The City’s First Contract Brewery Lands Next Year

The future home of Dorchester Brewing Company / Photo Provided

Next year is already poised to offer a handful of new, local craft breweries north of the Charles River, and an announcement this week opens the door for other independent beers to enter the scene via Boston’s first, dedicated contract brewery.

Dorchester Brewing Company will open a 25,000-square foot production facility on Massachusetts Avenue, where growing brands can produce, barrel-age, package, market, store, and sell their beers, the company announced yesterday.

DBC is creating a “highly collaborative environment,” said cofounder and CEO Matt Malloy via a press release. Malloy is a marketing and sales veteran; with a team rounded out by developer Travis Lee, communications professional Holly Irgens, and former Harpoon head brewer and Banner Beer Company founder Todd Charbonneau, DBC will provide shared access to state-of-the-art equipment and services that small- and medium-sized companies may not otherwise invest in.

The space will also include a 20-line tasting room, and collaborative workspace not just for brewers but other startups as well. For the public, DBC plans to host “fireside chats” with its tenants, and beer-making nights with Charbonneau.

“As the regional craft beer industry continues to expand, we’re excited to be offering a superior, cost effective, predictable solution and suite of services to brands to brew their beer and grow their businesses,” Malloy said.

DBC also aims to support Dorchester’s economic development. “We realized that building a brewery in the heart of Boston could act as a catalyst to further build the community and bring manufacturing back to Dorchester. We see the contract brewery and new tasting room as a gateway to one of the oldest and largest parts of our city,” it says on the company’s website.

DBC purchased the defunct M.A. Peacard sheet metal manufacturing plant, located near the South Bay Shopping Center, for $3 million, the Boston Globe reported. So far, the company has raised about $2.3 million to build out the space. 

Charbonneau’s company, Banner Beer Co., is among the first tenants of the new brewery, according to the Dorchester Reporter. Other microbrewers will be able to work alongside Charbonneau if they choose, though the head brewer will also take the reins. DBC has been approached by established companies located out-of-state and even out of the country looking to have a larger presence here. “By brewing directly in Boston, our clients will be able to stay locally to brew, package, store and distribute–and even taste their beers in our local facility,” Malloy told BostInno.

The brewery is currently under construction, and is slated for a late spring 2016 debut. It will begin with a 30-barrel system, but plans to double that in its first few years, Dot News reported.

Dorchester Brewing Company, 1246 Massachusetts Ave., Dorchester; dorchesterbrewing.com.