Third places and beer

Brian Wilson

I spent some time last week talking beer and business and the importance of “third places” with Luke Gasek of Lake 11 Brewing.

The conversation centered around two of my favorite topics, brewing beer and ways to grow the local community — specifically looking at ways to increase utilization of vacant spaces in the downtown area while also renewing people’s social connections.

I have visited with Gasek a few times since he announced plans to bring a craft brewery to the city of Medford. Our first visit took place more than a year ago while he was renting some warehouse space for his brewing setup in the industrial park. It has been at times a glacially slow process as he has navigated through the byzantine labyrinth of state and federal regulations and licensing needed to bring his dream of opening a local brewpub into reality.

A major milestone took place earlier this year with his official purchase of the former Dave’s Showcase building on Main Street in Medford. Over the past few months he has been working on remodeling the space, while working on honing recipes and doing the legwork needed to make Lake 11 Brewing a reality.

The major difference between now and when we have talked in the past, is that he is confident about the brewery grand opening to take place sometime in mid-November.

Gasek says he will soon be able to start brewing to build up his inventory to sell at the pub. Up until now, anything he has brewed has had to be for personal consumption.

I am excited about Lake 11 inching closer to reality, not only because I enjoy beer, but because it will fill an important niche in the community and provide a new gathering place for a group of people who currently don’t feel a connection to the Medford community. It will provide for them that all important “third place” to gather and form and renew relationships.

The term “third place” was popularized by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book “The Great Good Place.” The third place is a social setting outside of the home (first place) and work (second place) and is where social interactions occur. Different people have different third places, they can be churches, cafes, libraries, bookstores, the local weekly farmer’s market, clubs and taverns. Each fulfills different needs and forms building blocks of a vibrant community through the webs of connection between the places and the people in them.

The interior of Lake 11 Brewing is a wide open space. The serving counter, a walk-in cooler and the brewing space serve as anchor points. Gasek, through the help of an interior designer, has the vision of using lights and seating arrangements and large space to break the area into a number of smaller ones, while still keeping the openness and flexibility.

The defining feature of any brewpub is that the beer being served and consumed is made on premise. At its most basic level, brewing beer is a controlled biological process. Of course, you might as well describe gardening as sticking some seeds in the ground and waiting for something to happen or auto racing being a bunch of people making left turns all day. There are many things that make craft brewing exciting including the likelihood of the chance that the next beer may be the best you have ever had, or be something not quite to your taste.

While this concept doesn’t appeal to everyone, that’s OK. Just like it is OK for people to prefer classic rock to hiphop or country music to jazz. All have their place and there is space for everyone.

For now, I am counting down the days until I can sit with friends at a table in Lake 11 Brewing over several flights of beers and discuss which is our favorite.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.