This year’s winter season has brought freezing temperatures and the most snow New England has seen in years. It’s safe to say, the community is counting down the days until warmer weather returns to Arlington; when the winter jackets are stored away, outdoor dining reopens, and summer festivals fill up the calendar. That will be the time when Arlington Brewing Co. can be found selling its famous cold beverages.
And this summer season, the team is preparing for its newest chapter – a permanent place to call home to its locally crafted beers.
Arlington Brewing Co. founder Thomas Allen told YourArlington that he first started on this journey five years ago, with the company selling its first beer only three years ago. Several residents will have seen the company appear at several pop-up events over the years, offering beer for purchase from collapsible tables, tents, and trucks.
And now, following the 2022 acquisition of a building at 15 Ryder St. in Arlington Heights, Arlington Brewing Co. will soon open a brand new microbrewery.
“It’s been a long time coming and we can’t get it open fast enough,” Allen said about the new business location.
Planning and replanning: designing the brewery
After formally signing the property lease in August of 2024, the Arlington Brewing Co. team has since been devising plans for the design and permitting of the space.
Ambitiously, the beer company sought for an 1,000 square feet addition on the property and the construction of a mezzanine level, which was approved by the Redevelopment Board in April 2025. However, after realizing these elaborate construction plans would exceed budget, Allen and his team decided it would be best to scale back to the basics to prioritize a sooner opening date.
“We’re focusing on the existing building thumbprint and getting a tap room, brewing [room], kitchen, and beer garden all functional… and then we’ll come back at a later date and finish the addition and second floor,” Allen explained to YA.
In accordance with the town’s zoning laws, Allen went back to the Redevelopment Board this past February and was approved to continue building, now in two phases. At the end of February, Allen said the brewery had finally moved from the design phase into contractor pricing phase.
“As soon as we get all that information, we’re gonna move forward and start building the thing,” he said.
A new brewery with home roots in Arlington has sparked an interest in the community, and the Arlington Brewing Co. is working everyday to open the doors. But, as Allen explained, there is still much to be done.
“We have our own internal expectations, but what we’ve learned throughout this process is we have very little ability to control the outside factors,” he said. “I hesitate to even put a date out there, because every time I [do] it’s been wrong, by a lot… But I’ll say I’m pretty confident once we start building, we’ll be able to open maybe four to six months after.”
Creating a community gathering space
While their loyal clientele waits for that grand opening, Allen shared with YA more about what the community can expect from the new brewery, starting with the lay-out of the space.
Allen said he and his team reviewed several spaces in town that just didn’t “have the right bones” for the environment their company needed.
“We need strong floors, tall ceilings, sufficient utilities and infrastructure in place not only to make beer but [also] have a tap room [and] a commercial kitchen.”
Allen said the team spoke in depth about the space with its architect, specifically regarding what the lay-out communicates to its future customers.
“The space itself is not fancy. We want it bright and airy and comfortable. We want it to reflect our commitment to quality,” Allen described.
The brewing company founder envisions a large, open space with minimal walls that invites the community to dwell and interact with one another. The team wants the brewery to be, simply, a gathering space.
Addressing community concerns
Besides the potential of the building on Ryder Street, what attracted Allen to this property was its proximity to the Minuteman Bikeway and the Ed Burns Arena. Allen is already envisioning his new brewery as a post skating and biking hotspot for a hearty meal and a cold beverage. Even better, he imagines most of the new brewery’s clientele will be arriving via their bikes, skateboards, or on foot.
This has been the brewing company’s response to community concerns that a new brewery would bring increased traffic to town. According to Allen, the company has been looking to its prior experiences at their pop-up events to mitigate a potential parking problem.
“Every event that we’ve done so far has been extremely limited in parking, even the events at the [Resevoir beach], where we’ll get [2,000] to 3,000 people… there’s only about 80 parking spots there… so we know for a fact that people walk or ride their bike to visit us,” Allen explained. “We are confident that it will be no different when we open our permanent tap room.”
Allen said he would be disappointed should the business not be open by the end of the year. While there is still work to be done on the construction side of things, the Arlington Brewing Co. team has been perfecting the other, equally as important, factors – such as the menu.
Orders up: Chef Chalmers rejoins the team
“Obviously the beer is important, but it’s so much more of a compelling experience to be able to get good food at a brewery,” said Allen.
“We’ve been to a lot of breweries that have food trucks, but our unique perspective is that we want to have full control of the quality and price of the food, and how the food matches the beer.”
At the moment, there are 3 full time staff members part of the brewing company. Allen expects the team to grow to roughly 18 to 20 full time employees by the time the brewery starts operating.
One of those team members will be Chef Rob Chalmers, an Arlington native that has operated restaurants in Los Angeles, worked at Cambrdige’s Oleana, and cooked as a private chef for some of Boston’s most notable, according to Allen. Chalmers has worked with the brewing company at some of their various pop-ups, including Arlington’s Town Day.
“He is just awesome,” Allen said. “For us to have him on the team, running the kitchen and creating the food and delivering an awesome food experience is just an amazing opportunity, not only for us, but the people coming to visit us, because the food is incredible.”
The new brewery plans on having a seasonal menu to bring its clients a diverse array of options that compliment their beverages any time of year. Allen described the cuisine as “elevated American pub food, with a global influence.”
Think pork confit, grilled flat breads, a mouth-watering smash burger, chicken shawarma – even soft serve ice-cream made in house.
Those who have been patrons of Arlington Brewing Co. know very well the beverages they’re famous for. The company offers a range of craft beers that include hop-forward IPAS, crisp lagers and malt-drive dark styles like stouts and bocks.
In the meantime, here’s where to find Arlington Brewing Co.:
A full catalog of their beer options is posted on the company’s website; or, for an opportunity to taste some of these selections and speak with Allen himself about the beverages, Arlington Brewing Co. will be featured at the Brunch with the Brewers event on Sunday, March 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event, which takes place at City Tap Boston (10 Boston Wharf Road), will be the official finale of the 2026 Mass Beer Week, which brings together eight of Massachusetts’ newest breweries. This is a ticketed event.
While fans await for more information regarding the anticipated brewery opening, Allen invites the community to find him and his team once again at this year’s Jason Russell House summer concert series, which runs every Saturday in June through September.
“We’re just excited to have people who are excited,” Allen said.
“Really what makes the space, are the people in it. We want people to come and enjoy being with each other, and the space itself needs to be conducive to that. The space is not the star, the star is the community.”
This story was published on March 6, 2026.
