Brewery Expansions

Founders is building a second brewery in Detroit

Grand Rapids, Michigan based Founders Brewing Company is building a second facility in Detroit.

RELATED: Founders to release a watermelon gose

The new fully operational brewery and taproom will be located in the lower Cass Corridor neighborhood in Midtown Detroit. Some of the Continue Reading →

Posted in Brewery Expansions, Galleries, Headlines, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven builds out their 2nd Atlanta location

More than 10 years ago, I got a call out of the blue from a guy called Nick Purdy who was starting a brewery in Atlanta. Always eager to try new beer, I met him at Brick Store where he handed me to un-labeled brown bottles that contained the first batches of Invocation Belgian-style Golden Ale, and Ode to Mercy, a coffee brown ale. By late 2014, the brewery broke ground on their production facility in Avondale Estates, Georgia.

It was over a decade ago and honestly felt like a badass for having bottles from a brewery that wasn’t even open yet. Production breweries opening in Atlanta were far more rare a decade ago in the Peach State.

Later that year, Purdy invited me over to show me the new construction, and it’s there I met Eric Johnson, the co-founder and creative genius behind Wild Heaven’s beers. Folks in Athens, Georgia, might know him by his first beer overture – Trappeze Pub. Within hours, in the mild Georgia cold, Eric and I were drinking beers and laying out the where the sloped floors would be cut. (Side note after the fact, that wasn’t a simple task.)

Fast forward a few years to Atlanta’s West End in 2017. Wild Heaven signs a long-term lease in the 23 acres of “warehouse row” owned by Lee & White, adjacent to the future piece of the city’s Beltline. Notably home to Monday Night’s Sour and Wild facility, The Garage.

The 21,600 square foot freestanding building is Wild Heaven’s second home, a bigger, bolder expansion for this Georgia craft brewer. The facility will feature 80 taps, multiple private event spaces, a patio overlooking the beltline, and a full-service restaurant.

Wild Heaven West End  is just feet from American Spirit Distillery’s second location, as well as Hop City’s new bottleshop and restaurant.

The expected opening date has shifted, pending approvals, but an August opening has now been confirmed.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This, Scofflaw Brewing Co.

Scofflaw Brewing to build second location in Atlanta

Scofflaw Brewing is building a second location in their home city of Atlanta, Georgia.

Selig Enterprises, one of the largest real estate companies announced this morning that Scofflaw Brewing will join The Works, an 80-acre mixed-use development coming to Atlanta’s Upper Westside.

Scofflaw’s home at The Works will span 9,000 square feet and serve as the brewery’s main R&D facility. Expect an open design with a large outdoor area featuring games and friend gathering places. The open plan will be designed to give brewery attendees a more intimate look at the brewing process.

“I have a great relationship with the Selig family and their business. There was no question that creating a Scofflaw R&D brewery and tasting room at The Works was the right strategic decision for our team.” -Scofflaw CEO Matt Shirah.

Scofflaw Brewing’s new location will be built alongside a 16,000 square foot food hall by Robert Montwaid known as Chattahoochee Food Works. The food hall will feature food vendors, entertainment and chef-driven events, a test kitchen and artisanal market shops.

The Works is an 80-acre adaptive mixed-use development Atlanta’s Upper Westside, located off Chattahoochee Ave. near Topgolf Midtown. According to Selig, The Works’ vision includes “distinctive retail and dining, imaginative experiences and inspired gathering areas in an interconnected environment preserving the character of Atlanta’s historic industrial Upper Westside. The multi-phased master plan comprises 350,000 square feet of retail and entertainment, 500,000 square feet of office space, 500 residences, 200 hotel rooms and 13 acres of green space.”

Phase One, 27 acres, is currently under construction and scheduled for opening in early 2020.

Image: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in SweetWater Brewing, Brewery Expansions

SweetWater’s taproom is undergoing a major renovation, adding onsite kitchen

SweetWater Brewing Company’s main taproom has remained unchanged for years. Starting October 1st, that is about to change. Starting October 1st, the taproom is closing to undergo some pretty major renovations.

The bar is going to be shifted to a centerpiece of the room, with additions of large roll-up doors, and new communal seating. Taproom attendees have most likely seen the removals of a wall and stairwell near the back. That space will soon house SweetWater’s new kitchen. The kitchen will serve food during taproom hours, as well as catering services for private events.

