Community, Sustainability Among Top Priorities for Black Hat Brew Works

As Black Hat Brew Works nears its one year anniversary, it continues to put the local community first. 

"In this business you have to start as local as possible before growing larger," said owner Paul Mulcahy.

Along these lines, Mulcahy encourages his partners, brother Scott Galpin and childhood friend Jay Brown, to always make an effort to learn the names of regular customers to the tap room located at 25 Scotland Blvd.

Black Hat opened its doors last November on Black Friday, which they celebrated "Black Hat Friday." To their surprise, guys went through eight kegs in nearly six hours.

On Christmas Eve, they sold out of eight more kegs in under two hours!

As a one barrel brewery, Mulcahy and his partners spend six days a week brewing between six and eight beers a week for distribution through their tap room and local restaurants.

Black Hat churns out a wide variety of brews, including multiple IPAs, double IPAs, Belgians, stouts and ales, but the tried and true best-sellers are B'Water Blonde Ale and 22IPA.

As with many of the breweries from farming communities, such as Buzzards Bay Brewing and Berkley Beer Company, Black Hat uses as many locally sourced ingredients for its brews, including hops grown outside the brewery in their hop garden, and shares its spent grain with local farms.

Since the beginning, Black Hat has made an effort to be a part of Bridgewater, even though the guys live in neighboring communities. As an ultimate "thank you" for the town's support, the brewery is hosting a brewfest later this September. All proceeds are being given to charity, half to the Bridge Center and half to the town's first responders.

The festival is not only a chance for the public to get to know 10 of the area's farm breweries, but also a chance for the brewers themselves to get together and talk shop.

Though Black Hat is one of the smallest breweries on the South Shore right now, Mulcahy is already setting his sight on the future of the business, hopefully increasing to a seven barrel system by the spring of 2018. The size of the tap room could also be expanded as early as next year, including a three-season beer garden.

With such a variety of beers being brewed and served up each week, it's hard not to find one to call "the one" while visiting Black Hat Brew Works.