Smuttynose Begins Work on Hampton Brewery

UPDATE, 3 P.M.: Smuttynose will host an "informal groundbreaking" next week for its new brewery and restaurant in Hampton. The Aug. 16 event is not open to the general public for safety reasons, due to the fact that it is an active construction site.

An earlier story follows:

Smuttynose Brewing Co. has finally begun work on its new brewery project on Towle Farm Road.

In a video posted on Smuttynose's Facebook page Wednesday, Smuttynose Founder and President Peter Egelston said work is underway, and the financing is now "100 percent in place." The final piece of funding was approved by the Executive Council on Wednesday morning.

"So we now have all the funding we need to build our new brewery at Towle Farm in Hampton," Egelston said. "We're already starting work now – the work is underway even as I speak – but now we can pay for it, and that's great news."

Smuttynose spokesman JT Thompson had said in a recent email newsletter that the permits had all been pulled and the official ground-breaking was expected soon.

"Smuttynose is finally, finally, about to break ground on our much-delayed new brewery project at Towle Farm," Thompson said in the July 26 email. "Though we don't have a date for groundbreaking, it's finally go-time, even if it hasn't quite sunken in yet."

Thompson said Wednesday via email that an official announcement "will be forthcoming."

Smuttynose is moving its operations from Portsmouth to a $16 million campus on Towle Farm Road. The new location will feature a 42,000 square foot production facility for onsite brewing and bottling, as well as a 95-seat restaurant.

The brewing company earlier this year from the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority to assist in the expansion.

The company purchased the land in 2008, but pressures on lenders after the economic downfall made financing the construction of the project challenging.