Popular Brewery Relocating To West Haven

West Haven CT

01 November, 2021

9:51 PM

Description

WEST HAVEN, CT — Popular local brewery New England Brewing Co. plans to relocate to the former Savin Rock Conference Center in West Haven, officials announced Monday. City and state officials announced a tentative lease agreement to relocate the Woodbridge-based craft brewery. Under the lease agreement, which requires City Council approval, NEBCO, the brewer of Sea Hag and other popular India pale ales, would build a two-story, 52,000-square-foot craft brewery at the site of the Savin Rock Conference Center on the Savin Rock shoreline, according to a post on the city's website. The conference center — formerly The Casino and Harbour Mist and originally Phyllis' Restaurant — opened in April 1997 and closed for renovations in February 2019. Connecticut Brewers Guild Executive Director Phil Pappas said that after 20 years, NEBCO has found its forever home — in West Haven. Director of Business Development Marty Juliano said the new brewery would include a production facility and office space, along with event space and a taproom for up to 1,000 patrons. "This is the place you want to be," said Juliano, a native of West Haven. "The community is second to none." Mayor Nancy Rossi praised the agreement and thanked NEBCO executives for choosing West Haven to brew the company's craft beer line, including Sea Hag, the No. 1 craft IPA in Connecticut. Rossi said she always supported a long-term lease for the waterfront location and never entertained selling "one of the most beautiful pieces of property" in West Haven. The brewery's move from 175 Amity Road in Woodbridge to a larger site at 6 Rock St. in West Haven would create 75 to 100 jobs, Juliano said. Plans include demolishing the existing building, built in the late 1960s, and constructing a new building overlooking Long Island Sound. NEBCO was founded by Rob Leonard in Woodbridge in 2002. With reporting by Michael P. Walsh