LEWISTON – Something about the oversized 22-ounce beer bottle caught his eye.

He’s a registered guide and map maker. Maybe it was the outline of Mount Desert Island on the back.

That’s all it took. A collection was born.

Rows and rows of Maine microbrew bottles fill Jim Witherell’s basement shelves. They come from more than a dozen brewing companies: Atlantic, Maine Coast, Sea Dog, Sheepscot Valley, Allagash, Jack Russell’s, Casco Bay, Gritty McDuff’s.

They have names like Knuckleball or Redneck or Gurglin’ Sturgeon Stout.

There’s 188 to date, with just a couple duplicates.

Witherell has snuck a few from restaurants and bought most of them as singles in stores like Rooper’s and Florian’s.

“I’ve drank a lot of beer I didn’t like just to get the bottle,” he said. When it’s pretty bad, he says he drinks just enough so he doesn’t feel guilty draining the rest down the sink.

If you’re a beer bottle collector in the know, there are other ways of getting around consumption.

Witherell has 12 Battleground Ales from Shipyard, each with a different union or confederate general. For that, he asked the brewery directly for the labels and neck wraps, then went to Rooper’s to buy a dozen empties.

He soaked the old bottles, scrubbed off the labels and stuck the new ones on. Voila: a pristine set.

Other bottles feature seasonal art, lighthouses, lobsters, tall ships and, in the case of Andrew’s Brewery, a golden retriever.

Witherell has a bottle from the first Maine microbrewer, who, actually, never got to Maine. Portland Lager was made by Coastal Brewing Co. in Utica, N.Y. The story goes, he said, that the founder had intentions of moving the brewery to Maine, thus the ale’s name. It just never moved.

His collection includes seven growlers – half-gallon beer containers that look like jugs – and some non-Maine brews kicked off to the side: Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale, Three Stooges Ale.

When it gets down to imbibing, Witherell said Michelob Light is as good as any, but he really prefers Diet Pepsi to beer. He’s watching his carbs and calories.

Witherell adds a new bottle to the collection every few months.