Portsmouth Brewery working to reopen after catastrophic flooding from broken pipe

PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Brewery, New Hampshire’s first brewpub, is facing several months of closure for cleanup and renovations following a massive mid-June flood caused by a sprinkler pipe rupture inside the downtown building.

The flood, which occurred the night of June 17 as some brewery patrons were in the basement lounge and staff were in the building, began when a two-inch sprinkler pipe above the second-floor apartment’s ceiling broke, allowing thousands of gallons of water to flow out.

The inside of the brewery, including the basement bar, has since been gutted in the aftermath of the incident, with floors, walls and the business’ tin ceiling torn off as contractors clean ahead of renovations.

“It’s hard, I have to be honest,” said Peter Egelston, who is co-founder of the Market Street bar and restaurant with his partner, Joanne Francis. “We’ve been here entertaining guests for 32 years and, other than the long shutdown we had during the pandemic, we have been open constantly during that time. This place over the years has become a real well-established and, I think fair to say, well-loved business in town. To see it all torn apart like this is a bit heartbreaking.”

Thousands of gallons per minute flooded brewery

The brewery’s co-founders and general manager Jeff Hames said responding fire crews estimated 1,200 to 1,400 gallons of water per minute were gushing out of the pipe during the incident. Responders intervened, and by the time the burst ended about 15 to 20 minutes later, thousands of gallons of water had flooded the building, seeping from floor to floor before landing in the basement. Leaving bar tabs open and credit cards inside, patrons were evacuated by staff as the Portsmouth Fire Department arrived.

Egelston and Francis were at home when they were notified of a pressure drop in the building’s upstairs sprinkler system. A friend who was temporarily residing in the building’s second-level apartment called Francis to notify her of the burst. Then Egelston received a call from an on-shift manager of the brewery.

Fifteen minutes later, the two were at their business, watching as water uncontrollably flowed through the brewery while rain poured outside.

“The water that came out of the pipe created literally a water slide going down the stairs here,” Francis said.

Still months more of cleanup and renovations

When the rupture ended, a few inches of water coated the brewery’s dining room floor. Servpro began working to clean up the mess the next day, a weeks-long process still ongoing that Egelston estimated could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars alone prior to renovations.

Though Egelston noted the business is in the home stretch of Servpro’s cleanup, timeline estimates for reconstruction mean the brewery’s reopening could be pushed back to Christmastime at the earliest, or even after the new year.

In the days after the flood, holes were cut into the ceiling, which had bowed down under the weight of the flood, and torrents of additional water flowed down into the brewery.

“It was like it happened all over again,” said Hames.

The three sat in a back room behind the brewery’s small retail store in the building next door while discussing the incident and the prevention of mold growth, regardless of the impact such mitigation can have on a business.

“It truly is important to take out all the offending walls and boards,” Francis said. “Sadly, we really hung on for a long time thinking the ceiling could be saved.”

Look of iconic brewery will not change

A new tin ceiling will be installed, with Hames stating that other potential renovations, such as slightly moving the upstairs bar to leave more room for employees working behind it, would address functionality for staff.

Brewery patrons have no need to worry about major changes to the atmosphere of the staple brick bar, however.

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“We really like the look and the feel of the place. We really don’t want to change that,” Hames said. “It’s a big part of our identity.”

Insurance covering worker pay during clean and rehab

Insurance for the brewery is paying the brewery’s roughly 45 staffers, some of whom are working occasional shifts at the brewery’s retail store in teams of two. A staff barbecue has been planned to take place soon on Four Tree Island, an opportunity for the entire team to spend time with one another in the wake of the longtime business’ temporary closure.

Craig Hannon, bar manager of the brewery, finished his shift roughly an hour before the pipe burst and the flood occurred. As the alarms sounded, he was still inside the building, sipping a beer and talking with old friends in the basement, and Hannon advised the manager on duty to begin evacuating all customers.

Double checking the business to ensure no patrons were still indoors as the Fire Department approached, Hannon witnessed the first few minutes of the flood.

“I was walking through and I saw all the water coming down by the vents at the end of the bar. I’ve seen from drips in here before, but never anything like that,” he said. “It was pouring down, and then when we were outside the front while the Fire Department was coming, we just saw water streaming down the front windows and front door.”

In just 20 minutes, everything changed

The brewery’s co-founders did not give an estimate for how much the reconstruction of the business could cost. Francis and Egelston did, however, express gratitude for the warm wishes given by local Portsmouth Brewery lovers and patrons who live beyond the Seacoast and stop at the business once a year during trips.

“It’s just amazing in the span of 20 minutes how much can change,” Egelston said.

The brewery celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021, kicking off in June of that year with a party headlined by Gov. Chris Sununu, who manned the bar at points and served up original beers to guests.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth Brewery working hard to reopen flooding from burst pipe