Trillium Tests the Waters for an Estate Brewery in Connecticut
TRILLIUM’S JC AND ESTHER TETREAULT IN THE BARRELING MEZZANINE IN CANTON. / PHOTOGRAPH BY TOAN TRINH for ‘Trillium Attempts to Move Past Cult Status‘
Don’t fill the gas tank just yet, but Trillium Brewing Company could someday have a destination to visit near the Connecticut coast. A craft beer news aggregator, New England Brew News, noticed the tantalizing tip last night: JC Tetreault described his tentative plans to North Stonington town officials earlier this month, the New London-based the Day reported.
During a November 3 meeting in the Connecticut town, Trillium cofounder JC Tetreault described his vision for an estate brewery—meaning ingredients, like barley, wheat, rye, and hops, would be grown on site—on East Clarks Falls Road, with a former horse barn becoming a small-scale brewhouse. The vast majority of Trillium beers would still be produced in Canton, he said.
According to the Day article, Tetreault also inquired about the possibility of hosting weddings at the place, and installing a small kitchen.
Trillium has not submitted any plans with the town of North Stonington, says cofounder Esther Tetreault. The November meeting was to get a sense of any conservation concerns and other regulatory hurdles the company might have to jump if they wanted to pursue the property.
“It’s a long and very detailed process anytime you look at options,” she says. “We were just doing due diligence. It was an open forum and there was a journalist there. We have not made any commitment” to that site or others. She declined to comment further on their plans at this time.
But they definitely have plans: JC Tetreault apparently told the North Stonington planning and zoning board he has looked at “hundreds” of New England sites for a potential estate brewery before finding that one. It appeals, especially, because the Tetreaults were married at nearby Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington. “He said they fell in love with the place and hoped to do something similar,” the Day reported.
Trillium’s wild saison series, Stonington, uses a custom strain of yeast collected from the skins of grapes at that vineyard, Tetreault has previously told Boston.
Everyone can appreciate a good love story, so for that reason, we’re rooting for smooth sailing toward the Connecticut coast. But it would be exciting to see a Trillium estate brewery take root anywhere in New England. Stay tuned.
Trillium Brewing Company, 369 Congress St., Boston, 617-453-8745, 110 Shawmut Rd., Canton, 781-562-0073, trilliumbrewing.com.
