our beginnings
Hi, Joe here! I wanted to share a quick story about how Border Brewery started. I worked in the mechanical field beginning in 1996. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t happy, so I followed my passion for home brewing.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT US
What’s better than home brewing, cooking and hanging out with Pepper, my border collie? Am I right?
Shortly after, I turned my passion into a business and opened a home brew supply shop. My family and friends thought it was a dumb idea, and they were skeptical. Still, I rented an industrial building in Salem, NH. To my surprise, the response was overwhelming, and the business grew quickly.
From Home Brew Shop to Nano Brewery
Two years later, business started to slow down. I knew I had to switch gears and move into a nano brewery. We rented more space at the same location. Then we dug up floors, tore down walls and designed a small one-barrel brew house!
After preparing the floors for epoxy, we faced a tight schedule. We needed to get beer ready for opening. So we chose a brown ale, one of my favorite recipes from the past few years.
We started brewing without a name for the beer. At the same time, we handled the daily work of the home brew supply store. As any home brewer knows, you never walk away from the brew kettle before it boils. If you do, you
could face a tremendous hot, sticky mess that takes hours to clean.
Well, you guessed it. We overlooked the kettle, and everything boiled over. The spill left an absolute mess on the floor. Luckily, Pepper the shop dog was watching closely. She walked through the hot, sticky spill and seemed to enjoy the sweet mess around her.
I yelled, “PPEEEEPPPPEEERR!” a hundred times. Then I looked down and saw sticky paw prints across our newly prepared floors. At that moment, I knew our flagship beer would be called STICKY PAW BROWN!
A few months after our grand opening, we needed a bigger boat to meet demand. So we moved to our current location at 224 North Broadway in Salem, NH. Then we took a hard look at our community. We wanted to offer customers something different.
There are many sub, pizza and Italian shops, so we went big and decided to do BBQ! Today, Border Brewery offers the best beer selection along with the best BBQ in the area. Come by and see for yourself!
– Joe
Joe’s Story
Border Brewery & BBQ grew from Joe’s home-brewing passion into a Salem, NH brewery and BBQ restaurant. The story above follows the home brew supply shop, the move to a nano brewery, Pepper’s sticky paw prints and the current North Broadway location.
For current offerings, explore the craft beer catalog, the BBQ restaurant and menu and the wood fired pizza page. Use the Contact Us page for the published address, phone number and hours.