Never-Opened, Fully Furnished Marlborough Brewery Needs A Buyer

Despite the popularity of craft beer around Greater Boston, the developers behind what would have been Marlborough’s only brewery have had to step away from their project that was days away from opening. 

Walden Woods Brewing indicated on its Facebook page in March it had to delay a planned opening due to “circumstances beyond our control.” The company updated its followers on June 8 to say it will not open for business. While owners Alida Orzechowski and Chris Brown didn’t elaborate on what dashed their plans, the brewery they were set to operate was so close to opening that its landlord is looking for someone to simply take over the business that never was, MassLive reports. 

"It's a fully operational, fully equipped brewery," Wellen Construction President Charles Gadbois told MassLive. “There's some permitting and licensing — you'd have to transfer licenses and permits — but in terms of physically brewing beer, I think if you had the right ingredients in your car, you could drive over there and brew beer."

Wellen Construction owns the Victoria Building where Walden Woods was set to open, and Gadbois is convinced a new brewery will take over the space. Food and beverage manufacturing is on the rise in Massachusetts. While food manufacturing jobs are up by 4% since 2011, beverage manufacturing jobs have increased by 43% in the same time frame. 

But the owners of Medusa Brewing Co. in nearby Hudson, Massachusetts, stress opening a brewery is no small feat. Medusa Brewing co-owner Keith Sullivan’s team ran out of money several times in their quest to open and ended up building glass walls, installing floors and painting on their own.

“It was without question the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, and I come from a background of engineering, technology support and some sales experience, which can be rigorous, but this is easily the hardest thing any of us have ever done," Sullivan said to MassLive.

Find out more about Greater Boston's brewery scene at Bisnow's Boston's World-Class Brewing Industry event July 11 at the Westin Waterfront hotel.