Microbrewery to Open at Mass MoCA Next Year
 Mass MoCA will welcome a microbrewery to open on the campus next winter. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Some 150,000 people visit Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts every year.
Orion Howard is sure that a lot of them would appreciate a good, well-crafted beer.
Howard and Eric Kerns, founders of Bright Ideas Brewing, are planning to tap into that traffic next year with the opening of a microbrewery in Building 1.
"Having 150,000, having an audience like that gives you more foot traffic than any brewery outside the state of New York," the Williamstown resident said during a telephone interview Saturday. "The fact we can open at Mass MoCA and have that kind of traffic — that will make it successful."
The Mass MoCA Commission last week approved the brewery and taproom in about 2,500 square feet on the ground floor off the main gate.
"We do it as a potential destination generator ... It's a business that might attract visitors over and above what the museum does," museum Director Joseph Thompson told the commission on Thursday. "It's got a good design aesthetic."
There are a number of microbreweries in the region but there's a void in North Berkshire that Bright Ideas hopes to fill. And with Mass MoCA traffic right outside the door ensuring profitability for the taproom, the brewers say they can do something for beer-loving residents.
"The other focus of ours is making this work for North Adams ... we can focus on making a populist beer that people in North Adams are going to get beyond what we have planned," Howard said.
Along with the higher-priced craft beer, Howard wants to make a good, local beer that can be sold in local barrooms at the same price point as Pabst.
"We want this to be the kind of beer everybody in North Adams is proud of," he said. "Every pub who wants our beer in North Adams can sell it."
He's hoping that interest in the local beer — and the more higher-priced beers as well — will get residents interested in stopping by the taproom. Howard envisions a mixture of MoCA visitors, staff and community members getting together over a few pints after a day's work — or walking around the museum.
"Our hand-crafted beers will be inspired by, and pay homage to, both North Adams and Mass MoCA, actively connecting to local culture and history and to the museum's vibrant programming," he wrote in an email.
The 40 to 70-seat taproom will have an industrial vibe appropriate for the former mill and a 44-foot long wood and steel bar. Patrons will be able to watch the brewery on the other side of a huge glass panel.
"It's going to be a gorgeous environment," said Howard.
Howard, an oncologist at Southwestern Vermont Cancer in Bennington, said his family had been involved in brewing in the past. He grew up on the West Coast and came to the Berkshires to attend Williams College.
"I did some homebrewing and became an aficionado," he said.
He first approached Greylock Market's Blair Benjamin looking for "a project that I could get my hands around" that would also help North Adams. A possible microbrewery has been in the plans for the market but there was already some interest there and a taproom would have been a direct competitor for Freight Yard Pub.
Discussions led to Mass MoCA and the idea that Bright Ideas could be a mentor for any startup brewers at the market.
"We can give the startups an access to the brewer and have them craft beer in this mentor system," Howard said. The brewery could select the best beers and produce them.
That's still nearly a year away. Equipment being ordered from Canada won't be ready until November and a federal license as a farm brewery has to be obtained. The goal is be brewing by December with tours possible in January, and a February opening.
Chris Post of Becket will be the brewer. He already is the brewer for Wandering Star Brewery but there's no competition because Wandering Star distributes in New York.
Howard said the brewery looks forward to collaborating with local businesses and hosting events.
"We're thrilled. I would love to be opening this now," he said.
Tags: brewery, mass moca, taproom,
