Q&A: Brewing on the Quabbin
Photo | Sloan M. Perron
Bruce McDowell joined Lost Towns Brewing in February as head brewer.
Lost Towns Brewing in Gilbertville, a village of Hardwick, is getting into the groove of things after first opening in 2018 and facing pandemic challenges shortly thereafter. Open Fridays and weekends and frequently hosting live music, the brewery plans to soon nearly double its seating capacity with the addition of a new outdoor beer garden. Head brewer and part-owner Bruce McDowell, who joined the team in February, spoke with WBJ about these plans and more.
How did Lost Towns Brewing come to be?
The backstory is Lost Towns Brewing opened in December of 2018. The original venture was done by three partners. The brewery opened in 2018 and continued operations through 2019 and then, obviously, COVID happened. And during COVID, the brewery tried to be open sporadically after, basically, the world shut down. They tried to do what they could to stay open.
The brewery essentially went into hibernation in August of last year. So while it was in hibernation, two of the three owners, due to personal reasons, stepped away from the business, leaving Jim and Pam Spurrell at a crossroads with what to do with the brewery. They loved the brewery, loved the community, and wanted to keep it going. They approached me in January of this year to come in as part owner as well as the head brewer, beginning in February, and we started brewing beer again that month. We opened our taproom again in April.
What’s the story behind the name?
It’s in reference to the four towns lost when the Quabbin Reservoir was created. That’s how the name came to be: It’s an homage to the four lost towns. Our logo depicts that. If you look at it closely, you see the water, and you see the top of a barn with a weathervane sticking out of the Quabbin.
How would you describe LTB’s vibe?
The vibe is very low key. We try to have a very low-key, very quaint, personalized environment. It's a very small location; we can only seat about 49 people in the taproom. We’re very family-oriented. We’re dog-friendly. That's the brewery we want to be; we don’t want to be like some of the other breweries out there. We want to be the kind of place where everybody knows your name, where you come in and have conversations with the staff.
How can people access your beer?
We have the taproom. We’re open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We distribute straight out of the taproom, so we not only serve draft, we sell cans and growlers. We have limited distribution, including an agreement with Kappy’s Fine Wine & Spirits in Fitchburg. We have our cans at a local restaurant in Barre called Pie Town, as well as Ye Olde Tavern in West Brookfield.
Do you specialize in any type of beer?
Not really. We like to be sure we have a wide variety of beer on tap because we want to be sure to cater to all audiences. We don't want to just be the IPA place. We don’t want to just be the stout place. We have everything currently from a blonde ale to a blueberry to an Oktoberfest, and a couple IPAs.
Why was Gilbertville/Hardwick the right place to set up shop?
The previous owners actually owned a farm out in Gilbertville/Hardwick. They were farmers.
Are there any new or exciting plans for the business?
One big thing we are doing – and it should be hopefully ready in a couple weeks – we’ve actually created a permanent outdoor space to increase our capacity by about 40 seats. We’re really looking forward to that because it’s going to have a nice beer-garden-type feel to it. We’re going to have wine-barrel seatings, adirondacks, and hopefully put in some heating so we can extend the outdoor seating. People who want to keep up with us should follow us on Facebook and Instagram, because our marketing right now is all word of mouth.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Senior Staff Writer Monica Benevides.
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Great brewery with a great vibe. Well worth the trip!
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