USA, VT: Weird Window Brewing on track for mid-March opening

A new brewery and tap room — Weird Window Brewing — is on track to open in mid-March in South Burlington, its owner said on December 30.

Jack Droppa, a veteran of Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury and Frost Beer Works in Hinesburg, confirmed his plans over the phone and over the whine and roar of heavy machinery at 82 Ethan Allen Drive.

The new brewery and tap room will occupy space vacated in June by Quebec-based Farnham Ale & Lager after a four year run at that location.

What fuels the Weird Window team, Droppa said, is "approachable and diverse beers; beers that we enjoy drinking and want to share with other people. We hope to have a beer for everyone who visits our tap room."

Early batches will include a New England IPA, a brown ale and a jalapeno cream ale (as a "spicy refreshment"), Droppa added.

He expects to brew up to 800 barrels this year, though there's a capacity for more.

"With all the great beer in Vermont, we thought it made sense to start small," Droppa said.

The brewery's logo offers a broad clue. A stylized roof-line in the foreground features a window angled at 45 degrees — an architectural feature common enough in these parts to be termed a "Vermont window."

They're also known as "witch" windows, apparently because witches can't fly in or out of a house at that angle.

Droppa and his wife, Emily, had celebrated the quirky local structures while driving back and forth to Stowe, and wondered how to incorporate them into a brand.

"We didn't want to use 'witch window' because we didn't want to associate all our beer with Halloween," Droppa said. "So we finally decided on 'weird.'"

"We like the story it tells and we like the connection to Vermont," he added.

Droppa has moved quickly as a brewer.

He left Otter Creek in early 2018, just as that brewery unveiled his Black Swansong IPA. Droppa joined forces with Frost Beer Works that same year.

By late summer 2019, Droppa had registered his new business and trademarked the Weird Window Brewing logo.

The brewery's subsequent months have remained in high gear, as documented on Weird Windows Brewing's Facebook page:

Late September 2019: The last of the equipment from Farnham Ale and Lager is removed by Gatineau, Quebec-based Gainsbourg Bistro Brewery.

Oct. 31: Demolition of interior walls begins.

Mid-November: Portions of old floor removed; trenches dug for new drains and waste piping.

Mid-December: Installation of new drains complete; new concrete floors poured.

Mid-January: Equipment scheduled to arrive.

Meanwhile, renovations to the interior are underway, Droppa said. Stay tuned.

As per state liquor laws, the tap room will offer food to customers: cheese and meat plates and other savory snacks. No restaurant plans are afoot.

Weird Window will be a stone's throw from ginger-beer specialists Halyard Brewing Company in the industrial park just north of Burlington International Airport.

01 January, 2020