Medford Brewing Company is finally on its way towards building a brewery of its own in its namesake city. Founded in 2015, the company is the work of co-founders Nick Bolitho and Max Heinegg, who combined their business and beer knowledge to turn a home brewing passion into a full-scale operation.

Now, after about two years of contract brewing, the company has launched a crowdfunding campaign help establish a permanent location, and in doing so, to build out Medford’s first brewery and taproom. Though Medford’s neighboring towns — including Everett, where Bolitho and Heinegg have been contract brewing at Down the Road Beer Company — are rife with breweries, Medford does not have one of its own. But when Bolitho and Heinegg founded Medford Brewing Company in 2015, they were determined to one day open a taproom there.

To that end, the partners set up their Wefunder campaign to raise money for two potential scenarios: One option would see a larger facility built out in West Medford, while the other could bring a smaller operation to Medford Square. According to Bolitho, this will depend on how much Medford Brewing can fundraise.

Either way, the brewery will help Bolitho and Heinegg cut costs of beer production while opening a taproom to host visitors and serve Medford Brewing’s American pale ale, IPA, double IPA, and American golden ale. The partners hope to complete the project by the start of 2020.

“People seem to really want it,” Bolitho told Eater. “And there’s much more support than you feel there actually is out there.”

The Wefunder campaign officially launched on Thursday, February 28, and while Medford Brewing works to raise money, Bolitho and Heinegg are brewing a beer called Bub’s IPA to benefit the Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation. Doherty, a Massachusetts native who went by the nickname “Bub,” was one of four Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.

Until recently, Medford Brewing’s distribution was small, concentrated around Medford, but as part of a push to grow its reach, the brewery signed on with Atlantic Beverage Distributors (which also handles Down the Road, Lord Hobo, and Jack’s Abby) a few months ago and now reaches more than 150 locations.

• Medford Brewing Company [Wefunder]

• Medford Brewing Company [Official Site]