With trivia nights, live music and even weekly drag events, Somerville’s Aeronaut Brewing is prioritizing its community roots to thrive during a flat moment for interest in craft beer.
Aeronaut was opened in 2014 by a group of fermentation science-obsessed grad students who lived in Somerville and wanted to bring a brewery and taproom to their city. Alisa Bunin, Aeronaut’s marketing director, said community involvement was always a core aspect.
“Obviously we were out to brew awesome beer and bring it to the neighborhood, but we also wanted to create a space for people to feel welcome and included and seen, and that’s what I think we’ve really been able to do here,” she said.
Aeronaut, in the Duck Village area of Somerville, near Union Square in Ward 2, has walls adorned with local artwork. Music livens the background as the room flows with conversation.
Beer, meanwhile, is flowing less – drinking as a whole is down, with Beer Institute data showing production has fallen with demand: Americans drank 32.3 gallons of beer a year in 1990 on average and last year drank 22.6 gallons. As part of that trend, craft beer too has seen a flattening of demand. Chad Brodsky, the chief executive and founder of City Brew Tours, sees the decline in craft beer popularity as an inevitable result of a shift in the economy and fewer people wanting to spend money.
Beer and alcohol industry experts have differing views on the reasons for the drop in craft beer popularity, including that its previous success was simply unsustainable, but most agree the future remains bright – that despite a slight decline, beer has too storied of a history and too rich a culture in Boston to ever be gone for good.
“The growth is not going to be where it was, but breweries are still planning to open,” Brodsky said. “Boston’s got some incredible breweries. There’s been some that have come and gone, for one reason or another, but many of the breweries that are making amazing craft beer are here for the long haul.”
Industry consolidation
Sean Seltzer, the taproom and events manager at East Regiment Beer in Salem, said the environment for craft breweries has always been susceptible to change.
“We’re seeing a lot of openings and closings, and craft beer is really turning into the neighborhood bars. We’re also about to see a lot of consolidation,” Seltzer said.
Aeronaut merged with Dorchester Brewing in December to form the Tasty Liquid Alliance, consolidating resources to support both businesses. Each will continue to operate, but Aeronaut’s Everett production site closed, while a 30,000-square-foot facility keeps running in Dorchester (capped by the Hopservatory, a rooftop greenhouse).
“We did also have to part ways with some of our Aeronaut employees, which was difficult, but it was really necessary, because being with Dorchester we can now pool our resources and operate more efficiently,” Bunin said.
Crafting community spaces
Taprooms, especially in the Boston area, have become much more than places to just drink beer. They should also be community spaces, Bunin said, and Aeronaut hosts events that include book clubs, trivia, singles nights and live concerts, with artists ranging from acoustic performers to jazz groups sand seasonal gatherings such as a “Friendsgiving” or gingerbread-house building. “Even if you are not necessarily somebody who feels drawn to craft beer specifically, you can also come to a taproom to experience all sorts of live music, interactive activities [and] other local happenings,” she said.
The drink menu at Aeronaut has expanded to make the space more accessible for people who don’t drink beer and those who don’t drink at all.
“A lot of craft breweries are recognizing that they need to diversify their offerings, so you’ll often come into a taproom and there will be something for a nonbeer drinker, whether it’s a hard seltzer, a slushie or maybe even a nonalc option, a wine option, a cider option,” Bunin said.
Liz Moison is customer who has attended weeknight jazz shows at the Somerville taproom and a New Year’s Eve party that she said was filled to the brim with people celebrating. She credited Aeronaut with its “good nonalcoholic options – there is water everywhere and they don’t pressure you to drink,” she said. “Sometimes there are even babies here.”
Still brewing
Still, Aeronaut prides itself on a rich, diverse beer selection.
Aeronaut bartender Jenn Mountain named the Oktoberfest as her current favorite beer on tap. “It’s perfect for the fall weather, very drinkable and warm,” she said. Bartender Paul Durst cited the Keller Pilsner as his favorite; he likes malt beers.
“Beer is not just the fizzy yellow stuff that your grandparents were drinking back in the day. Obviously, craft beer is made beer very much like the culinary scene. And the community aspect of just, it brings people together,” Brodsky said.
Bunin said Aeronaut was born from “just a love of science, just a love of being sort of a little quirky, a little nerdy, a little whimsical, that is very much what Aeronaut is.”
A stronger
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