A Bit More on Trillium’s Plan for a “Pilot Brewpub” in Boston

A full-service restaurant in bustling Fort Point will beckon beer fans in 2018.

Trillium Brewing Company owners Esther and JC Tetreault inside their current Boston brewery

Trillium Brewing Company owners Esther and JC Tetreault inside their current Boston brewery. / Photo provided

UPDATE, May 25, 3:45 p.m.: The Trillium team is in lease negotiations over 16,000 square feet of space at 47 Farnsworth St., BostInno first reported.

Esther Tetreault wrote on the company’s blog this week:

Nestled in between Farnsworth and Thompson Place, our plans for the new space are dreamy… two floors of taproom, restaurant & retail, a patio AND a roof deck, and of course room to brew on a 10bbl system with horizontal lagering tanks, foeders, and in the words of JC “all the things that are awesome”.

The lease will likely be finalized in the coming days, and construction will start late this summer or early in the fall, BostInno reports. The Trillium brewpub will likely open in late 2018.

PREVIOUSLY:

There’s something truly special about lining up alongside fellow beer lovers to shuffle through Trillium Brewing Company’s narrow, urban, retail space in Fort Point, but no amount of nostalgia can diminish the excitement fans are feeling at the prospect of a Boston brewery with room for “more beer, (way) more space, and more fun.”

Co-owner Esther Tetreault announced last week that she and husband JC are in lease negotiations to secure a new space in their home neighborhood. Over the holiday weekend, Brewbound caught up with JC and learned the early plans call for a “full-scale restaurant,” with help from Real Food Consulting, as well as outdoor patio seating and potentially even a roof deck.

“Without intentionally being vague, we really don’t have more information yet,” Esther says today. “This is something that’s really important to us, which is why we’ve engaged Real Food to make sure we do it right. Obviously, Trillium is all about the beer, but having a restaurant component is something JC and I have always envisioned for what we want to Trillium to be. Especially people in Boston who come in and out of the retail shop just to buy beer, this will give people an opportunity to share together and have fun.”

Real Food Consulting has helped entrepreneurs behind establishments like Tasting Counter, Centre Street Cafe, Kirkland Tap & Trotter, and many more with financing, design and build, and other operations. At this point, Trillium has made no commitments to any potential, additional partners, chefs, nor any design firms, Tetreault says.

Trillium chose to announce at this point to get ahead of the news. 

“I get asked for the last two years if we’re opening a restaurant,” Tetreault says. “We know people are looking for it and that questions will arise, so we wanted to be open about the fact that we feel we have a great partnership with a potential landlord, and have started the process more seriously.”

Fans can expect to be dining Trillium-style by late 2017 or early 2018, she says. (See update, above.)

It’s also no secret that Trillium outgrew its original, 10-barrel brewhouse and retail space with lightning speed, she says. “March will be our four-year anniversary. We’ve been looking since then for an opportunity to relocate to a more functional, more fun space.”

While the new Boston location will primarily focus on retail and the restaurant, the 15,000-plus-square foot facility will have some to-be-determined production and aging space.

“We want to be able to operate more like a pilot brewpub, where we’re able to do some cool, new styles, or one-offs that will be available on draft only at the restaurant,” Tetreault says, with other draft lines occupied by brews from Canton. “And it’s going to look cool: You’ve seen the foeders we have on the mezzanine in Canton, those big oak barrels? They’re really beautiful. Those are a permanent addition [in Canton] for sure, but we will have the opportunity to bring in new barrels to Boston.”

Announcing the early plans last week proves Trillium knows their fans can’t wait to see it. In the meantime, they’re upping the fun in Canton: Beginning Friday, January 6, the taproom will be open until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, and from noon-5 p.m. on Sundays.

Trillium Brewing Company, currently located at 369 Congress St., 617-453-8745, and 110 Shawmut Rd., Canton, 110 Shawmut Rd., Canton, 781-562-0073, trilliumbrewing.com.

UPDATE, January 5, 4 p.m.: This post has been updated with news that Trillium is extending the hours at its Canton taproom.