By Seth Daniel
When the founders of Night Shift Brewery in Everett took the step from brewing beer in their Somerville apartment to opening up a full-scale brewery in Everett, they really wanted to concentrate on making great beer.
Never in their right mind would they have ventured to guess their new business would also encompass baby showers and weddings in addition to making great beer.
But both things are frequently standing side-by-side these days at Night Shift, and this weekend the anchor brewery in the popular Fermentation District will open a new tap room that will serve the overflow crowds, but also serve a steadily growing function business.
“Functions are something that we never expected,” said Janine Pohorely of Night Shift. “The owners have said they would never expected to get into hosting functions. We were really surprised when that started happening. We’ve had baby showers, wedding parties and functions of all kinds in the brewery. The new annex will serve that purpose though and we won’t have to shut down the main taproom for functions anymore. We will have the ability to close off the annex for parties and it will have 24 taps just like the main taproom. If there isn’t a function, we’ll also be able to open it to accommodate overflow crowds and prevent people from having to wait to get in. It’s really exciting.”
Pohorely said they already have yoga classes in the brewery on Sundays, but now they will be able to move it into the annex.
The new annex will boast a fireplace, separate bathrooms, a private patio and a brand new bar area with unique fixtures and a large space.
The work has been done over a period of several weeks by Stack Design Builders, who are very enthusiastic about the project and have added some very unique touches to include a one-of-a-kind wooden façade on the bar area.
But the changes have not been reserved to the front of the house.
In fact, the brewery has been investing heavily in their operations in order to be able to turn out more product.
One of the major changes came when they acquired and put into use their own canning operation in March. As opposed to the traditional growlers, the company is moving more to a canned product.
“That’s generally where we’re moving,” she said. “It’s a better product and the cans provide a better product. We’re moving away from growlers. The machine cost about $250,000 and it’s been well worth it.”
In addition, the company has just now taken delivery of eight 60-barrel tanks in order to make larger batches of beer. That will give them a total of 14, 60-barrel fermentation tanks.
“That was in the three to five year plan and the fact we’re already surpassing that is incredible and unexpected,” she said.
In addition, the company recently acquired the Marble Select space next to them and have made that into a drive in cooler. That has allowed them to keep more product on hand and fresher.
All of it has been a sudden reality check for the former home brewers who first opened up at the former 3 Charlton Street building in 2012, moving to Santilli Highway in March 2014.
“It is incredible how quickly things have been moving, especially in the last six months,” Pohorely concluded.
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The new, second tap room at Night Shift Brewery will open up this weekend and will serve as a function facility and an overflow space. The fast-growing Everett brewery has also expanded its manufacturing capacity this year significantly.
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The barrel aged society program is at the foundations of the brewery, and despite larger production, still continues for those die-hards who love small-batch beer.
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A fireplace, shown here under construction, will greet visitors to the new Annex taproom.
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The bar area is very large in the new annex at Night Shift.
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With their owl logo on the wall, construction drawings have guided workers through building the new, custom taproom annex.