By Seth Daniel
Adding to the boom of breweries in Everett will soon be Down the Road Brewery, which got its Farmer’s Pouring License on Monday night from the Everett License Commission.
The license will allow the brewery and its owner, Donovan Bailey, to now have an official taproom similar to those already at Night Shift Brewery, Short Path Distillery and Bone Up Brewery. Down the Road, however, is down the road from the other breweries, having its location at 151 Bow St. in the Line neighborhood.
“We’re working on finishing up all of our construction and in six to eight weeks we should be open,” he said. “We would like to be open at the taproom in late April.”
The taproom will feature 200-plus seats and will have parking for at least 140 vehicles in two lots. It is expected to be around 2,800 sq. ft. in size – making it one of the larger taprooms in Everett.
Baily has been operating the brewery in Everett for a little over a year on Bow Street, mostly doing distribution of his products and contract brewing. However, unlike his comrades in the brewing business, he didn’t yet have a taproom. In the business, having a taproom is some of the best promotion available and serves as a place for people to congregate and enjoy fresh beer while getting to know the makers of the product.
“It was stalled for awhile, but we got some investors in recently and that accelerated the project,” he said.
An attorney representing him said they planned to really clean up the area on Bow Street, which currently has seen better days.
He also added that they have plenty of investors right now too, noting that the business has solid backing.
“We don’t need anymore investors,” he said. “That’s a good problem.”
Bailey said they plan to have their core beers on six to eight taps, but plan on 12 to 14 taps when it’s all completed.
They hope to have hired at least 15 to 25 employees within the next six months to run the taproom.
“Everett has been extremely good to us,” he said. “From ISD to the mayor to the Liquor License board, it’s been a great environment.”
Members of the License Commission welcomed Down the Road, and said the boom in brewery businesses and alcohol licenses has been great for Everett.
Member Phil Arloro noted that the taprooms bring great crowds to Everett, but it’s a more responsible drinking crowd. Few, if any, he said are going into a taproom to get overly intoxicated and cause problems.
Bailey and his business partners said they planned to be open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., but could come back to request a later closing. The license allows him to be open until 1 a.m.