USA, MA: Seventh Wave Brewing sets tentative opening date in March

Medfield residents may be able to sample locally brewed beer this spring, the Wicked Local Medfield reported on January 19.

Business partners David Strymish and Owen Hawkins are planning to open Seventh Wave Brewing in the complex containing Sluggers Academy off Rte. 27. They've set a tentative opening date of March, with brewing beginning in February.

"It's sort of a New England sailor term, or old-time sailor term about waiting for the seventh wave," Hawkins said, of the brewery's name. "Specifically for us, it's about being patient and waiting for the right time for things and being patient in the craft of making beer."

The two hope to produce eight to 10 different beers, and switch some of those out seasonally, or as they come up with new ideas. Seventh Wave will also offer small batch coffee and creative breads Strymish bakes.

"I love making things, baking, coffee-making. I just like making stuff," said Strymish, who owned the now-defunct online cookbook business Jessica's Biscuit, and said he was once in Julia Child's kitchen. "I just love getting involved in the processes and the flavors."

Both said they decided to open a brewery because brewing makes them happy.

"I'm not a cook like Dave," Hawkins said, "but I've always been a beer aficionado."

Though Strymish and Hawkins hope to allow visitors to consume glasses of beer on the premises in the future, they will only be permitted to offer free samples of both their beer and coffee at first. The brewery will offer tours along with the samples, and bottled beer and bags of whole coffee beans will be available for sale.

"This is how it used to be when breweries started," Hawkins said. "It's sort of cleaner. ...;. You try a beer, find out what you like, and buy it."

From their own experiences homebrewing, the pair have already come up with a few beers they hope to incorporate into the Seventh Wave repertoire. "Farmer in the Rye" is a rye beer with a hoppy, citrus taste, Strymish said, while a hoppy pale ale might be named "Rte. 27."

19 January, 2017