pilsner Urquell. Also, my wife and I go to Italy every year, and I go right to the beer. They’ve got some great wine there, but in the last ten years they got good beer everywhere. They didn’t have good beer ten years ago. Here, I like the dark lager. I usually don’t like those beers, but here it’s really, really, really good.
I understand that you’re into sports.
Katie: He used to be a big sports guy … well, he used to be a big kleptomaniac sports guy.
What? You steal stuff? Like what?
Ward: Well, I was at a BC-Notre Dame game at Notre Dame. They have a leprechaun that runs around with this shillelagh, and he put it down right on the table in front of me. I took it and put it up my sleeve. He turned around looking for it, and I took it out to my car, then I came back in. That’s been on my bar at home for twenty-five years.
Anything else?
Ward: Yeah, I got some other things. … I got some hockey jerseys, some basketball jerseys…
Katie: Hockey sticks, goalie sticks, clubs, helmets, a tire…
Ward: Yeah, I got a tire from the Michigan 500. You know, those big, fat tires?
How did you steal a tire?
Ward: Just walked out with it like I owned the place. Put it in the car and walked back in.
Katie: Then he had it shipped home. FedEx.
