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What could be more appealing in the cold winter months than grabbing a great-tasting beer and kicking back around a toasty, wood-burning fireplace? How about creating a locally brewed beer and surrounding yourself with friends in the new Harpoon Riverbend Taps and Beer Garden in Windsor, Vermont? Built by Trumbull-Nelson, the additional retail space and inviting tasting room feature a free-standing fireplace and warm-wood finish to create a cozy place to enjoy Harpoon’s products. This new and expanded space gives Windsor residents and visitors alike a year-round incentive to visit the manufacturing brewery and enjoy all that it has to offer.
“We have always used our breweries, both the one in Boston as well as the one here in Windsor, as the anchor of our marketing efforts, so setting it up so that people feel comfortable and want to visit us is an absolute priority for us at Harpoon,” said Dan Kenary, president and co-founder.
"All the buildings are energy-star certified, and very efficient."
While the Harpoon Brewery already had an attractive outdoor beer garden that seats 100 in the warm months, their interior spaces were not yet as attractive. “We have created this wonderful venue outside in the beer garden for the warmer weather months, and decided we really needed to do something to make it as inviting during the colder months, which is a big part of the year up here. This is something we are trying to do with the new Riverbend Taps,” said Kenary.
The Project, which involved renovating an existing 1,600 square feet and adding another 1,800 square feet, doubled the restaurant’s seating capacity. It is something that Harpoon has been planning since it took over the Catamount Brewery in Windsor in 2000. In fact, General Manager Steve Miller said the plans date back to Catamount's own years there. “They had built out only half of the planned retail space,” he noted. The remaining space had been used for storage, with plans to eventually convert it to a dining/bar area.
Harpoon began discussions last year with architect Nick Winton of Anmahian-Winton in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then selected Trumbull-Nelson Construction Company as construction manager to begin the expansion and renovation project that would take Harpoon's dining and retail experience to the next level. “We have developed the business to the point where we can justify the expansion,” said Miller.
Wecoming Guests
Indeed, Harpoon Brewery is a success story, having grown and expanded in its 22 years of existence. In 1986, Harpoon started its first brewery at 306 Northern Avenue in Boston, receiving the first permit to be issued in 25 years by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to brew and package beer commercially. Although the company has expanded over the years, it still retains its original Boston location. By the summer of 2000, Harpoon had reached capacity in Boston and thus, seized the opportunity to purchase the Catamount Brewery in Windsor, Vermont.
Today, Harpoon maintains a full manufacturing facility in Windsor, where 45 percent of its total beer is brewed. Harpoon Brewery is now the 10th-largest craft brewer in the country “with award-winning beer up and down the line of our product portfolio,” said Kenary.
Harpoon’s slogan of Love Beer, Love Life, has always led them to want to deliver not only a great product, but a great experience when people taste their product. So when people visit the brewery, they want them to be comfortable and for the visit to enrich their relationship with the brand. “That's something our founders have tried to accomplish since day one,” said Miller, and certainly the new project is part of that.
Harpoon’s interests extend beyond their business to sponsoring charity events and hosting a number of events that involve the greater public. These include a summer barbecue cook-off called The Harpoon Championship of New England Barbecue and the popular Octoberfest, both taking place at the Windsor facility. These two events combined attract 10,000 people. Harpoon estimates that regular tours of the facility, the beer garden, and now the new pub attract an additional 10,000 people, accounting for well over 20,000 visitors a year.
"People can drink a beer, have half a sandwich, and watch the bottles come flying by."
Certainly, like most tourist-friendly, retail establishments in the state, Harpoon sees its greatest traffic during peak summer and fall months, boosted by Harpoon’s festivals. Yet local support plays an important role in the brewery's success. “We’ve developed a solid local following over the past eight years,” said Miller.
Many Windsor residents volunteer and work during the festivals, as well as dropping by regularly to buy beer and visit the facility's outside beer garden in the summer. Harpoon also runs a customer loyalty program, Friends of Harpoon, that invites qualified customers to attend release parties whenever a new beer is released. “We get an average of about 80 people coming to these events,” said Miller.
The hope is that the new venue will only increase foot traffic to Harpoon.
Tying it all Together
To accomplish its goal of creating an enticing, year-round dining experience, Harpoon decided to use the idea of a ski lodge as a model. “We chose a fireplace in the round so that people can come in and sit around it. There is that feel of a ski lodge at the end of the day without the overwhelming crowds and the noise and the clutter. We wanted to give people a place to sit and experience the beauty of the outside, feel comfortable, and have a great beer,” said Kenary.
