Vermont community finds its Soulmate: Long-delayed brewery has arrived
MORRISVILLE ― A new brewery – a long-awaited brewery at that – has finally poured its first beer in a Lamoille County community that’s already brimming with brews.
What is the place?
Jonathan and Carol Mogor opened Soulmate Brewing on July 28. The Mogors are the primary owners, but helped fund the Morrisville brewery by recruiting about 145 investors, giving Soulmate what Jonathan Mogor hopes is a strong community connection.
Soulmate has a dozen beers and a seltzer on tap, all crafted in-house. Varieties include an American lager called Food Lube; I’d Drink Me, an Irish red ale; a Belgian-style dubbel; a nitro oatmeal stout dubbed Two Night Stand; and a hop-heavy hazy India pale ale known as Hops in Bed with Strangers.
The Mogors have created a small menu centered on waffles with various fillings, including a Cuban waffle stuffed with pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese and pickles; a barbecue pulled-pork variety; and one consisting of chocolate chips, all accompanied by dipping sauces. Rice bowls and chocolate-covered bacon round out the food offerings.
The downstairs taproom accommodates 49 patrons, augmented by a handful of sidewalk tables. Jonathan Mogor said he hopes an upstairs lounge that can hold another 49 or so will be operational by spring.
What’s the story behind it?
Jonathan Mogor, a Navy veteran, moved to Vermont from Florida in 2011 to be with his girlfriend. That relationship didn’t work out, but he soon met the woman who would become his wife. He said Carol Mogor became the inspiration for the brewery’s romantic name.
Mogor started drawing up a business plan for the brewery in April 2019, and five months later he and Carol married. He planned both their honeymoon and the brewery’s opening for 2020, but the pandemic that arrived in March of that year scuttled that schedule. “The COVID thing really threw a curveball at us,” Jonathan Mogor said.
Not only did the virus delay plans for Soulmate, it modified them, as breweries that couldn’t seat customers inside for months pivoted toward canning beer. Mogor chose to do the same with Soulmate, so he undertook a major project on the Portland Street building he owns to accommodate a larger brewing system to allow for canning. (The first cans of beer are due to roll out in late September, according to Mogor.)
Mogor had previously operated the Rogue Artisans Café in the space but wanted to have a brewery. He said he and his wife enjoy traveling and visiting local breweries and bars to sample new beers and meet new people. “What should we do that would make sense,” Mogor said he asked himself, “what does the town need and what would we enjoy?”
The catch is that Mogor isn’t a brewer. He interviewed 40 brewers and had what he called an “amazing gut feeling” about one he spoke with – Hideki Arao, who was living in Mexico City at the time. Arao and his wife, Harumi Takane, came to Vermont a year ago, and once Arao brewed test batches of beer on a homebrewing system – including some stouts and porters like those the Mogors favor – Jonathan knew they had made the right choice.
Mogor had put up a “coming soon” sign years ago outside the brewery space but removed it when COVID and various construction delays put off the opening. This summer, Mogor said, people were finally able to proclaim “Oh, my gosh, the open sign’s up!”
Some days, Mogor said, the taproom is filled to the max with customers, while others are more low-key. “We’re still getting our feet wet with everything,” he said, including what times and days will be the strongest for the new business.
Morrisville is a village within the town of Morristown, which has about 5,500 residents and now three breweries, with Soulmate joining long-established beer makers Rock Art Brewery and Lost Nation Brewing. Another brewery, Ten Bends Beer, is just north of town in Hyde Park, and the ski-tourism town of Stowe less than 10 miles south of Morrisville is rife with breweries.
What will make the Mogors’ brewery stand out?
“There’s only one Soulmate,” according to Jonathan Mogor, who said his brewery will emphasize a warm, inviting and enjoyable vibe. “Who doesn’t want to be happy, you know?”
Hours and location
Soulmate Brewing, 74 Portland St., Morrisville. 3-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, noon-8 p.m. Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday. (802) 851-8569, www.soulmatebrewing.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Soulmate Brewing opens in Morristown, Vermont, following many delays
