On tap: Two new breweries prepare to join the Waterbury pub scene

July 30, 2021  |  By Tulley Hescock  | Community News Service 

Freak Folk Bier has equipment already installed inside the first-floor space at Bell's Block. Photo by Gordon Miller

After months of updating local zoning regulations to recognize brewpubs in a key section of downtown Waterbury, two more breweries are getting set to open about a block apart. 

If all goes as planned, Freak Folk Bier Brewers will open a restaurant and bar on Stowe Street and The Tropics Brewery will open on Foundry Street.

Last fall, developers of the new Bell’s Block building on Stowe Street next door to the American Legion applied to amend their local permit to sign on with a brewpub as the tenant for the first floor. “It was denied by the zoning administrator who indicated that that use was not allowed in that zoning district,” said Jason Wulff, co-owner of the mixed-use project. 

Perry Hill Partners, as Wulff and business partner Aaron Flint’s development company is known, appealed the decision to court. Meanwhile, town officials over several months from December through April, focused on updating zoning regulations for a core area of the downtown. The result was a new interim zoning bylaw that, among other things, allows for small-scale on-site beer production. 

Freak Folk Bier has a unique label design. Photo by Gordon Miller

The prospective tenant, Freak Folk Bier, is a small-scale brewer launched in 2019 using space at Queen City Brewery on Pine Street in Burlington. The operation experiments with fermentation techniques to produce small batches for limited release.   

After 10 months in the permitting process, the proposal was approved by the Waterbury Development Review Board on July 7. 

Community Planner Steve Lotspeich said the board’s conclusion was, “to review it as a restaurant/bar, which allows brewing up to a certain level numbers of barrels per year,” he said. In this case, Lotspeich explained, Freak Folk will be limited to 2,000 barrels per year. 

Brewers Ryan Miller and Lil MacNamara intend to both brew on site and serve their beer with food and overall, the brewery plans to produce between 700-2,000 barrels a year, Miller said.

Although Miller said he is grateful for the attention to their request received from local planning and zoning officials, the lengthy process took a toll. 

“I don't think that they really understand the weight that they're putting on our shoulders here. I mean we've been paying rent for two or three months now we've already signed a lease,” Miller said. 

With the Freak Folk project now in its buildout, the Bell’s Block building is fully leased. The second floor is home to the offices of Ursa Major skin care products and Four Seasons Dermatology has settled into office space on the third floor, Wulff said. 

“We were a bit nervous during the pandemic,” Wulff said noting that tenants shifted plans along the way before signing leases. He credited his partner Flint on the construction details and architect Jen Lane on her design that made the new space appealing. 

“Waterbury is desirable,” he said. “And there is not much inventory of new spaces that meet code for [Americans with Disabilities Act] such as having an elevator.”    

From auto parts to full pours 

Between P.K. Coffee and Sunja’s Oriental Foods, the middle section of the commercial building at 40 Foundry Street has been permitted for a brewpub. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Across Stowe Street and a block away at 40 Foundry Street, another brewery is preparing to open.  

Matt Gordon and his brother Zach Gordon are working on setting up their new operation called The Tropic Brewing company in a commercial building owned by Mark Frier, an owner of The Reservoir Restaurant and Taproom on Main Street. 

The space formerly used for an auto parts store was permitted for a brewery space and taproom in November. That location was already in a zoning district that allowed for such uses, so the interim zoning update was not needed for that request to move ahead. 

“That was one of the attractive features of the space that it was already permitted for the exact use we needed,” Matt Gordon said.

Initially, Miller and MacNamara of Freak Folk Biers were the prospective tenants for the Foundry Street location as it went through the permitting process last year. However, they changed their minds and signed on with the Stowe Street location saying they felt it was a better atmosphere and location for their plans. 

Matt Gordon said his project is moving ahead with the intention to be permitted as a manufacturer with a license to serve their beer on site. The Gordon brothers are working on building out the space to have a 15-barrel brewhouse and cellar capacity to produce up to  2,000 barrels annually, he said. 

“Since the space has been permitted for a 21-seat taproom, we hope to be able to offer full pours of the beers we produce as well as packaged beer for retail sale,” Gordon explained, noting that they are still in process to obtain additional permits to sell alcohol. He said customers can expect brews with “subtle adaptations from existing styles, not necessarily those that strictly follow style guidelines.”

Welcome competition 

The addition of two new brewpubs might seem like a significant expansion to Waterbury’s pub scene but owners of some other downtown watering holes and eateries welcome the new players. One of the pubs is going into a property owned by Frier whose business The Reservoir is a block away. 

Neighboring Blackback Pub owner Lynn Mason said she is excited for new breweries coming to Waterbury. “I think anything that brings people into our community is just going to be a win-win. I think it's wonderful,” Mason said.

The new mixed-use Bell's Block commercial building on Stowe Street will have a brewpub on the first floor and offices above. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Mason and partner David Juenker recently purchased their building at the corner of Stowe and Main streets and Blackback is in the process of expanding its operation using both basement and first-floor levels.

Eric Warnstedt is an owner of Prohibition Pig in Waterbury which operates a small-scale brewery and busy restaurant that serves a long list of craft beers as well. He said he is also excited for Freak Folk Bier and The Tropic to arrive and that Waterbury will be able to support all the breweries with the help of tourism. 

“I think a lot of our businesses are built to serve the community. Yet, financially, they're probably not as viable, unless we have tourism dollars,” Warnstedt said.

Miller of Freak Folk Bier agreed with this sentiment and is excited for the growing industry.  

“I would like Vermont to be a destination for quality beer,” Miller said. 

So far, neither brewery has an opening date set as they proceed with construction and await additional permits.

Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.