• Courtesy
• From left: Adam Shirlock, Rob Karmin and Justin McCarthy of Lot Six Brewing

A new brewpub will liven things up near Smugglers' Notch this spring. Lot Six Brewing is targeting an early May opening in the former Brewster River Pub & Brewery at 4087 Route 108 in Jeffersonville.

It's an unexpected project for Justin McCarthy, former Zero Gravity Craft Brewery director of brewing operations; and Adam Shirlock, who will serve as general manager. The two Underhill residents and longtime friends "had sworn off a beer and food [business] when the property came up for sale," McCarthy said. "It's a great spot, so we figured we'd take up the brewpub mantle."

Head chef Jeff Silver — a veteran of Richmond's the Big Spruce and Hatchet — will serve "eclectic pub fare" such as tater-tot poutine and karaage chicken sandwiches, McCarthy said. Beverage director Rob Karmin will develop a mix of "fun things to drink in the mountains," including Old World wines, classic cocktails, boozy milkshakes, mocktails and Rookie's Root Beer floats.

The brewery's first releases include an IPA, an American-style pale ale and a pilsner-style lager. They'll be contract-brewed at Zero Gravity while the Lot Six team installs a seven-barrel brew system.

McCarthy has a longstanding relationship with the Zero Gravity team: He started at the original brewpub at American Flatbread Burlington Hearth in 2013 and was running the Burlington brewery's production facility by 2021, when he left to spend more time with his young children. Before that, he was head brewer at South Burlington's Magic Hat Brewing.

Lot Six's beer will be available only at the brewpub. McCarthy plans to brew a mix of traditional beer styles from around the world and hoppy beers "to appease the masses," he said. "We'll be as old-school as we want to be, and as new-school as we have to be."