June is looking like a big month for the Lord Hobo team. The highly-anticipated Woburn brewery from Daniel Lanigan, owner of the eponymous Inman Square pub, is targeting June 19-20 as opening weekend, and Boston Restaurant Talk recently noted that Lord Hobo also has a Cambridge brewpub in the works.
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. has teased some of its new brews on draft at its beer bar and last weekend at the American Craft Beer Festival, but the fledgling brewery had to enlist the help of The Tap and Berkley Brew to meet the quota for the latter, the team said on Facebook.
But brewing is now underway at the huge facility. Compared with other New England breweries, the 47,000-square foot space is second in size only to Connecticut's Two Roads. With production possible of more than 200,000 barrels per year, the startup brewery could jump to the top 25 producing craft breweries nationwide, Boston Magazine reported. (Though, as previously reported, the still-ambitious goal is 10,000 barrels its first year.) For its opening, LHBC has three hoppy ales lined up: Consolation Prize, Ball & Biscuit, and Steal This Can, as well as the flagship Boom Sauce, which is a blend of the three, BoMag noted. Stay tuned to the brewery's Facebook page for opening updates.
Last night, Lanigan was slated to appear before the Cambridge licensing commission for a common victualler's license to open Lord Hobo Brew Pub in Lechmere Square. According to the agenda, the permit would allow for food and non-alcoholic beverages to be served between 11 a.m. - 1 a.m. daily; as BRT noted last week, it's unclear if the beverage provision is a typo, or if permitting for alcoholic beverages will come later. The director of the licensing commission was not available by phone this morning; this article will be updated with the outcome of that hearing as soon as it becomes available.
UPDATE (June 4, 2015): Elizabeth Lint, the director of the Cambridge licensing commission, said Lanigan and/or a Lord Hobo representative did not attend the scheduled hearing on Tuesday evening. She surmised the brew pub proprietor decided to wait for the board to hear the CV application until an alcohol request had also been submitted, solving the mystery of the brew pub-without-an-alcohol permit question. "He's a busy guy," she added. Lint expects to see Lanigan's name on an agenda later this summer, perhaps in July, she added.