Massachusetts, like most other American cities, is in the middle of a craft brewery boom. But despite a strong and growing number in striking distance of Boston – think Aeronaut, Slumbrew, Night Shift, Mystic, Lamplighter ... the list goes on – there still aren't many breweries in the city itself. There's Trillium, Harpoon and Sam Adams, of course. Backlash Beer Co. is headed to Roxbury. And Turtle Swamp Brewing will soon cozy up in Jamaica Plain, too.
But one Boston neighborhood remains largely overlooked – until now.
Mighty Squirrel is poised to bring a brewery and taproom to Charlestown (rendered above), occupying a familiar spot on Terminal Street nestled under the Tobin Bridge.
"We are super excited to be building a brewery here in Boston," co-founder Henry Manice told me. "It will give us the chance to engage better with the local community through our taproom and homegrown events that will take place at our brewery. We do hundreds of events a year in Massachusetts, but we have not been able to invite people to a taproom, which has been a big void for us."
Manice and co-founder Naveen Pawar have been discussing a Boston brewery for months, but it became a bit more real for the duo since raising $1.8 million back in October.
"We would love to build our brewery in Charlestown and create a fun go-to spot for the neighborhood," Manice said, adding, "We can't wait to welcome people to our new squirrel den! Our goal is to be up and running with the brewery this year, and we have the support of the MassDevelopment Bank, which is providing a $500,000 loan towards our brewery."
This particular spot is one you might recognize: the former brewery space of Downeast Cider, which moved its operations to East Boston in October. "We've got about twice the square footage here and very high ceiling, which help with storage and tall tanks," Tyler Mosher, one of the Downeast founders, told me. "We'll eventually be able to make 8-times the cider we could in Charlestown."
Mighty Squirrel officially hit store shelves in Boston in June of 2015, selling what they called the first and only beer of its kind – a flavorful craft beer infused with 4 grams of protein per serving and geared toward active beer-lovers looking for a little something extra in their next pint. Since then, they've expanded distribution to other parts of New England and just launched statewide in Rhode Island. They're also exploring expansion opportunities in New York, Florida and California.
The prospect of building out their brand and setting down roots in a Boston brewery and taproom is a major move for Mighty Squirrel. (Right now, they contract brew out of the Von Trapp Brewery in Stowe, Vermont.) But it's only half of their evolution into a full-fledged Boston craft brewery.
When Mighty Squirrel launched, they were uniquely addressing a segment of craft drinkers. Think of "low-carb" and the beer that jumps to mind is Michelob Ultra. But no brewery has been able to mass-produce a low-carb beer that's also relatively high in protein. Mich Ultra, for comparison's sake, has just 0.6 grams of protein per 12-ounce serving.
"You never see low-carb craft beers in the market, and you would be hard pressed to find any great-tasting low carb macro beers, so this has been resonating with sporty, active, and health-conscious people in Boston who love delicious craft beers but would be happy to cut back on carbs and calories provided they don't have to sacrifice on taste," said Manice.
But you can't put the modern craft beer drinker in a corner. So after seeing solid traction in their protein-forward line of beers, Mighty Squirrel has quietly undergone a rebranding effort and is now offering a line of traditional beers as well, launched last fall but still flying largely under the radar for the average craft consumer. The beers with protein are now under the "Sport" label.
"Our best selling Sport beer is our Kiwi White, and our Grapefruit IPA is not far behind. Both come in at 4.8% ABV and are brewed with a variety of hops including Simcoe, Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Saaz, and Tettnang," said Manice.
In addition, Mighty Squirrel is now offering a line of more traditional craft beers as well, including, said Manice, "a juicy East Coast style IPA at 7.2% ABV with Mosaic, Citra, and Columbus hops, a crisp India Pale Lager loaded with 6 hop varieties including Galaxy, a Mocha Stout, and a Belgian White."
This is a significant bifurcation for a brand that's made its name as the "protein beer" company. But it's also a big deal now that a Boston-based taproom is on the horizon. Offer protein beers at a bar and a certain segment of the drinking population will check it out; offer protein beers and traditional beers – especially in a neighborhood without a proper taproom to call its own – and you can bet the interest level will be significantly higher.
"We don't feel the need to have just one beer style by selling Sport beers only," said Manice. "It's not that we don't want to go deep into that segment – indeed we plan to focus a lot of our energy towards getting the word out about our unique beer style. But we also would like to share a broad range of beer styles with our customers like fellow craft brewers out there such as Lord Hobo, Trillium, and Jack's Abby."
In that vein, Mighty Squirrel is looking for a head brewer to shepherd their new vision into reality, someone with extensive experience who will be responsible for building a craft brewery from the ground up with complete control over layout, personnel and recipe development. It's a big job, but a unique and possibly lucrative one as well.
And like any genuine Boston brewery, the focus will be on local first.
"Outside of the local market, we will likely focus almost entirely on selling our Sport beers," said Manice, "but we are looking forward to offering a diverse portfolio of beer styles to our fans here in Massachusetts."
Images provided.