In the meantime, tours will still be held during normal hours with bars set up on the tented patio. The Woodlands (sour and wild ale facility) will still be open on Saturdays.

The brewery has hired Rene Ferandel as architect and Catamount as the contractor. The brewery expects the new taproom to be open in January 2019.

SweetWater Renovation Exterior

Rendering of SweetWater’s renovated exterior

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Hi Wire Brewing, Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This

Hi-Wire Brewing is building a third location in Durham, North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina based Hi-Wire Brewing already boasts two locations in one of the most visited beer towns in America. The state of North Carolina will soon be able to claim a third, this time in the city of Durham.

The “Durham Fun Zone” is expected to open by the end of 2018 at 800 Taylor Street. The 8,884 square foot space boasts 24 taps for Hi-Wire beers, as well as guest taps, and a plethora of games like shuffleboard, table tennis, and foosball tables.

While not a part of the initial build-out, space has been dedicated for a future pilot brewing system. This new construction is part of the Golden Belt campus in Durham, a 320,000 square foot facility that was once a textile and tobacco facility.

Currently, the brewery operates their original brewery in Asheville’s South Slope area, as well as their “Big Top” production facility less than a mile from city center.

The brewery currently expects the Durham Fun Zone to open in late October, barring any construction delays.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Modern Times Beer, Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This

Modern Times is opening a new taproom in Santa Barbara this year 

San Diego, California based Modern Times Beer is expanding to Santa Barbara this year. The brewery is building a 5,000 square foot tap room and restaurant in the downtown area.

The Modern Times Academy of Recreational Science is what the new space will be called. The new space boasts a 2,500 square foot outdoor area alongside indoor seating and bar area, with “brain-bending art installations” and “weird design features”.

“This forthcoming palace of sensory delights will feature a full menu of the highest quality noms ever nommed, as well as a dazzling array of delicious beers from all of our brewery locations.”

The Modern Times Academy of Recreational Science is expected to open by the end of 2018, on South State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. This will be the 5th location for the brewery, alongside San Diego’s Point Loma, and North Park, The Dankness Dojo in L.A., and the Belmont Fermentorium in Portland, Oregon.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Founders Brewing, Brewery Expansions, Headlines

Founders is building a second brewery in Detroit

Grand Rapids, Michigan based Founders Brewing Company is building a second facility in Detroit.

RELATED: Founders to release a watermelon gose

The new fully operational brewery and taproom will be located in the lower Cass Corridor neighborhood in Midtown Detroit. Some of the brewery’s strongest in-state support comes from east Michigan, making the build an even easier justification.

“It’s a hard working, no-nonsense, culturally diverse and musically-inspired town, which happens to have the best sports teams in the country. Some of our strongest support has come from the east side of Michigan, and we could not think of a better place to expand our taproom experience. We anticipate creating a taproom that is inspired by what we do in Grand Rapids, but unique in its own Motown way. We’re excited to be a larger part of ‘the D’!” – March Dorich, VP Founders Retail OpsFounders is building a second facility in Detroit

The Founders Detroit Taproom (seen above) will be located at 456 Charlotte Street. Construction begins this summer, with completion the following winter. The brewery did not comment on the cost of the build.

Founders has been based in Grand Rapids since they opened in 1997.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Red Hare Brewing, Beer News, Brewery Expansions

Atlanta’s Red Hare Brewing to build in North Carolina

Marietta, Georgia based Red Hare Brewing is building a second facility, two states away in North Carolina.

The idea to build a second facility occurred with Red Hare founder Roger Davis, and co-founder and head brewer Bobby Thomas took a trip to Oregon. Open air fermentation paired with the coastal climate inspired the duo to build something similar on the east coast.

Red Hare Brewing has selected the 111 year old former Coastal Drug Company building in Shallotte, North Carolina. American wild and sour ales will be the focus of the new facility.Expect the new space to house a coolship, and plenty of oak for fermentation and aging. Red Hare plans on capturing native yeast and bacteria for use their the wild ale lineup.

The Shallotte, North Carolina location should be open sometime in the second half of 2017. Red Hare has already named R.A.Jeffrey’s and Healy Wholesale as their local distributor.

by Reid Ramsay