Four Phantoms Brewing moves into former Lefty’s location

Date: 12/1/2021

GREENFIELD – Drew Phillips and Jennifer Hall would love for you to come have a beer in their new living room, in a manner of speaking.

The couple recently opened the doors to Four Phantoms Brewing Co.’s new brick and mortar brewery at the space formerly occupied by Lefty’s Brewing Co. in Greenfield. The brewery, named in part in honor of the mercurial nature of the four seasons, started off as a contract brewing operation from their Easthampton home in 2019.  

Sitting in the bustling taproom on a stormy November Saturday, Phillips told Reminder Publishing creating a comfortable and inviting atmosphere with beer to match was the goal. Looking around, he said he felt they had achieved that.

“This should feel like the neighborhood’s living room. You come in here, you meet your neighbors, the folks you work with in kind of that traditional pub style,” he said, explaining the brewery’s focus would be on easy-drinking beers with a clean profile. “Lagers are going to be a big hallmark of our space – lagers and session beer from the German and British tradition. Easy drinking, low alcohol content – things you can come and have pints with your neighbors. We really want to cultivate that in our taproom atmosphere.”

He added, “The cliché is there are beers you talk about and there are beers to talk over. We definitely want to have some beers that people talk about but want to have some beers that are easy drinking, so people can kind of juice the conversation a little bit and have that family style atmosphere.”

The space they now occupy has deep roots in the Pioneer Valley’s craft beer scene. Lefty’s Brewing Co. was a staple in Greenfield for nearly a decade starting when Bill and Melissa Goldfarb moved into the Wells Street location in 2011 and remaining there until it announced its closure in 2019, citing family reasons.

The road to opening its own space has not been an easy one, however, Phillips admitted. Having started out contract brewing through Brewmasters Brewing Services in Williamsburg, the couple began exploring the real estate market just before the height of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing them to pause their search. But when the calendar turned, Drew said he knew the Wells Street property would become available and decided to move on it.

“A lot of people were sad, obviously, that Lefty’s hung it up, so we figured the trails leading to 301 Wells St. were well-worn thanks to their presence here and it would be great to bring brewing back into the place,” he said.

The space also had the benefit of some already established brewery infrastructure, making some aspects of the build out a bit easier and less costly.

“One of the most expensive parts of building out a brewery is installing the trench drains in the floor and we didn’t have to do anything like that,” he said. “Pretty much everything else was pretty rough around the edges here. It took a lot of work to get the tap room looking the way it is and things like that. Just coming into the space, we knew it had a lot of potential. “

Even before the taproom opened, Phillips said Four Phantoms began drawing interest from Greenfield neighbors and the surrounding craft beer community.

“It’s been great. We hit the usual construction delays and things like that so during the summer; we finally got our farmer brewer’s license and we were just selling take-away out in the parking lot while the space was under construction, so we got to meet a lot of neighbors that way,” he said. “Some folks came by regularly and bought our taproom memberships before we were even open. The city and the neighborhood have been extremely supportive. It’s been great to meet our neighbors and feel that enthusiasm and support – that feeling that a community is behind you.”

While appreciative, Phillips added the response was not at all surprising. As someone who had moved around the country – “I wouldn’t say I’m really from anywhere” – he explained he fell in love with Greenfield and the local beer scene back when Hall, who attended Hampshire College, was working as a baker for what’s now known as Bonnie B’s. After her early-morning shift, the two would go up the road to the iconic People’s Pint brewpub.

“That was the first homegrown Western Mass. beer I ever had and I just thought the town of Greenfield was unlike any place I had been to before,” Phillips said. “When we were thinking about opening up our own operation, we were living in Portland, OR, at the time, and it just kind of clicked. We came back to visit one October and said, ‘This is it. This is where we need to move and put down roots.’”

Those roots will soon include a new home just a 20-minute walk to the brewery. “It’s going to cut down on my commute considerably,” Phillips laughed.

Now operating its own 7-barrel system, Four Phantoms is learning to adjust its offerings to meet the interests of both the retail market – its beers are distributed throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island by Homegrown Distribution – and its taproom visitors. That, Phillips said, has been an interesting exercise in the company’s shift from contract brewing to self-sufficiency.

“The distribution game is funny, especially when you’re packaging with cans and selling to places that sell off-premises like package stores and things like that. You have to be mindful of what’s going to move. So you can’t necessarily brew your favorite things. If you’re brewing almost 800 gallons of beer, it’s got to go to a package store in the Berkshires and we’re a relatively newer brand compared to some stallwarts in this area, you have to brew something that’s going to stand out and is going to move off the shelves,” he said. “So we just kind of stuck to bread and butter styles that we knew would move, that would hopefully catch some eyes – double IPAs, imperial stouts, fruited sours and things like that.

“I love those beers; there’s nothing against them, it’s just not necessarily what I’m passionate about. So when established here, I could make a 5 percent Irish stout, I could make a pale ale with rye malt, have time to make a Helles lager – things that might not have the same traction out in the market in terms of can sales. But when you operate in a pub environment and people are coming to your house to try things, it’s a little bit of a different setting. And then you also have to try to cultivate a feel for the taproom that suits those beers too.”

Four Phantoms will regularly announce releases, promotions and upcoming events through its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/fourphantomsbrewing.

“We’re just very much looking forward to having folks come by,” Phillips said, adding he was looking forward to pop-ups with local food vendors as well as festivities and partnerships with music venues.

More information can also be found at https://www.fourphantoms.net.