USA, MA: Barrel House Z hopes to open in Weymouth by May 2016
A pioneer in the craft-brewing movement is hoping to tap into South Shore beer lovers’ thirst for something a little bit different with a new brewery in Weymouth, The Patriot Ledger reported on December 8.
Russ Heissner, who was the first brewmaster at Harpoon Brewery when it opened in Boston, recently leased a 9,600-square-foot space on Woodrock Road and plans to open Barrel House Z, a brewery focusing on small-batch, barrel-aged beers, by the middle of next year.
“It’s been a lot of fits and starts to this point, but now, with the lease signed, it’s go time,” he said. “We’re very excited.”
About two years ago, Heissner started talking with Harpoon, where he worked from its start in 1986 to 1992, and Boston’s Bully Boy Distillers about forming a standing relationship as the basis for a new brewery. Harpoon brewers will collaborate on some of Barrel House Z’s rotating offerings, and the distillery will supply whiskey and rum barrels in which the new brews will be aged to augment the flavor.
Harpoon and Bully Boy are minority stakeholders in the new brewery.
Heissner left Harpoon to work for a company that designed and built breweries and later moved to a bio-fuel company. But he always planned to get back into the beer business.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in low places in the beer community around the country,” he joked. “I’ve always thought it’d be fun to work with friends and make great beer.”
A number of other craft breweries have opened in communities south of Boston in recent years. They include Mayflower Brewing in Plymouth, Blue Hills Brewery in Canton, 10th District Brewing in Abington and Old Colony Brewing in Whitman.
Heissner, a 52-year-old Hingham resident, said his brewery will fill a void in Weymouth and surrounding communities.
“I think there was a hole here,” he said. “We’re at a crossroads between all of the South Shore communities where we wanted to be present and be part of the community.”
Weymouth Mayor-elect Robert Hedlund, a beer enthusiast, encouraged Heissner to set up shop in Weymouth.
“We’re happy to have them,” he said, adding that the brewery would create jobs in town. “As far as I’m concerned, every community needs a brewery.”
The new brewery still needs federal and state permits, which will take several months to obtain. The building, off Route 53 near the Hingham line, also needs some renovations.
Heissner said he hopes the brewery will be open in May of 2016. He hopes to add a tasting room to the brewery later in the year. The brewery will eventually be able to put out between 2,000 and 4,000 barrels of beer each year.
The brewery’s planned first round of offerings include RR #23, a take on a Harpoon rye ale; a “ginned pilsner” aged in cider barrels; and an ale made with brown sugar called Rage Against the Hop Machine.
Heissner plans to hold a competition for amateur brewers in collaboration with the Homebrew Emporium in Weymouth and the Craft Beer Cellar in Braintree to select a recipe for a fourth beer. Heissner said he hopes the competition will become an annual event.
“We’re psyched to have them so close by, and we’re excited they’re willing to be such a part of the community working with home brewers to give people a start they may not normally have access to,” said Kay Lorenz, a co-owner of the Braintree craft beer store.
Jim Bowser, a manager at the Homebrew Emporium, said Barrel House Z’s barrel-aged beers will fill a niche that the proliferation of local craft breweries has yet to cover. That’s good for both beer drinkers and home brewers, who can learn from smaller breweries, he said.
“It’s great to see more breweries to help expand and have the South Shore become more of a beer destination than it has been,” Bowser said. “It gives my customers and other people a lot more variety and the ability to enjoy some very good beer.”
09 December, 2015
