New Beer Cafe Coming to Portsmouth

For the last few years, Alex Gilbert Aviles and his wife, Gretchin, have always had a passion for true craft beers that are made in New Hampshire and elsewhere, but they could never find a place where they could just enjoy craft beer until they decided to create one here in Portsmouth.

On Sunday afternoon, Aviles said he is about two months away from opening the WHYM Craft Beer Cafe behind the Wren's Nest Village Inn on Lafayette Road. He is currently renovating 2,000 square feet of space behind the hotel into a casual pub and beer garden where patrons will be able to come, enjoy craft beer from all over the world and converse.

"WHYM stands for water, hops, yeast and malt, the four ingredients used to make craft beer," Aviles said.

Aviles said the couple's new beer cafe will be able to serve up to 80 people, with an outdoor beer garden that can accompany 20 to 30 patrons. If they can get all of the necessary approvals from the city as well as the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, Aviles said they hope to open by May 15.

When asked what he believes will set WHYM Craft Beer Cafe apart from the city's many other restaurants and craft beer makers, Aviles replied, "We're going to bring a craft beer experience, not just a place that serves craft beer."

As far as he and his wife can tell, New Hampshire currently does not have one place that sells nothing but true craft beer that is made in the Granite State and elsewhere. His goal is to offer 180 craft beers by the bottle with 10 draft lines.

Aviles, who worked in logistics management before he decided to open WHYM Craft Beer Cafe, believes the couple will do well as word of mouth spreads about the experience they will offer to true craft beer fans.

"I feel like we are going to do pretty well in the first few months," he said.

Currently, WHYM Craft Beer Cafe does not have a website, but the new establishment does have a Facebook page.