Crafting new types of food and drink

  • July 3, 2014
Crafting new types of food and drink

A Gates Cambridge Alumnus and two partners have opened a craft brewery and foods hub in the US.

A Gates Cambridge Alumnus and two partners have opened a craft brewery and foods hub in the US.

Ronn Friedlander [2008], who did an MPhil in Clinical Biochemistry, is co-founder of the Aeronaut Brewing Company which has just opened in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Aeronaut brings together innovative craft beer and local food production in one big facility. Its foods hub houses makers and distributors of directly sourced foods, like coffee, chocolate and local produce. Ronn says: “These small companies each help to bring customers closer to the source of their food. Since our foods hub hosts the makers and also has a common area with retail, it can act as a full-time market where customers can immerse themselves in the production of the food they are buying.”

It also allows innovative food and drink makers to share values, ideas and equipment. Ronn adds: “Together, the member-companies of the Aeronaut foods hub make the space a fun and interesting destination.” The Aeronaut brewery is also a production facility with a retail space in the form of a tap room so ideas and ingredients can both be shared with foods hub members and customers can enjoy tasting food and beer.

Ronn says: “We are currently serving many innovative beers on site and soon hope to do so throughout the region. All of Aeronaut has a very open format that allows our guests to see how things are being produced and really feel like they are in an active industrial space. When you put all these things together, Aeronaut is a unique and exciting place to be!”

Ronn is completing a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics at the Harvard-MIT division of Health Sciences and Technology. He and his partners started working on the brewery in early 2013 and had their grand opening on 21 June.

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