Worcester's sixth brewery to open in Canal District ice center

Photo | Grant Welker The Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center

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By Zachary Comeau

Bay State Brewing Co., currently brewing out of production breweries in Williamsburg and Leicester, will open a 10-barrel brewhouse and taproom at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center later this year.

The brewery, established in 2012, will open in the space currently occupied by Nonna’s Pizza & Pasta, a Niche Hospitality Group concept on the first and second floors of the building. Construction is expected to begin in October with a two-tier opening process slated soon after, according to a press release from the Worcester Railers Hockey Club, which controls the building.

Shawn Rich, one of two partners at the brewery, said in a phone interview with WBJ the team considers Worcester it’s home base, as all three men live in Central Massachusetts.

Rich and co-owner Chip Jarry met through playing in a men’s hockey league. Opening the brewery in an ice rink fuses both of their passions together, Rich said.

“It wasn’t really planned this way, but it just kind of came up,” he said.

Worcester's five other breweries are Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. on Millbrook Street, Wormtown Brewery on Shrewsbury Street, 3Cross Fermentation Cooperative on Knowlton Avenue, Redemption Rock Brewing Co. on Shrewsbury Street and Flying Dreams Brewing Co. on Park Avenue.

The space will feature a 10-barrel brewing system to provide beer for the taproom, but the company plans to maintain its other production space to sustain its distribution business.

The brewery touts its flagship beer, Becky Likes The Smell, a double IPA, as well as other New England-style IPAs and lagers.

“I’m hoping this new location will allow us to do a little more, stretch our legs and get a little more creative,” he said.