Cold Harbor Brewing Co. is expanding. Here's a look at their plans
WESTBOROUGH — When Cold Harbor Brewing Co. opened its doors at 108 Milk St. eight years ago, the brewing industry was a much different animal.
Taprooms could only sell beer to go, and space wasn't that important, Cold Harbor owner Will Oliveira said. But once the state began allowing breweries to sell pints and flights of beer in-house, things changed. Cold Harbor's taproom, which had just 30 seats — all outdoors — suddenly became too small.
"That really transformed the brewery landscape," said Oliveira. "I opened the brewery with a totally different idea, but thankfully we survived and thrived in a competitive beer market."
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Things are about to change again. Cold Harbor is poised to open a brand-new brewery two miles away, at 66 Otis St., providing much better modern amenities and plenty of cold beer, Oliveira said.
New Cold Harbor brewery to have more room for guests
The new brewery will have seating for 200 people indoors and another 70 outdoors, he said. The taproom is 3,000 square feet compared to the old facility's 400 square feet.
But the biggest change is that Cold Harbor will become a full-service restaurant, with a scratch menu (one in which all recipes, dishes and products are produced from raw ingredients), except for bread purchased at local bakeries.
The only items that will be frozen will be ice cream and French fries, Olivera said.
In addition, Cold Harbor will have a full drink menu, serving wine and cocktails along with its beers.
Oliveira said he brought on a top-notch group to work at the restaurant, including executive chef Nate Gardner, who worked at several Worcester restaurants and General Manager Nick Long from Peppers Artful Events in Northborough.
Outdoor amenities include live music, cornhole
Along with seating for 70 people, the outdoor space also incudes cornhole boards. Cold Harbor will also feature live music.
"In the area, there are some good restaurant choices — some really good choices — and I think we'll be a really good option for people," Oliveira said.
On the brewing side, Cold Harbor brought on former Jack's Abby's Craft Lagers head brewer Mike Gleason to be production manager.
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Cold Harbor will be able to produce four times as much beer
At the Milk Street location, Cold Harbor can produce a maximum of 1,400 barrels of beer (a barrel is 31 gallons) a year. In its new space, the brewery will be able to produce up to 6,000 barrels annually.
"We've been at capacity since 2018, so this is the perfect time," said Oliveira. "We'll easily go from 1,400 barrels to 3,000 barrels in the first year."
Additional capacity will lead to new beer styles
That, Oliveria said, will allow the brewery to expand the styles of beers it brews. He said a lot of the brewing capacity on Milk Street went to its popular New England-style IPAs, but the additional capacity of its new facility will allow it to brew many more styles, as well as have a dedicated nitro tap line for a stout.
The new Cold Harbor site is ready to go but company officials are waiting for final inspections from the town and the occupancy permit. They hope to open Saturday. Oliveira hopes Cold Harbor's fans will follow the brewery to its new space.
"It's a much different facility from the old Cold Harbor, and I hope we can bring out sense of community and what made people feel comfortable to our new space," he said.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMIllerCrime.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Cold Harbor Brewing Company planning restaurant for new location
