Cambridge residents can rejoice with the opening of the second brewery in the city. Lamplighter Brewing recently opened their doors for growler fills (with a taproom soon to come) on Broadway, between Central Square and Inman Square. The brewery occupies a 10,000 square foot building that used to be an old car garage.
Lamplighter Brewing was founded by AC Jones and Cayla Marvil. AC had a degree in molecular biology and biochemistry before getting a brewing degree from the Siebel Institute. Not to be outdone, Cayla also has three degrees: in math, brewing, and culinary arts. She has spent many years working in the industry as a chef, bartender, and in other roles. Together, they’ve enlisted Tyler Fitzpatrick as the Head Brewer. Tyler has been brewing at Mystic, Wormtown, and Cape Cod breweries in the past five years, so he knows the industry and locale well.
While their original plan is to make standard, popular beers, they realized they don’t even order those types of beers at the bar, so they scrapped their plan and vowed to make only interesting beers you can’t get anywhere else. They focus on using Brettanomyces, a type of yeast which adds a funky flavor and usually used in making gueuze, saison, or farmhouse style ales. The beers they’re making would still be enjoyable and drinkable, though, putting new twists on classics instead of reinventing the wheels (for now). They want the beers to complement Cambridge, which is a center of innovation yet rich in history and culture.
With sour beers and saisons’ recent popularity, Lamplighter has got it going. Despite the competition in the craft beer market, their promise of unusual beers will bring the locals and the beer geeks in. Two of the four fermenters they have are dedicated to Brettanomyces. They will also test out seasonal selections on their pilot system. On the opening beer list is an IPA made 100% with Brettanomyces, an English strong ale, a dark saison, a Gose, chamomile honey wheat ale, and East Coast style IPA.
They are currently open for growler fills on Thursday-Friday 4-8pm, and Saturday-Sunday from 12-4pm. When the taproom opens they will also be serving food, aiming to make their taproom a true community space. In the morning, get a different kind of brew as the space is taken over by Longfellows Cambridge for some coffee and pastries.
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