E-Malt.com News article: USA, MA: Jack's Abby Brewing to move and expand

In less than four years and after numerous expansions, Jack’s Abby Brewing has maxed out its space at its Morton Street brewery, metrowestdailynews.com reported on December, 16.

The owners of the Framingham brewery – brothers Jack, Eric and Sam Hendler – announced they have leased 67,000 square feet in the Dennison Building downtown and will be moving their fast-growing brewery there.

“Demand has exceeded production,” said Jack Hendler, the brewmaster at Jack’s Abby Brewing. “It gets us closer to downtown. We want to be part of the downtown revitalization.”

Currently, Jack’s Abby Brewing occupies two warehouse spaces on Morton Street for a total of 12,000 square feet. The new space will be more than five times larger, Sam Hendler said.

The new space will allow the brewery to grow immensely, as well as to offer services the brothers can't offer in their current location, Jack Hendler said.

One of the biggest changes is that the new brewery will reserve 5,000 square feet for a restaurant, Jack Hendler said.

In 2014, Jack’s Abby Brewing brewed 14,000 barrels of beer (a barrel equals 31 gallons). In 2015, they will brew about 20,000 barrels. When they move into the new brewery, they will have a capacity of 50,000 barrels, but with infrastructure in place to more than double that number, Jack Hendler said.

If it brews that much beer, Jack’s Abby would be the second largest beer producer in Massachusetts, behind the Harpoon Brewery in Boston. The nationally popular Samuel Adams is brewed mostly in Ohio and Pennsylvania

“We’re putting everything on the line,” said Jack Hendler. “We see the opportunity. The market is in our favor and we want to take advantage of it.”

With the growth, Jack’s Abby will be introducing a brand new canning line that will produce 10,000 cans of beer per hour. The company's year-round beers – Jabby Brau, Hoponius Union, Smoke & Dagger and Mass Rising – along with seasonal beers, will be available in cans. Special releases will still be available in 16.9 ounce bottles and 64-ounce growlers.

The new space will allow Jack’s Abby to expand its barrel-aging program, as well as do more small-batch, special-release beers, Jack Hendler said.

Because of the expected growth, prices of the beers will drop, and fans should begin seeing 12-packs of canned Jack’s Abby beers after the move. Jack’s Abby has its first hearing about the new brewery in front of the Planning Board on Jan. 8. Jack Hendler said that the best-case scenario would have them in the new brewery in the fall. Sam Hendler said the restaurant could open before they start brewing, because beer will continue to be brewed in the current location.

When the brothers started the brewery, Jack Hendler said they never expected to grow so fast. “I think it’s just the way we looked at the business,” he said. “We wanted to produce beers that had a craft flavor and was accessible for everyone.” Jack Hendler said the brothers knew they would need to move eventually, but they wanted to stay in Framingham, and they feel the Dennison Building is the perfect spot. “It was integral for us to stay in Framingham. We really tied ourselves to this town. It’s part of our identity,” said Jack Hendler.


19 December, 2014