SOUTHWICK – Sergio Bonavita, owner of Westfield River Brewing Company, was a home brewer for 10 years before distributing his beer, but don’t call him a beer geek.  

Since he and his team opened the doors of its location in Southwick a year ago, Bonavita has made it his priority to make sure no one who wants to enter the world of craft beer feels left out.

“I want them to feel welcome. My biggest fear about craft beer is that we’re going to turn this into the wine industry and make people think that we’re all beer snobs,” Bonavita said. “I hate the term beer snobs; I hate the term beer geek. I don’t think that it’s fair to the guy that’s just trying to learn about craft beer.”

Westfield River Brewing Company began selling in 2012 in Westfield, but because of “a lot of behind the scenes reasons,” Bonavita and his staff had to move locations.

Around the same time, he said, the property of a former Southwick hot spot, Chuck’s Steak House, became available. In the fall of 2014, Westfield River Brewing Company began calling the farm on College Highway home.

Though the company doesn’t have the capacity to make enough beer for the weekend and also distribute widely, opening the brewpub has allowed Bonavita to meet the people who drink his beer. In turn, he is able to get immediate feedback.    

“I think one of the toughest parts when we were in Westfield and we were just distributing was you don’t get to meet the people that are drinking your beer. You put a beer in a package store, you might do a tasting, maybe you meet 10 or 15 of them, but most of beer is going to sell when you’re not there,” he said. “You don’t know who’s drinking it. You don’t get feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. This is allowed us to meet and talk to every single person that tries our beer.”

The move has also brought life and business back into a beloved building.

Bonavita’s parents had their first date at Chuck’s Steak House, and many customers who come through have memories attached to the former restaurant.

Even though the restaurant closed in 2010, Bonavita said people wanted a reason to come back to the space, so Westfield River Brewing Company is giving them one.

“I think the one thing we felt was that people want to come here and be social, so if we could just provide them with the atmosphere that they want in the building then we will be able to introduce a lot of people that probably wouldn’t try our beer to our beer,” he said. “That’s proven to be true, where people just want to be in this space, and they get here and they’re like, ‘This beer is really good.’”

An advantage of the building has also been the fields that came along with it. Westfield River Brewing Company hosted a party for its anniversary, including live music, food and a disc golf tournament.

Bonavita and his team have even tried their hand at growing their own hops, which has been a learning experience.

“We are not farmers. We’re learning on the fly. We call it a pretty expensive science project, but we’re really trying to get our own hops brewing, so to speak,” he said. “We don’t have the perfect climate for it but we can grow hops here, and there’s certainly something to be said for making a beer with your own hops.”

A new beer on tap, Wet Hop, was made with the hops grown on the property, and Bonavita said customers either love it or say it is not for them – no in between.

Though Bonavita said he has lost track of how many recipes he has, they try to keep 10 on tap throughout the weekend, but they go fast.

With a growing craft brewing industry in Western Massachusetts, Bonavita said he has people from the area, across the state and surrounding states coming through on any given weekend.

Westfield River Brewing Company, Iron Duke Brewing in Ludlow, Paper City Brewing Company and others have helped bring tourism to Western Massachusetts, he said.

“It’s just giving, I think as it relates to the breweries, we’re giving people a reason to come to [Massachusetts]. We all know each other, we all get along pretty well, I think we all understand that there’s kind of a David vs. Goliath mentality in the industry,” Bonavita said. “Westfield River Brewing doesn’t matter to the big breweries, but put 15 of us together in a market and you start to feel it. Then there are a hundred of us across the state, so they’re feeling us. I think it’s good for Western [Massachusetts] to have. We’ve got some good breweries here. It’s not like it used to be when it was just [Berkshire Brewing Company]. There are guys making some really good beer. I mean that’s huge.”

While the market in the area has grown since Bonavita first began brewing on his own, he said he does not want to exclude any customers. He wants to encourage them to try new beers and educate them on Westfield River Brewing Company’s way.

“People have a history with this building but not our beer. We want you to come in here and try a beer that you’re going to think is awesome, and we have some awesome beers,” he said. “But we also have some awesome people that work here that are going to make you feel comfortable when you’re here and who are going to help you to learn about the beer because that’s the only way you’re going to be introduced to craft beer. If we’re a jerk to you then when you leave here you’re going to be think all craft beer people are all stuck up hipsters. That’s horrible.”

Rather than create an environment of intimidation, Bonavita wants Westfield River Brewing Company to be known for their welcoming attitude and kind service.

“Don’t just bend over backwards for the beer geek. Bend over backwards for the guy that usually drinks Budweiser. They need the help, and they want to support a local business and they want to drink something local but help them to understand what is you do,” Bonavita said. “We want everyone to come here, whether you’re 90 years old or 21 years old because we’re trying to change this business. We’re not trying to have you walk in like you’re walking into a wine store and you need to be a sommelier to have any idea what you’re supposed to pick and no one wants to help you and they just want to make you feel stupid … They make you feel like you aren’t as smart as them, and we go out of our way to make sure that when you come in here you will say, ‘I’ve learned about craft beer and those people were nice.’”

For more information about Westfield River Brewing Company, visit www.westfieldriverbrewing.com.