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Date: 6/30/2021
WESTHAMPTON – During a June 14 public hearing, the Westhampton Selectboard officially approved a license that extends the public and private hours for Outlook Farm Winery & Brewery on 136 Main Rd.
An application from the farm was submitted for Farmer Brewery and Winery Pouring Permits to be issued for use at Outlook Farm. The applicants wanted to extend hours for the Winery & Brewery to better coincide with the operating hours of Outlook Farm Barn & Eatery.
After much discussion over the course of two public hearings in two weeks, the Selectboard and abutters ultimately approved the license with specific conditions. Public hours for the winery & brewery are now 3 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 12 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Private functions will now be allowed at the establishment from May 1 to Oct. 31, 12 to 9 p.m. with a maximum number of two events per month. A description of those events must be sent to the abutters and Selectboard prior to the events. Parking for those events must be on-site.
Lastly, all products must be produced by Outlook Wine and Brewery and stay within the boundaries of the plan of tasting area.
According to Jeffrey Morse, a general partner of Outlook, the process for allowing a farmer brewery and winery pouring permit officially began around four or five years ago. Westhampton does not have a liquor license because it is a dry town, so the farm had to obtain permission from the state to make their own product, sell it on the farm’s premises to go, and then sell it wholesale.
“We have been doing that for a year or two when we went to get the Farmer Series Pour Permit,” said Morse, when describing the process. The Farmer Series Pour Permit is a state license that must be annually renewed and needs the approval of the town.
At the time of when the farm started this process, the town could not approve the permit because they did not have a liquor license to give. “We at the time had to go get our state legislator to support us,” said Morse, who added that the state had to create a law within an economic development package. The town needed to have a vote on the new law when it first came out around three or four years ago.
“We had very limited hours because we didn’t know what we wanted to do, and there was so much pushback,” said Morse. “We just wanted to get the approval and get some weekend hours.”
Once they got approved for that, Outlook wanted to add hours for private events on weekends, like weddings, rehearsal dinners, birthday parties, etc. They did have hours approved on weekends for that.
According to Morse, their license to pour was cancelled last year after the town reportedly missed the license filing that the state sends over every year for renewal.
“Now we realized we wanted to extend those hours a little bit,” said Morse. “We want to extend them on Saturdays into the evenings so we can have evening shows and dinner shows…but we also wanted to be open for noon at lunchtime.”
With the extended hours, Morse said that the farm can provide food service, and allow people to hang out at their picnic tables during times when they are grilling.
“We want to extend those hours since we’re at the renewal stage,” said Morse. Originally, the farm tried to have hours on Friday, but due to a limited outcome, they stopped doing that. With the new 3 to 7 p.m. time frame on Fridays, Morse said that the farm will try to do more wine pairings and reservation-type events.
The farm has still been doing their festival events, specifically their pig roast, but Morse said that they will be even more proactive once the state approves the license. As of press time, the farm was hoping that the license would be approved by the June 26 weekend.
During the public hearing, the abutters were concerned about allowing alcohol to be served for a long period of time, but Morse emphasized the fact that Outlook is not a bar.
“We still fight the image that people want to paint us as a bar,” said Morse. “It’s not a bar…it’s an outdoor venue. Winery/brewery is the image we want to portray. The average person is only staying and hour to an hour and a half.”
Back in 2017, the Selectboard approved the farmer pouring license application submitted by Outlook with restrictions. At that time, public hours between Nov. 1 and April 30 were from 3 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 12 to 3 p.m. on Sundays. From May 1 to Oct. 31, public hours were 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 12 to 3 p.m. on Sundays. Private hours were 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays from May 1 to Oct. 31.
A copy of the updated plan and conditions will be available on file at the Westhampton town office.
The Outlook is Farm Barn & Eatery is open every day from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit their website at https://outlookfarm.com.