EXETER — A new microbrewery offering “pies and pints” is opening in the space that once housed Charlie’s Ice Cream.
Owners Steve Nametz and Steve and Doug Helferich have taken over the space at 150 Front St. to open Fat Hen Brewing Company next door to Enna Chocolate.
They plan to open the 24-seat restaurant and bar in the September
“What can (people) expect? A good time, good quality company and food and drink,” said Steve Helferich.
The trio comes from different backgrounds to open Fat Hen: Nametz in music, Steve Helferich in chemical engineering, and Doug Helferich in biomedical engineering and economics.
Nametz met the brothers working at Massachusetts-based brewery Oak & Iron Brewing Co. in the early 2010s.
Oak & Iron Brewing Co. was founded by the Helferichs’ father, John, also a chemical engineer.
“My dad and I used to joke with each other that making beer is a chemical engineer’s dream job,” Steve Helferich recalled. “It’s got everything a chemical engineer wants – you got mass transfer, you got heat transfer, you got chemical reactions … and at the end you can drink it.”
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“As the pandemic was winding down, the three of us started talking about how we really wanted to recapture some sort of self-determination in our lives – some sort of like get your own thing going,” recalled Steve Helferich.
They incorporated Fat Hen in 2021 and began searching for the perfect location. The name, as Nametz explained, represents “self-determination” and “control over your own destiny.”
The trio said they knew New Hampshire “was definitely the right place” for their brewery, and Exeter was particularly interesting because of the town’s “growth and attitude.”
“Once we started talking to Exeter, they were very, very, very warm and welcoming and excited,” said Doug Helferich. “We talked to one or two other towns, but it was like night and day how Exeter responded.”
“This town has a vision for what it wants to become… we love that, that’s exciting for us, that’s super cool and we want to be part of that vision,” added Steve Helferich.
Darren Winham, the town’s economic development director, said Fat Hen “will provide more vibrancy to an area of town we'd like to see grow.”
“People really enjoy brewery hopping, and when they do, they spend money locally,” said Winham. “The more breweries we add, the better for Exeter's economy.”
What’s on the menu at Fat Hen Brewing Company?
The trio has spent the past eight months transforming the former ice cream space into a bar with a “community vibe.”
“It’s an intimate (space) to a degree… but the odds of you striking up a conversation and meeting one new person go up,” said Doug Helferich. “We’re trying to really make it an upscale space while still maintaining that coziness, which I think is the most important part.”
With limited tap space, the trio said Fat Hen will serve approximately four to six different varieties of beers, with a flavor portfolio that “knocks you out of the park.”
“Balance, I think, is the keyword,” said Nametz. “We want to have something that’s crisp and refreshing, we want to have something that’s sweet and malty, something that’s dark, something that’s sour and we definitely want to have those hoppy beers that the beer guys love. We want to have something for everybody.”
Aside from beers, the other half of the Fat Hen experience will feature different types of pies. From savory meats to vegetarian options, sweet to spicy, Doug Helferich said the bar will offer the “perfect marriage” of pints and pies.
With Sawbelly Brewing on Epping Road and Sea Dog Brewing Company downtown, the trio mentioned that Fat Hen will complete the brewing scene on the west side of town.
“We wanted to be in Exeter because there were already breweries here,” said Steve Helferich. “We wanted to cross-pollinate, and we wanted to kinda be part of a nexus… we did want to find a part of town that had some foot traffic, had some parking, and kind of the right feel that would match our brand.”
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