USA, CT: Witch Doctor Brewing Company eyeing March opening in Southington

Witch Doctor Brewing Company is planning to open early this year in Factory Square, Southington, offering a wide array of different beer flavors and styles, the Bristol Press reported on January 2.

The Southington Chamber of Commerce affiliated brewery will open at the Factory Square building at 168 Center St. in February or March, according to Josh Norris, who co-owns the business with Daryl Adamaitis.

They acquired the 5,500-square-foot space a year-and-a-half ago and have since been renovating it — building furniture, the bar and a stage from reclaimed wood.

“We’re going for a sort of ‘rustic meets modern’ atmosphere,” he said.

When complete, it will be able to seat 60 people and will have a capacity of 204. In addition, Witch Doctor Brewing Company plans to have local food trucks catering twice a week, to display the works of local artists and to house acoustic music performances.

Norris has been brewing for 10 years and Adamaitis ran City Steam Brewery for five years. Norris said they are very excited to open and let people have a taste of their craft beers.

“I got into brewing because I was looking for a good beer that I could afford when I was living in Doughton, Ohio,” said Norris. “Once I started doing it, I shared it with my brother and sister who are in the beer business. They were raving about it and telling me that it was better than anything else out there. In 2008, I moved over here and two years ago we started taking it out to a lot of local beer festivals. Two years ago, at the Connecticut Craft Beer and Chili Cook Off in Hartford, we won People’s Choice and Brew Crew’s Choice. There were 50 breweries in that contest, including big names like Sam Adams and Dogfish Head.”

Norris noted that he chose to open the brewery at its current location because he considers Center Street to be a lively, bustling area for business.

“There is the trail nearby and a lot of new construction and businesses moving in,” he said. “It is almost becoming like Blue Back Square in West Hartford. We have also been in talks with Connecticut Beer Tours and we are affiliated with the Brewer’s Guild.”

Witch Doctor Brewing Company will open with five signature brews:

 Inner Eye Rye, a rye pale ale
 Pauper’s Porridge, an oatmeal amber ale
 The Antidote, a Kolsch
 Monkshood, a Belgian Siegen
Oxymel, an IPA (India pale ale)

“We’ll have all kinds of styles, from stouts to wheats and everything in between,” said Norris.

As for how the brewery got its name, Norris said it is a nod to when alcohol was used to purify water and healers would use it for medical benefits.

04 January, 2017