The idea to operate a pub had been brewing in the minds of Nancy Henry and Colleen Henegan for awhile.

The stars began to align a few years ago when Nancy had retired from teaching after 30+ years. She found herself wondering how she would occupy her time until Colleen also retired from 30+ years in education. As fate would have it, Nancy  was hired to help start a craft beer bottle shop and thus began her interest in the industry.

She fell in love with the challenge to bring the best craft beer to her hometown – Watertown. This is where she met Troy Parker, her manager at the bottle shop. Troy had an interest in brewing beer, so they  decided to start testing the process. Eventually the operation moved to Nancy and Colleen’s garage. This became the brew house, where they could play with recipes and talk about beer. Then through Nancy and Colleen’s many trips for “research and development”, ideas for opening their own brewery began to take shape. Garland City Beer Works went from a dream to a reality.

The name “Garland City Beer Works” is an homage to Watertown’s history when the downtown buildings were decorated with red, white, and blue bunting to show their patriotism. The name is also part of Nancy’s family history as her uncle Bill and his brothers operated Garland City Auto Parts in Watertown for many years.