The Lamplighter Brewing Team Is Opening a Distillery and Nanobrewery in Cambridge

Cambridge’s Lamplighter Brewing Co. (284 Broadway) — Eater Boston’s 2017 Taproom of the Year — is on the verge of more expansion. Since opening just over three years ago, the popular brewery has added a big new room, doubling its capacity; increased its brewing capacity; implemented its own in-brewery coffee shop, following the departure of its longtime cafe tenant; and participated in several summer beer gardens. Founders Cayla Marvil and AC Jones have also kept busy hosting numerous food pop-ups along the way.

Now, the duo is expanding beyond their original space. They were just named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2020 (Marvil is 28 and Jones is 29), and their profile for the award hints at a new project for 2020: They plan to open Luminati Spirits, “a micro distillery and cocktail concept alongside a miniaturized brewery and taproom,” elsewhere in Cambridge.

Luminati Spirits has staked out its social media accounts and website already (website, Instagram, Facebook), where it notes a summer 2020 opening timeline and shares a rendering of the Cambridge Crossing development in East Cambridge (near Lechmere), where it will join a restaurant, cafe, and rooftop cocktail bar from the Puritan & Co. team as well as another forthcoming restaurant, Weltkuche Bistro, from the owner of Passage to India.

Luminati will be located, along with the Puritan team’s project, inside a two-story building called the Shed, designed by local architect Prellwitz Chilinski Associates and found at the center of the Cambridge Crossing development. Per an announcement from the project’s developer DivcoWest, the Shed will be surrounded by public open spaces, including a waterway that features granite blocks for seating, made from a 150-year-old seawall that was excavated at the site. There will also be a picnic area, complete with grills, and space for bocce and other outdoor games.

On the main Lamplighter Instagram account, the team describes the project as a “distillery, nanobrewery, and taproom.” Stay tuned for updates leading up to a summer opening.

Update, December 10, 2019: This piece has been updated to add info on the Shed at Cambridge Crossing, per a press release from real estate developer DivcoWest.

• Lamplighter Brewing: 30 Under 30 [Forbes]
• Luminati Spirits [IG]
• Puritan & Co. Team Plans New Restaurant With Rooftop Terrace Cocktail Bar [EBOS]
• East Cambridge, Mourning the Recent Loss of a Karaoke Destination, May Get Another One [EBOS]
• Lamplighter Coverage on Eater [EBOS]