Brewmaster of the Westfield River Brewing Company, Sergio Bonavita, pours one of the newest homemade beers at their new location at 707 College Highway in Southwick. The business is located inside the former Chucks Steak House. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – Customers poured into the Westfield River Brewing Co. and Skyline Hop Shop when its doors officially opened for business Wednesday.
Westfield River Brewing Co. (WRB) owner Sergio Bonavita has been through opening days before and took it all in stride but he wasn’t expecting the crowd that flowed in throughout the afternoon on a soft opening day.
“I’ve spent the last two months locked up in here making beer,” said Bonavita.
Craft beers were plentiful at WRB, with 10 taps offering a variety of brews, nine of which Bonavita brewed himself. One guest tap featured a beer from Staten Island, New York, while others taps offered WRB favorites such as Charlie In the Rye and its Pale Ale.
Chef Dan Osella and Brewmaster Lisa Pac, from the Skyline Hop Shop at 707 College Highway in Southwick, celebrated their grand opening with the Westfield River Brewing Company, Wednesday. The hop shop and brewery are located inside the former Chuck’s Steak House. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
New offerings included Humble Pie, a very light apple cider beer brewed with cider from Bashista Orchards in Southampton. Big Red Barn, named for WRB’s new home, was made especially for the opening, and a Coffee Stout should give coffee and beer lovers something to get excited about.
“It’s a cold brewed coffee blended with milk stout,” Bonavita said.
For Bonavita, opening day is just the beginning, especially now that WRB is becoming a much more public place. In its previous Westfield location, WRB was a bit off the beaten path and was open for tastings and take-out with more limited hours than when it is open now. WRB is open Wednesday thorugh Saturday from 12-8 p.m. and Sundays from 12-4 p.m. for consumption at the bar. Purchasing cans of beer and filling growlers can be done any time Bonavita is on-site, which he said is almost daily starting in the morning.
The new WRB also has the addition of the Skyline Hop Shop, a home brewer’s supply shop and an in-house restaurant, owned by shop partners Lisa Pac and Daniel Osella.
Osella, a trained chef, created a simple pub menu featuring as many locally grown, fresh ingredients as possible. He also owns a hot dog cart, which will be available on-site when weather permits.
The menu includes a variety of grilled cheese and hot dog options that are not your average weiners and sandwiches. Osella bakes his own fresh bread and uses toppings such as WRB Octoberfest Honey Mustard, pickled red onions, and sriracha on his hot dogs. Grilled cheese can be as simple as cheddar on white bread, or include bacon and sliced apples, or fried egg and bacon.
Osella makes homemade pretzels available plain and buttery or with cinnamon and sugar, cheese and jalapeno, or cheese and bacon.
Beef, chicken and vegetarian chili are on the menu, as well as a chipotle chicken salad sandwich, buffalo chicken pasta salad, and an array of munchies.
While Osella creates fresh, simple food, Pac keeps the shop stocked with everything a home brewer needs. From complete starter kits to hops, wheat, brushes and bottles, Skyline Hop Shop offers a large variety of items in a rustic, natural setting inside the barn.
Pac has been brewing her own craft beers for nearly a decade and decided to turn her hobby into a career. She spent the last four months making her dream come true with help from her husband Ben and many family members and friends who helped her and Osella create the perfect atmosphere in the shop.
“Dan and I have been tossing this idea around for years,” said Pac. “We started talking to Sergio and it all worked out.”
Pac prefers dark, hoppy beer herself, but enjoys a variety of flavors and plans to expand her shop to include wine making and moonshine supplies.
Home brewer Bill Harry of Palmer stopped by the shop Wednesday before it was even open and purchased several pounds of hops. Harry said he was impressed with the shop and the WRB and planned to return with his wife – also his brewing partner – for beer samples and lunch this weekend.
“Being a home brewer doesn’t mean we don’t like to go out and drink beer,” said Harry. “It inspires us to try new brews at home.”
Harry said Pac had a great shop and he planned to become a regular customer.
Located in the iconic red barn at 707 College Highway, the new home of WRB is best known as the former Chuck’s Steak House.
Bonavita restored the barn to its roots. He used reclaimed wood from other parts of the barn to finish a wall in the bar and brought the dark red color of the exterior inside. Mixed with natural wood tones, the deep red walls and blue chairs and bar stools give the historic space a modern update. A large screen television, fireplace, and large wood bar complete the relaxed atmosphere of WRB.
Beer can be purchased to take home in six packs and 12 packs, or 32-ounce and 64-ounce growlers can be filled and taken home. WRB offers six-ounce glasses and pints, and a beer sampler featuring four six-ounce samples of your choice for $10.
For more information, visit westfieldriverbrewing.com, or like them and Skline Hop Shop on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts regulators are investigating whether beer distributors, breweries and retailers are violating the law by paying to have certain brands sold in bars and at liquor stores, while at the same time shutting out rivals.
Investigators for the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission have issued subpoenas to several breweries, distributors and retailers for records to determine whether they are paying for, or demanding payments for, access to taps and shelf space, according to a story Friday in The Boston Globe.
The practice, known as pay-to-play, is illegal under state and federal laws.
“We’re looking at any and all forms of inducements,” said Frederick Mahoney, chief investigator for ABCC. “This is ongoing, and this may not stop here.”
He refused to identify which companies were under investigation.
Inducements can take several forms, including paying bars, restaurants and retailers to stock particular beers while keeping out competitors, or through gifts, including expensive bar equipment.
A spokesman for Treasurer Steven Grossman, who oversees the ABCC, said the agency was prepared to take “strong corrective measures” against any company that violates the state’s liquor control laws. Punishment could range from warnings to suspension of a company’s liquor license to revocation.
An industry group, The Beer Distributors of Massachusetts, acknowledged some of its members have received records requests.
Those members “cooperated with the ABCC investigators, provided this information and will … continue to cooperate and respond in a timely manner,” President Bill Kelley said.
One brewer who received a subpoena, Chris Tkach of Idle Hands Craft Ales LLC in Everett, said investigators mostly asked him general questions about pay-to-play and did not indicate why he received a subpoena.
He said his company has never paid to have his beer stocked, nor has it been asked for payment. He did say that one bar owner told him he could no longer stock Idle Hands products because a competitor had bought the bar new tap equipment that had to be reserved for that company’s brews.
Harpoon Brewery of Boston and Yuengling Brewery of Pennsylvania said they provided the ABCC with requested information. Both breweries said they did not engage in pay-to-play practices.
The two largest breweries in the country, Budweiser parent Anheuser-Busch InBev, and MillerCoors, said they had not received requests from ABCC.
