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Date: 8/9/2018
CHICOPEE – The location for the newest craft brewery in the region is ripe with beer history. The two owners of Leadfoot Brewing are renovating a building that is part of the complex that once produced Hampden Brewing and later Piels Beer.
Standing in the building that had been built in 1961 as a can and bottle storage facility, Leadfoot co-owner Jeff Thibodeau pointed out how the 5,200 square foot space will be used.
Beer has been part of this Chicopee neighborhood from 1894 when Hampden Brewery started producing beer to 1975 when Piels stopped production.
As electricians were installing wiring, Thibodeau noted where the tanks would be installed, as well as a taproom that will include items recalling the history of the site.
For Thibodeau and his partner Pat Randall, the brewery is a dream that is finally becoming a reality.
“It took us almost five years to find a space,” he said. The partners looked for a building with high ceilings and concrete floors that was large enough for a 30-barrel brewing system. They are also planning to add a deck to their building.
Randall is a mechanical engineer and Thibodeau has experience both in sales and as a professional baseball umpire. Thibodeau is also the home brewer of the pair. Both men are South Hadley residents.
It was his baseball that ultimately led him to the brewery. In 1993, Thibodeau was in the Prague in the Czech Republic conducting a baseball clinic. There he was introduced to Czech pilsner that made a lasting impression on him.
With the idea of having a brewery, Thibodeau sought to reproduce as the best as he could the pilsner. He explained that because it has to be in a tank for six to eight weeks it is not a common beer for crafter breweries to produce.
The pair wants to stick to the German beer purity rules that limit the number of ingredients. Besides the pilsner, they plan to brew a lager and an IPA.
The signature pilsner beer will feature Munich and Vienna Malt, along with Saaz Hops. The IPA will have all of the ingredients locally sourced in the region. The lager will be like “old style American Lagers.”
The brewery has been designed to lower its carbon footprint and to decrease wastewater, Thibodeau explained. Citrus-based cleaners will be used to clean the equipment.
The plans are to have the first beer ready for consumption in October and the brewery will be focusing on supplying kegs to restaurants and bars.
“We’re not going to can right away,” Thibodeau added.
He praised the city as having been “phenomenal” in cooperating with the partners in bringing the brewery in Chicopee. The last time beer was brewed professionally in the city was in 1975 when Piels closed this location.
Thibodeau said that he and Randall debated for a long time what to name their operation. He said the partners initially wanted a name to reflect their parents and then perhaps to refer to the history of the site.
“Nothing seemed right,” Thibodeau said. He recalled with a laugh he finally told Randall they should name the brewery after his driving habits.
For more information, go to www.leadfootbrewing.com.