Drawing Board, Little Willow approach important milestonesDate: 4/12/2022 FLORENCE – A pair of breweries with roots in Florence are getting ready to mark significant milestones.
For Drawing Board Brewing Co., located in the heart of the neighborhood at 36 Main St., the day when they can open their taproom is fast approaching.
The husband and wife team of Corey and Tonka Lynch have been hard at work with the build out while producing and selling products in cans and occasionally hosting pouring events on the back patio. Given how well received they and their beer have been so far, Corey Lynch said he’s excited for the future.
“The reception has been absolutely great. There were a number of people who were a little wary of a new business coming in but after we made our presence known, people have been really excited. People are constantly asking us when the taproom is opening,” he said.
While the exact date is still up in the air, Lynch said he hopes to welcome people inside by the end of May.
“Hopefully right out of the gate we’re going to have six beers on draft,” he said. “We’ve been at this for a year at this point, so we’ve already been through 13 different beers in this time. We’re gauging what people are into and we’ll probably bring back some old favorites and introduce some new things.”
In addition to giving them a permanent place to allow people to enjoy their products, Lynch said Drawing Board would use the taproom as an opportunity to learn what works, what needs work and what visitors hope to see in the future.
“Our ‘beertenders,’ hopefully we’re going to have them explicitly being very involved in the customer experience, listening to what people have to say about the beer and soliciting feedback and listening to what people want to see here,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who say there are particular beers they don’t like to brew and I don’t understand that. We want to make beer that people are excited to drink.”
He added they hoped to have an entertainment license shortly thereafter and be able to offer performances by musicians and possibly open mic nights.
Lynch admitted the build-out has been “significantly slower” than expected. He noted throughout the process, however, the city – namely its License Commission – has been a willing partner, something he has been grateful for.
“We hoped to be open last summer ahead of the colder weather, but we were held back a lot by material prices,” he said. “We’re financing all of this ourselves, so we really had to make sure we got our finances in order and all the materials at a reasonable cost.”
While they are building what they can on their own, there are aspects to the build-out that require the experience – and licensed – hands of a contractor and availability has also been a hurdle, Lynch added.
In the meantime, the outdoor pouring events have allowed the public to gain a greater appreciation for the products and the people behind them, which Lynch said has been a significant benefit to their goal of being part of the neighborhood.
“We had a number of those over the summer and each of them was more popular than the last,” he said. “We had our last one when we released our Irish stout the day before St. Patrick’s Day. That was an absolutely miserable day weather-wise, however, it was one of our most popular days, so to see that people are willing to come out and brave the bad weather and still enjoy a couple of beers gives us hope for the future.”
The brewery has two patio events scheduled for this month – April 16 and 30.
Drawing Board has also opened a couple new draft accounts in Northampton, making their beer now available at The Dirty Truth and Marigold Theater and he said it has been well-received in those locations.
Building materials are not the only aspect of the brewery that have seen price increases. Some expenses related to the ingredients needed to make their beer have also been subject to inflation, namely freight costs, but that, Lynch said, has had some unexpected benefits.
“We’re actually seeing it as an opportunity. It’s really forcing us to sort of re-hone some of our recipes to work more with Valley Malt [in Hadley] or Four Star Farms [in Northfield] with their hop products,” he said. “They’re local products that come at a premium price because they’re small batches, but now with the cost of freight and being able to pick it up locally, it kind of evens out, so we can work with a superior product for about the same cost.”
Drawing Board has “at least 20 concepts in the works,” according to Lynch, including an upcoming hibiscus saison. “You can find something different every time you come. That has always been our goal when we started going small. We can really pump through the different styles,” he said.
That said, there are some beers they are considering making on a larger scale, including possibly contract brewing, including their dark Czech lager, which Lynch admitted was a surprising success.
To check in on Drawing Board’s progress, new products and future events, visit their social media accounts on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DrawingBoardBrewingCompany), Twitter (@DrawBoardBrewCo) and Instagram (@drawingboardbrewingco). Lynch added they also have a growing TikTok presence, a new development he called “a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, another Florence-based brewery, Little Willow, is realizing its own steady growth as it approaches its first anniversary. It was in May 2021 that Little Willow first hit the market and while its own brick and mortar brewery might be in the cards eventually, owner Kyle Hume said he’s enjoying the success his brand is seeing as well as his own development as a brewer.
“I have production right now between once every three or four weeks, so basically I’m putting out a beer once a month, which has been a lot of fun and I’m learning a lot,” he said. “I’m digging deeper into the science side and figuring little things out … It’s pretty rewarding when you finally see things locked in.”
IPAs remain Little Willow’s bread and butter and Hume said he feels they are “just getting better and better.” The newest offering is Magic Spells, a double dry-hopped New England IPA brewed exclusively with Mosiaic hops and a new yeast strain Hume said he was excited about.
With that said, having recently changed operations through which he contract brews his beers, Hume said he’s been able to branch out, having recently brewed his first commercial stout and planning a series of sours to be release this summer. He also recently released a popular collaboration beer with Seven Saws Brewing in Holden.
“That was just a blast,” he said of the collaboration. “I’m definitely going to do more of those in the future. I’ve got two places that I’m talking with that I’d love to do some collabs with.”
Hume said while singlehandedly managing all aspects of a brewing company – from the recipe creation and research to label design to finance – can be daunting, he feels the company has hit its stride and has a certain rhythm to it that allows him to continue enjoying the work.
“I really love all this stuff and I genuinely get excited,” he said. “I was worried it would become something else and I’d have to worry about this other [stuff] so much that I’m not going to enjoy things we as homebrewers are able to enjoy, which is the creation and experimentation. But now that things are flowing a little bit, I’m able to go back to that … It’s cool to be back in the creative laboratory again.”
Making the efforts even more fulfilling, Hume added, is seeing people enjoy the product, which often doesn’t stay on the shelf for more than a week.
“Reaction has been outstanding. Batches are still selling within one to four days,” he said. “The hype is still there. It hasn’t died down, which is amazing. There are so many breweries – so many great breweries doing crazy things out there – and to still be able to draw customer attention is pretty sweet.”
For more information on Little Willow Brewing, visit their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/littlewillowbrewing, and Instagram at @littlewillowbrewing.
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