Press / Awards

Leadfoot Brewing: Bringing beer back to Chicopee after 44 years

“CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - The craft beer drought in Chicopee is over.  

After more than 44 years, beer production is coming back to the city with the grand opening of Leadfoot Brewing on Friday. 

Owners and longtime friends Jeff Thibodeau and Patrick Randall have been waiting for this moment for years. They started brewing beer at home and gradually made bigger batches before getting serious about opening a brewery and taproom. “

Lazer 99.3 BrewCast

Pat Kelly & Alex are joined by Jeff & Pat from Leadfoot Brewing in Chicopee to talk about their grand opening and to sample some of the beers available in their taproom!

Masslive Story

Two friends who make beer at home are now planning to open a brewery in a warehouse that was, well, an old brewery. Patrick Randall and Jeff Thibodeau, both of South Hadley, are working to open a microbrewery on North Chicopee Street, which would be the first of its kind in Chicopee since the historic Hampden Brewery closed in the 1970s.

Featured on Mass brew bros.

When two longtime friends who’ve home brewed together since 2007 plan to move all their hops into the proverbial brew kettle, going from a 1-barrel system in a garage to a 30-barrel system in an old warehouse, you wonder what these guys are really drinking? Welcome to Leadfoot Brewing!