One of Boston's most beloved gypsy breweries is finally getting a home.
Backlash Beer Co. has been turning out bold, unapologetic beers since launching in June 2011 at the hands of founders Maggie Foley and Helder Pimentel. The brewery made headlines last November after announcing plans to crowdfund their way toward opening a space in Roxbury. Before that, they'd contract brewed at Holyoke's Paper City Brewing (now closed) and Foolproof Brewing in Pawtucket, RI, before sliding over to their current digs within Dorchester Brewing Company.
We've been to a lot of breweries and this one feels different than anything we've seen.
After months of lease negotiations, the team is finally breaking ground on the Roxbury buildout. And Pimentel couldn't be more amped at the progress and what's to come. "The space is pretty unique; it's a 50/50 split between production and retail," he told me. "There's a mezzanine that looks directly into the brew space and we're cutting big windows into the separating wall to make the two spaces feel even more connected. We've been to a lot of breweries and this one feels different than anything we've seen, so we're pretty excited to see how our vision for the space comes to life."
Backlash might feel like a newcomer to the market for some, since they've never had a dedicated space of their own and, due to production constraints, their beers only hit the market in waves rather than a steady flow populating store shelves and bar tap handles. But Pimentel is an industry veteran who knows his way around a brewery. Though that doesn't mean he hasn't had to adapt with the times since Backlash first launched.
"Things have intensified over the past few years. New breweries popping up and existing breweries entering our market definitely make selling and staying relevant a challenge," he said. To compete, for example, Pimentel intentionally made the last batch of Salute, their popular Double IPA, hazier in appearance to fall in line with the latest fad among hoppy beer drinkers. "For better or worse there's a certain desirable aesthetic to hoppy beers these days," he told me. "I added oats and wheat to help haze the beer up a little without changing the flavors too much. So far the reception has been awesome ... We've also heard from a lot of people that they wish it were hazier – go figure."
A post shared by Backlash (@backlashbeer) on Jun 27, 2017 at 4:40pm PDT
In addition to the Haze Craze, another staple in the beer industry now that wasn't as cemented when Backlash began is the importance of a taproom. Consumers want to drink beer that's fresh and local – and there's no greater epitome of that than drinking a beer in eyeshot of the very tank where it was brewed. The overhead to build a brewery and taproom is immense, but the longterm payoff is undeniable.
"If you don't have a taproom as a startup, you need to have a very aggressive distribution strategy (and a ton of money). Distribution is tougher now than it ever has been, and I imagine it will only get harder as more and more brands enter the market," said Pimentel. "Having a dedicated sales team to partner with your distributors is crucial, and smaller brands and breweries don't have the scale to support that overhead from cash flows, so you really need to be very well capitalized at the start in order to do it purely though distro."
There have been delays in the buildout – as there are with every brewery. But barring any unforeseen hiccups, Pimentel hopes the taproom will be open sometime this September or October.
In the meantime, in addition to overseeing the brewery construction, Pimentel and team are focusing much of their attention of their new Stomping Grounds series, a boozy ode to the neighborhoods that have shaped the brand and brought them to where they are today. The first beer is Allston, a New England style IPA with Citra and Mosaic hops that pays homage to where Pimentel home-brewed the first batch of beer he ever made on a dirty kitchen stove. Other beers in the series will include Fenway (where Maggie lives and where we got some of our best support in our early stages); Central Square (where Zach, their head of creative, lives); Financial District (where Zach, Maggie, and Helder all met); and Roxbury, the site of Backlash's next chapter.
"Our hope is that Roxbury will be the first beer I brew on the new system," Pimentel said. "Fingers crossed."
