E-Malt.com News article: USA, MA: Notch Brewing Company to launch a new production brewery in Salem by March 2016

Brewer Chris Lohring, owner of Notch Brewing Company, has signed a lease for a production brewery in a space at 283 Derby St. in Salem, The Salem News reported on July 9.

Lohring said he is both excited and terrified to be opening Notch Brewing’s first permanent facility in Salem.

Lohring hopes to open by March 2016 after securing the necessary permitting and licensing and spending about six months building out the space. He expects to start small and produce about 2,000 barrels of craft beer in the first year.

“We are really very excited about it,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll. “We have been in communication with Chris to help identify locations and help him in any way we could.”

Lohring, an independent professional brewer formerly with the Tremont Brewery in Boston, started Notch Brewing in 2010.

“We’ve looked around Salem for a couple of years,” said Lohring. He eventually found a location at the back of a long building that is next to the South River in Salem.

“I think the consumer wants a little bit of romance,” Lohring said. “They want to see that it’s a fun place.”

Lohring said he signed a lease for 5,000 square feet on July 7.

“The concept is drawn from German and Czech beer halls,” Lohring said.

Salem is quickly becoming a home for craft brewers and distillers.

Lohring said Notch Brewing would be the first production brewery in Salem since the early 1800s.

Key to all this activity was a zoning change the city council approved last year that allowed breweries, wineries and distilleries to serve samples and sell their products on site, as long as they have the appropriate licensing.

Before the change was made, city zoning required separate locations for production and pouring.

“The city councillors and the mayor worked really hard to get that zoning through,” said Lohring who attended many of the zoning meetings. “It’s good for the tourism. It’s good for the locals. It’s a win for everybody.”

Kimberley Driscoll, Mayor of Salem, said the city wanted “to make sure there was a workable way to support the industry” in the city.

“We can only pour what we make,” Lohring said.

Lohring chose to settle in the Salem because sales in the city have been “considerably strong” for Notch Brewing’s beer and because of Salem’s thriving tourist economy.

“Adding destinations is good for all restaurants and operations in town,” Driscoll said, “as the city becomes a destination not only for those who live here, but for people from surrounding communities.”


15 July, 2015