USA, OR: Concentric Brewing could soon be brewing in Portland

Something’s brewing in Portland - or it soon could be, the Middletown Press reported on January 5.

Three local men hope to open the town’s first brewery later this year in a rented warehouse space in the town’s industrial park.

More than just a brewery, the three principles behind Concentric Brewing also hope to include a brewpub and seasonal beer garden in space on the Promold Plastics campus at 91 Main St.

The idea of bringing a brewery to Portland caused the Planning and Zoning Commission to re-examine its regulations and then change them to permit a brewery and allow food trucks to operate in town.

Town officials welcomed the idea of a brewery opening in town.

“We’re very excited” about the news, said Mary D. Dickerson, the town’s economic development coordinator.

She has worked with Concentrics’s principles since late September to make sure they can find a home in Portland.

The new 5,000-square-foot site is especially well located, she suggested.

“It’s a walkable distance from Brainerd Place,” the mixed-use development beginning construction on the old Elmcrest Hospital property, Dickerson said.

David Peichert, one of the principles of Concentric, said he and his partners “are shooting for 2020 opening.”

“It’s a very aggressive goal,” Peichert acknowledged. “But we’re committed to making it work.”

“We’ve really been looking to locate in Central Connecticut for quite a while,” Peichert said.

He had previously hoped to open a brewery in Berlin in 2017, but that arrangement fell through.

Since then he and his partners, Brian Aida and Drew France, explored options in Middletown before turning to Portland, where they found the space that “met both our needs and our requirements,” he said.

The three partners are members of the Middlesex Malters Homebrew Club, which supports homebrewers in Central Connecticut.

The response from the town “has been really good,” Peichert said, adding that the Economic Development Commission “was full of encouragement.”

The brewing equipment is currently being hand-made, which is usually a four- to five-month process, Peichert said.

He and his partners will use that interlude to “do some modifications” in the warehouse.

“We intend to use best quality, locally sourced ingredients” as much as possible, Peichert said.

Connecticut is in the midst of a boom in artisanal brewing.

As of last month, there are now more than 100 breweries operating in Connecticut, according to a listing of Connecticut Brewers Guild, with another 20 or so in various stages of development.

In addition to offering another dining option for residents, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said there a number of other reasons to welcome Concentric to town.

“They will be using our town services, including water and sewer,” she said.

The planning commission’s decision to modify its regulations to allow food trucks in town is an added plus, she said.

“This is a good thing for our residents,” Bransfield said.

“I think this is a wonderful location, and we’re looking forward to their opening,” Bransfield said, adding “I say to them as I say to every new business that wants to come to town, ‘Welcome to Portland.’”

For her part, Dickerson said she’d love to see the brewery open by July so residents could sit outside and enjoy Middletown’s fireworks display over the Connecticut River.

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