Craft breweries popping up across Greater Springfield
When you think of Wilbraham, Massachusetts — birthplace of Friendly’s Ice Cream and where Timothy Merrick was immortalized in song after dying from a rattlesnake bite up on “Springfield Mountain” — beer may not be the first thing that pops into your mind. But craft breweries are suddenly popping up all over Greater Springfield, including two here in Wilbraham, Springfield’s eastern neighbor, and one apiece in neighboring Ludlow and Hampden. Talks are also in the works to bring independent brewers to West Springfield, according to Mayor Will Reichelt, who has been trying to make West Side more appealing to millennials, who recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest generational demographic cohort.