Wilton residents to vote Saturday to decide if the town should have breweries

Town officials and the business community believe that opening Wilton to on-site and off-site brewery sales is really a matter of un-tapped potential.

Tom Krosnowski and Nicole Alarcon Soares

May 10, 2024, 8:43 PM

Updated 148 days ago

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Wilton residents will vote Saturday on the town budget and whether a brewery can open in town.
“Wilton has historically been a dry town. We didn’t even have the ability to sell alcohol in just a retail establishment, but that got passed,” said First Selectman Toni Boucher.
But Twelve Gods Brewery is looking to change that. After writing to the select board and attending public hearings, there’s an amendment on Saturday’s ballot to allow sales from Wilton breweries.
According to the town charter, they can’t legally sell yet.
“The town is highly supportive of our favorite diner here. One of the owners has come up with an original beer,” said Boucher.
Demetris Papanikolau, the managing partner of Twelve Gods Brewery, says the establishment is still in the startup phase.
“My partner and I are both of Greek heritage. The Twelve Gods are a homage to the twelve gods of Mount Olympus,” Papanikolau said. “We are community oriented. That’s our vibe, that’s our atmosphere. It would be a beer garden and taproom. It would be a place to hang out and socialize.”
Town officials and the business community believe that opening Wilton to on-site and off-site brewery sales is really a matter of un-tapped potential.
“People are highly supportive of having this happen. It’s a new growth area,” said Boucher.
But breaking tradition isn’t always an easy sell.
“Those that have been here a long-time kind of enjoyed having that reputation. Being different, unique, the last remaining dry town,” Boucher said.” But unfortunately, that really impacted the number of restaurants that we had, the number of eating-out options, and trying to increase the variety of places to go out instead of having to drive to other towns for that.”
The decision will be entirely up to the voters.
Residents can vote from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Clune Center.