Project Aimed at Meeting the Needs of Craft Brewers
HOLYOKE, MA, March 4, 2019 – Loophole Brewing Services today announced its plans to open a brewery and taproom at 104 Whiting Farms Road in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The initial iteration encompasses 13,000 square feet, and will house a state-of-the-art brewery and include a taproom with outdoor seating. Loophole Brewing Services’ mission of “meeting the needs of craft brewers” is central to the planning and design of the operation.
“We saw some of our favorite breweries with small systems simply not being able to keep up with demand. At the same time, they could not expand or relocate due to space or financial constraints,”said Jeffery “Heffe” Goulet, one of three Loophole Brewing co-founders, “We saw an opportunity to support these great breweries, giving them access to the brewing space at the volume they need.”
Loophole’s small batch contract brewing option provides growing regional breweries with a right size option for increased demand, new products, or collaborations among the area’s prominent brewers. “Loophole is providing a tremendous service by offering additional small batch capacity,” said Jared Methe, co-founder of Rustic Brewing, “It is a game changer to know that our growth doesn’t have to depend on a huge equipment purchase or relocating our brewery.”
Loophole has placed particular importance on lowering the barrier to entry for new brewers. Loophole’s Aspiring Brewers Program will provide support to homebrewers seeking to launch their own brewery. “It is a long, complicated, and expensive process to establish a brewery,” said Loophole co-founder Aaron Saunders, “Our goal with the Aspiring Brewers Program is to ensure that talented brewers can offer great beer to the public even if they don’t have a million dollars in the bank.”
Related: Blind Tasting Tournament Will Crown Best IPA Maker in Western Mass.
Loophole’s goals include not only producing great beer for the region, but also building the talent pipeline of brewery employees. “As the craft beer industry continues to thrive, breweries are going to need talented and knowledgable employees for their operations,” said Todd Snopkowski, Loophole cofounder and owner of SnapChef, the region’s largest culinary training and staffing company, “We want Loophole to be a training ground for the next generation of brewery operations professionals.”
The Holyoke site was chosen after a regional search over a number of months. “The city of Holyoke, and Mayor Alex Morse in particular, have been very supportive and wonderful to work with,” said Saunders, “The Mayor and his team made it an easy decision for us to locate in Holyoke.”
“It’s such a pleasure to welcome Loophole Brewing to Holyoke,” commented Mayor Morse. “They’re bringing decades of business and industry knowledge to an exciting new private venture here, and doing it in a way that fosters an ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the city and all of Western Massachusetts. I look forward to seeing their facility plans come to fruition.”
With a target of a late 2019 opening, Loophole Brewing has partnered with renowned brewery design firm Austin Design, Inc. to transform the existing Whiting Farms Road warehouse space. “We are thrilled to have Tom Chalmers, Peter Webster, and the Austin Design team on board,” said Goulet.
“Their experience speaks for itself and the team’s expertise will help us better serve our customers for years to come.”
Goulet anticipated additional announcements over the next several months, “We are in the process of finalizing our brewing and operations team and are excited to make those announcements soon.”
Breweries and aspiring brewers interested in working with Loophole Brewing Services are encouraged to contact them at contact@loopholebrewingservices.com
More information and updates can be found by following Loophole Brewing at Twitter: @loopholebrewing, Facebook: @loopholebrewing, and Instagram: loopholebrewing
About the Loophole Brewing Co-Founders
Jeffrey Goulet
Jeff is a preeminent voice of craft beer in Western Massachusetts. His expertise and involvement over decades spans all areas of the craft beer industry from co-founding and operating the critically acclaimed Worthy Brewfest, to serving as consultant curator for some of the area’s top bars and restaurants, to sales, marketing, and recipe design for Swing Oil beer. In addition to his work in craft beer, Jeff has twenty-five years of manufacturing and sales experiences as owner of Product Resource Specialists, a manufacturer’s representative firm with offices in NY and MA. In his capacity Jeff is responsible for strategic engineered industrial product sales coverage for all of the New England States and the Province of Quebec.
Aaron Saunders
Aaron has fifteen years of experience working in highly regulated industries both inside and outside of government. Aaron is currently Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Benchmark Strategies where his focus in on the regulatory needs of private sector clients. At age 26, Aaron was the youngest Chief of Staff in the Massachusetts Senate, where he was responsible for budget and legislative priorities as well as staff management. Aaron served on the Board of Selectmen in Ludlow for eight years where he focused on economic development, including the largest mill redevelopment in the history of New England. Aaron also negotiated the first surrounding community agreement with MGM Springfield, which served as a model for a number of communities in Massachusetts.
Todd Snopkowski
A pioneer in the food industry, Todd and his wife Daniela have been leading the charge on workforce development, community building, sustainability and hunger alleviation through their company Snapchef. Todd has received numerous awards for community entrepreneurship including the 2015 SBA Small Business Person of the Year Award for Massachusetts, as well as an Entrepreneurship Award with Boston Children’s Hospital. In 2016, Todd received the Interise Good Citizens Award for the positive impact that Snapchef has had in the communities in which it operates, and in 2017 he received the Massachusetts Restaurant Association Education Foundation Leadership Award. Prior to founding Snapchef, Todd served as a top corporate chef at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan. Todd holds a graduate certificate in Small Business Entrepreneurship from Boston University.
