Anawan Brewing Company Coming to Town

Anawan Brewing Company, a certified 100% Veteran-owned nano brewery, has committed to a site where it will open its brewery in 2019, at 7 Park Street, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. The company is led by Steffen S. Johnson - the founder/owner, and Daniel DiRienzo - the head brewer. Johnson and DiRienzo are Rehoboth natives who grew up and went to school together at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School. Johnson says, “Anawan Brewing's mission is to bring the local community together through small batch classic beer styles with a unique-independent twist. When people think of the name Anawan Brewing Company we want them to think Independent. Handcrafted. Local.”

Local Team with Craft Beer Credentials
Steffen S. Johnson, Owner is a 2006 Dighton Rehoboth graduate who served as an Infantry Team Leader in the United States Army from 2010 – 2014, including a year in Afghanistan – where he fine-tuned his dream of coming home to open his brewery. He has been home-brewing for more than six years and has worked in the craft beer industry for the past four-plus years. He served an internship at the Tallgrass Brewing Company in Manhattan, KS and was Assistant Brewer at Southern Barrel Brewing in Bluffton, South Carolina. In addition to holding a Business of Craft Beer Certificate from the University of Vermont, he is finishing a degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Johnson also is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server.

Entrepreneurship runs in his family. His grandfather owned a country store on the corner of County Street and Reservoir Avenue in Rehoboth, and his father has owned a contracting business for many years.

Daniel DiRienzo, Head Brewer, is a 2008 graduate of DRRHS who has been home-brewing for more than four years. He serves the local community as an ambulance driver for Alert. A Member of the Brewers Association and the American Homebrewers Association, DiRienzo has won multiple medals and awards in brewing competitions. Most notably, he is a Gold medal recipient for his Barrel Aged Blend beer recipe, a Silver Medal recipient for his Double IPA beer recipe and a Bronze Medal recipient for his Specialty IPA beer recipe.

Taproom, Brewery and Beer Garden
The brewery team is very excited that their location will allow them to have a brewery, taproom and outdoor beer garden together on one site, with room to expand. The taproom and beer garden will each have an initial capacity of approximately 50 guests. The brand new building currently under construction will also house some other small businesses and a restaurant. It will be “BYOF”: “Bring Your Own Food”. As the brewery will not initially be set up to provide food, patrons will be able to bring in their own, takeout from nearby restaurants and food trucks. The beer garden will have a nice bucolic setting with a picnic vibe on the rear of the building facing the woods.

While waiting for permitting, construction and so on, the partners have been making small pilot batches with their garage setup and have already identified 40 recipes that they plan to use. The taproom will accommodate approximately 6 - 8 taps, 2 of which will be dedicated to flagship favorites and the rest will rotate through seasonal varieties and new introductions.

Ready to Start
The partners have already amassed half of the equipment they will need. They currently have a half-barrel pilot system, will open with a one-barrel system and in six months expect to have a three-and-a-half barrel system in place.

Their long-term goals are to produce 250 barrels the first year. (each barrel is 31.5 gallons.) The business will employ five or six people, including the owners.

Sourcing Ingredients Locally
Johnson and DiRienzo are committed to sourcing as many ingredients as possible locally, and using local fruits and vegetables in their specialty brews. They have already identified hops farms in Taunton and Western Massachusetts that they expect to be using.

Bringing the Community Together
One of the key dreams of the partners is to host community events of all kinds to bring people together at their facility. Fundraising events for local charities are going to be a priority. Johnson and DiRienzo particularly look forward to hosting events for firefighters and police groups. Johnson’s girlfriend, Anna Altobelli, is a veterinarian, so you know that local animal advocacy fundraising events will also be especially welcome.

For updates, visit their website at http://anawanbrewingco.com; or join their more than 3,000 followers on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/anawanbrewingco/; Twitter at https://twitter.com/anawanbrewingco; and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/anawanbrewingco/