In order to create great views, a lot of glass was used in the project. “It has brought a lot of light into the facility,” said Ed Friedman, project manager for Trumbull-Nelson.
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows between the retail and pub area and the brewery offer visitors practically a front-row view of the production area. “People can drink a beer, have half a sandwich, and watch the bottles come flying by,” said Miller.
Additional glass windows on the west-facing wall provide a great view of the outdoors. “We wanted to tie in the beauty of the outside as much as we could,” said Kenary.
This meant not only creating impressive vantage points, but also incorporating the idea of Harpoon’s many outdoor activities and festivals, such as the charity bike races and Octoberfest into the interior décor. Harpoon accomplished this by hiring artist Julia Purinton of Medusa Studios in Ipswich, Massachusetts, who painted a mural depicting the brewery in its natural setting and capturing “the excitement and color” of these events, said Kenary.
The project relied on such unique material as native Vermont slate, and bamboo. The Vermont structural slate lines the entryways and the fireplace. The bamboo, chosen for its sustainability, was used on the ceilings, and floor, as well as on the 44-foot, L-shaped bar.
“Trumbull-Nelson had some of its best carpenters working on the bamboo product. A lot of craftsmanship went into the bar top and a lot of people can be really happy about it,” said Friedman.
Harpoon Brewery also wanted to remain true to certain European traditions and, accordingly, introduced the idea of a Brewer’s Table into their new layout. The Brewer’s Table, popular in Germany, is typically a high table where the brewer would traditionally have his meal. Harpoon incorporated this idea in the pub’s new design, asking Trumbull-Nelson to create a platform for a high-top table at one end of the room to accommodate a larger party of 12 to 14 people. The table is positioned under two custom-built lamps designed with Harpoon Brewery’s Windsor neighbor, glass blower Simon Pearce. One lamp features the symbols for water and barley, the other the symbols for yeast and hops—the four primary ingredients of beer.
Construction was completed in Fall 2008. Subcontractors on the project included electrician Steve Clover from Hamblet Electric in Keene, New Hampshire; flooring contractor Floormaster of Rutland, Vermont; painting contractor HomePartners of White River Junction, Vermont; and Dana O’Brien of Economy Plumbing and Heating in Keene, New Hampshire, who oversaw the plumbing, heating, and ventilating work.
Response to the facility has been overwhelmingly positive, said Miller. “It is a really inviting place to come in and sample our products. Our motto is ‘Love Beer, Love Life, Harpoon.’ If you come in and you see the production area and the beer bar with 24 draft lines and the 44-foot-long bar, that’s the love beer part. Then if you go toward the mural and the fireplace and this beautiful seating area, it’s more of the love life. This project really ties it altogether,” he said.
Harpoon Events Extend Their Goal of Loving Life
By Kim J. Gifford |
Nowhere is Harpoon’s Love Beer, Love Life Motto better represented than in the many popular events it holds each year. In Windsor, these events draw as many as 10,000 visitors to the brewery, many of them locals. Here is a list of upcoming Harpoon events in the Windsor area for 2009.
9th Annual Harpoon
BREWERY-TO-BREWERY RIDE
On June 20, 2009, experienced cyclists can take part in this approximately 149-mile ride, complete with over 7,800 feet of climbing, traveling from Harpoon’s Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts, north to its home in Windsor, Vermont. Participants must keep a pace of 16 miles per hour or faster.
Harpoon Championship
of New England BBQ
Scheduled for July 25 and 26, 2009, this barbecue contest brings 40 competing teams to Windsor, as well as fresh beer, BBQ, and live music for the public to enjoy.
8th Annual Harpoon
POINT-TO-POINT RIDE
This event consists of a day of bicycle rides to benefit the Vermont Foodbank. It will take place this year on August 15. The 110-mile ride will take cyclists from Williston to Windsor, the 50-mile ride will go from Bethel to Windsor, and the 25-mile ride will make a loop out and back from Harpoon’s Windsor location.
Harpoon OCTOBERFEST
Set aside October 2 & 3 and 10 & 11, 2009, to attend Harpoon Brewery’s homage to the traditional German Oktoberfest—its own festival of beer and great German music.
Annual Harpoon
OCTOBERFEST ROAD RACE
Like its name suggests, this foot race takes place Octoberfest Weekend at the Windsor Brewery. The date for this year is October 11. |
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