First Look: The Trillium Garden at the Roslindale Substation

The media was invited in for a sneak peek before it opens Thursday.

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Here’s some news to warm you up this winter: Trillium Brewing has a new beer hall in Boston. In Roslindale Village, to be exact. The Garden at the Substation, the wintertime redux of this summer’s popular Garden on the Greenway, officially opens Thursday, Dec. 7, at 4 p.m.

“History, community, and impeccable craftsmanship are all evident in this special space,” the team says on its website.

The historic former streetcar substation keeps its 34-foot ceilings and distressed subway-tiled walls, and Team Trillium repurposed some vintage doors (now flanking fresh new Trillium Garden Roslindale signage), and a half dozen green lampshades they found languishing in the basement, says cofounder JC Tetreault. The space, mostly vacant since 1971, was in the works as a new restaurant before plans fell through earlier this fall, so when Roslindale Village Main Streets reached out to see if Trillium wanted to take up the torch for the season, not much needed to be done to get it beer hall-ready, he says. They sealed the concrete floors, built a cold storage area, and installed a new bar.

“We haven’t installed acoustic panels yet,” Tetreault says, in an echoing room, “but once we take care of that, I think it’s just going to be the perfect winter beer hall.”

The summer Garden’s tables, benches, and barrels are repurposed in Rozzie. The bar has a dozen tap lines. To start, it’s pouring seven Boston- and Canton-brewed beers, including Mosaic Fort Point Pale Ale, Vicinity double IPA, Peach Super Soak oak barrel wild ale, and bourbon barrel-aged TrillBOMB! stout. Tetreault says there is potential for guest drafts—like wines from Westport Rivers, which flowed all summer on the Greenway—as the season goes on.

The ever-prolific Moody’s was the inaugural food purveyor for the press preview, and other pop-ups and programming will fill the schedule, Tetreault says. Follow @TrilliumGarden on Twitter for the latest. And if you want to follow that Twitter account while at the beer hall itself, you can: The whole place is hooked up with free wifi.

The Garden at the Substation is part of Trillium’s “growing initiative to cultivate temporary seasonal spaces in which to enjoy our beer,” the team says. It’s a welcome addition to the Boston beer scene, before the city welcomes the world’s first Trillium brewpub in Fort Point sometime in 2018.

Also coming in 2018: Roslindale’s very own neighborhood brewery. Meet the dudes behind Distraction Brewing Co. at the Roslindale Holiday Market on Thursday, Dec. 7—and then pop into the Substation for a pint of Trillium.

The Garden at the Substation will be open through the winter season on Wednesdays-Fridays from 4-10 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sundays from noon-6 p.m. Last call is a half-hour before close each night.

Trillium Garden at the Substation, 4228 Washington St., Roslindale, trilliumbrewing.com.

This post was updated Thursday, December 7, at 1:35 p.m. with the opening date and hours.