More than 4,200 people lined Park Avenue in Portland Saturday for the chance to sample everything from pale ales to dark lagers from Maine’s micro-breweries at the state’s first Brewers Festival.

Keith Citrine, Richard Pfeffer and Ed Stebbins, co-chairs of the Brewers Festival, started planning the festival four months ago so Maine could show off its locally brewed beers, such as Black Fly or Blue Fin Stout, Goat Island Light or Black Bear Porter.

According to Citrine, Maine is credited with having some of the best beer in the country and claims have been made that the state’s dozen micros brew some of the best beer in the world.

According to Citrine, Maine has the third highest number of micro-breweries per capita in the nation. He also says that the micros in Maine generate $25 million a year. He hopes that the festival will get the word out that good quality brews are made in Maine.

Ed Stebbins is owner and Brew Master of Gritty McDuff’s, a pub brew house in the Old Port in Portland, which makes McDuff’s Best Bitter. Stebbins feels that craft brewing has finally come of age in Maine and wanted to help launch a festival to celebrate the good news.

Stebbins says that unlike the Northwest, which has publicly held micro-breweries and has a cutthroat atmosphere, Maine has a very cooperative attitude among brewers. He adds that a market share of 2 to 4 percent makes New England a huge growth market.

Stebbins feels that New Englander’s love of well crafted locally made products is just the right atmosphere for the growth of micro-breweries.

Pete Campline, president and brewmaster of Sea Dog Brewing Co., and owner of a brew pub in Camden, brought home the gold in October from this year’s All American Beer Festival in Denver. Campline won the gold medal for his Amber Lager, which is sold in Maine under the name of Sea Dog Octoberfest.

He started his beer career 30 years ago as an undergraduate at Colby college looking for a cheap source of beer. He solved the problem, making his first home brew by hanging fiberglass insulated jugs out his dorm room window.

Since that time he’s toured the country talking to other brewers who are quite open about the process of brewing beer. Campline says that most brewers are ready and willing to enthusiastically discuss beer.

Campline also attributes his beers’ success to the traditional brewing process that he practices. He brews his lager in a 30-day cold brew process just using barley and bottom-fermented yeast, keeping oxygen to an absolute minimum.

According to Campline, his slow process with pure barley keeps the protein content as high as possible, giving the beer a full, flavorful taste. Mass-market beers, on the other hand, cut the barley with rice and corn, shortening the process to a matter of days. Campline adds that the pasteurizing process of national brands kills what little flavor is left.

Campline currently produces 2,200 barrels a year, but says that his new brewery in Bangor will produce about 30,000 barrels a year. He also says that when the Bangor brewery opens, Sea Dog will be sold in six packs at grocery stores across New England.

Campline says that even at this rate, he’s still a micro when compared to a single national plant that produces more than 200,000 barrels a day.

Donald Gosselin publishes the Yankee Brew News, a 55,000 circulation bimonthly newspaper that reports on the more than 50 micro-breweries in New England and the Hudson River valley of New York. He tries to address the myths about micro-brewed beer, such as the myth that darker beer has a higher alcoholic content. Gosselin says that even the darkest stout has no more alcohol that a national brand.

According to Gosselin, the micro-brewery industry has nowhere to go but up. He expects at least 10 more micro-breweries to open in New England in the next year. Gosselin attributes slow-brewed beer’s popularity to the public’s search for flavorful foods and beverages, citing the growth in specialty coffees and whole grain breads.

He adds that in a world of increasing standardization, regional beers are guaranteed growth since micro-brewed beer cannot travel far and has a shelf life of only a few months.

“The best beer is the freshest beer and the freshest beer is the local beer,” says Gosselin.

The Bar Harbor Brewing Co., a two-person operation which was the first micro-brewery to open outside of Portland in 1990, produces 200 barrels a year. Co-owner Todd Foster says that makes it one of the smallest breweries in Maine. Their flagship brand, Thunder Hole Ale, is sold up and down the I-95 corridor from Bangor to Portland at about 50 locations, along with their other brand, Cadillac Mountain Stout.

In an effort to accommodate families touring the brewery during the summer, Foster decided to make a root beer syrup that people can mix with seltzer water.

Doug Maffuci is the owner of The Atlantic Brewing Company of Bar Harbor, which supplies its brew pub, the Lompoc Cafe, and produces a little more than 200 barrels a month.

Maffuci’s specialty beers are the Bar Harbor Blueberry made from Machias blueberries and a wheat ale made with ginger root instead of hops. One sampler remarked that the ginger-flavored beer reminded him of Chinese food.

Maffuci adds that he will expand from northern Maine to specialty shops and bars throughout the state.

As Die Oktoberfest German Band oompahs in the background, Citrine proclaims the festival a success. The crowd standing in long lines at each booth is loud, but polite, sipping samples from their 4-ounce commemorative glasses. Beer tasters were treated to 15 samples for the $15 price of admission.

When asked about next year, Citrine says he may have to find a larger venue, but has definitely set aside the first weekend in November for the Maine Brewers Festival II.

It seems that with the micros in Maine, there’s always something brewing.