Waltham Beer Works?

Boston.com reported last fall that the space would be undergoing extensive renovations before a Beer Works opening in spring (2015). Given the glacial pace that restaurant renovations tend to move at, I'd bet that it'll still be at least a few months before anything happens in that space.
http://www.boston.com/business/news...ity-brewing/5H6LNKDzx5OrHD2xBaESqM/story.html

 

Yeah it's taking forever but I'm not all that surprised. Apparently Watch City Brewing's equipment was twenty years behind in terms of technology and usability and I'm pretty sure that Beer Works has to gut the entire place out. Hopefully we'll get an update at some point soon.

 

Watch City's brewing equipment was purchased by a group in Barre, MA for $41k.

 

Beer Works never had any intention of using WCBC's old Pugsley system (for many reasons) nor their infrastructure which was 10+ years beyond rehab. Complete gutting & renovation there, will take some time. I'd guess a March 2016 opening.

 

Doesn't mean that it's any good compared to newer tech.

 

I've heard that Waltham is an awful place to do business anyway. In terms of permitting and stuff like that.

Terrible shame, it really is on the cusp of being the "next Somerville." (I mean that entirely positively)

 

Ehh Waltham has been very up and down. Sadly, it has shifted in the opposite direction over the last few years.

 

Really? I'm a Waltham resident and have never heard of that being a problem. We even have a sake distillery in town now and a few bars are doing pretty well for themselves out here (Jack N Joe's, The Gaff, Bison County)

 

Seems to be going OK for Beer Works. A reporter for the Waltham News Tribune noted in a series of tweets in April that one city councilor had filed an ordinance amendment making it easier to open a brewery in the city.

.@CouncilW9 filing ordinance amendment proposal to basically make it easier for a restaurant/beer brewer to open in #Waltham https://twitter.com/rgd_WNT/status/592841726122971138

It is meant to help Boston Beer Works, in part, open at the former Watch City Brewing site. #Waltham https://twitter.com/rgd_WNT/status/592841816069771266

Boston Beer Works has already acquired a 7-day alcohol license, and as far as I know, still plans to open in #Waltham https://twitter.com/rgd_WNT/status/592841911624404992​

 

That's promising and smart on Waltham's part. Even though it had really gone downhill I was sad to see Watch City close.

 

Some part of me really wanted them to succeed and brew good beers. Even their IPAs sucked. Their food was pretty disastrous too. I don't know why they were stubborn about using their English yeast on so many of their beers. It ruined them. I would have been much happier with a good, striving, independant brewery than another Beer Works location...

 

I've been a Waltham resident for over 2 years now and I agree. Jake n Joes is awesome with the patios open now.

 

I'm Waltham born and raised. Still have quite a bit of family there, so I'm around a bit. Moody St was awful when I was a kid. It had a resurgence in the 90s, early 2000s, but has been going downhill over the last 5 years or so. I've lost track of the number of places that have come and gone. The bars, for the most part, have been relatively constant and seem to do well. Almost all the dives of years gone by are gone - except for Michael J's and Bullett's - and the ones that have gone in have been successful

 

Does Jack N Joe's have a good taplist?

 

Hoponious was the only thing I saw when it opened and the food was a disaster. Since then the Buffalo chicken sandwich has changed my perception of their food.

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Really wish we were getting more of an indie outfit than another area Beer Works. Meh.

 

I'd love to stay in Waltham and not have to drive to Cambridge/Somerville for a great drafts.