USA, MA: Epigram Brew Co. finally opens its doors in Tyngsboro
Nearly two years after they asked the town of Tyngsboro to give them license to do so, the owners and brewers of Epigram Brew Co. have finally opened the doors on their new restaurant and craft brewery, the Boston Herald reported on November 4.
Located along Middlesex Street just south of the New Hampshire border, the independent brewery currently offers nine varieties of beer, all made in house, and brings South Shore-style bar pizza north of Boston and into the Merrimack Valley.
Epigram owner Jeff White told the Herald that a few years ago he noticed a “hole in the market,” in that many of the breweries he visited had excellent beer or really good food or a great atmosphere, but never all three at the same time.
Plus, none were anywhere near close enough to his house.
“I was, selfishly, thinking I wanted a brewery in my neighborhood, and I noticed a lot of breweries only do one of those things right,” he told the Herald. “But then, when this building went vacant, it was kind of like an eye opening for me and the lightbulb went off. This is a perfect location. I could just see it.”
“So we’ve knocked it out of the park with all three: we hired the best people to make world-class beer, hired a really great food team to serve our customers really awesome food — just elevated from normal offerings at a brewery,” White said. “The third part is the atmosphere. That took a while.”
At the former site of a pet hotel, a sleek, 300-seat restaurant and bar now stands. Building the brewery took almost two years of retrofitting and expansion to the original structure. Gas and water lines had to be expanded to keep pace with brewing needs, an outdoor patio space installed and landscaped. Town officials were receptive to the business and helpful at each step along the way, White said.
The new brewery held a soft opening on a Monday at the end of October. By the following Saturday evening, the place was filled almost to capacity. By this last Friday, it was full to bursting, with cars overflowing the brewery’s parking lot into that of a neighboring Mexican restaurant and nearly every seat inside occupied.
When you walk into the brewery it’s immediately clear how clean the place is. According to Epigram’s Head of Production, Fred Halloran, that’s essential to making good beer.
The huge, stainless-steel brewing tanks visible from the bar, which combined can kick out almost 100 barrels of beer every two weeks, are a big step up from where Halloran started ten years ago, when he was making small batches in the kitchen of Epigram’s Assistant Brewer John Diaz, he said.
“We’re making a lot of beer right now. Based on this first week, we need it,” Halloran said.
Head Brewer David Smyth said seeing people lining the bar and filling every table to enjoy his beer is “surreal.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “The response has been great. Everyone is loving the beer, loving the food, loving the atmosphere.”
The brewery is currently pouring three different New England IPAs, two double IPAs, a milk stout, a Kolsch, a raspberry-lime sour, and a session. Halloran said the brewery is working on production of a lager, but that the process takes more time. After a few visits and a thorough-enough sampling to be truly certain, the Herald can report conclusively that all nine of Epigram’s available beer offerings are worth trying.
According to craft beer trade group the Brewers Association, the number of active craft breweries in the U.S. grew over the last year, going from 9,119 to 9,336. In 2022, craft brewers accounted for just 13% of the $115.4 billion U.S. beer market.
In Massachusetts alone there are over 200 craft breweries, up from less than 50 a decade ago, and the state sees almost half-a-million barrels of craft beer brewed every year. Bay State adults spend $1.5 billion on craft beer annually, according to the association.
Though growth in craft beer has slowed in the last couple of years, the association’s midyear market survey shows that demand, especially for draft beer, continues to expand.
“In this maturing market, explosive growth from years past has tapered out, but openings continue to slightly outpace closings, and brewers are finding success in niches where they can succeed,” the association wrote.
05 November, 2023
