Detroit, MI – In February of 2020, Eastern Market Brewing Co. launched their second venture, Ferndale Project, a new brewery focused on hop-forward IPAs and fruit-forward kettle sours. Little did they know, because of the pandemic, their experimental concept would expand beyond beer.
Reflecting on the past year, Dayne Bartscht, Founder and Managing Partner of Eastern Market Brewing Co. said, “Like many throughout our industry, 2020 was a whirlwind. We had to get creative to survive. Fast forward to today and all of our hard work has led to multiple new opportunities that we’re excited to explore. From home beer delivery to coffee to donuts to Detroit-style pizza, the team has been busy.”
Earlier this year, Bartscht began looking at local warehouses to house their Peddler delivery service, a venture that was originally launched to bring craft beer directly to consumers’ doors in light of COVID-19. It has since grown to include partnerships with dozens of local craftspeople looking for new avenues to sell their products directly to consumers, in lieu of brick-and-mortar stores. Peddler quickly ran out of space in their Ferndale Project location needing its own warehousing facility for their partner’s products.
“Our goal this year is to get our house in order. Once we found the time to take a deep breath and plan for the future, we came to the realization that we needed more dedicated space for our new ventures. While it may seem contradictory, we needed to expand once again to begin controlling the chaos,” said Shalyn Getz, President of Eastern Market Brewing Co.
Enter the former ROAK Brewing Company facility, a nearly 17,000 square foot warehouse near the heart of downtown Royal Oak, within 15 minutes of both their Eastern Market and Ferndale Project taprooms. Not only did it have the space and coolers that Peddler needed, it also had a full kitchen with a pizza oven, and the existing infrastructure to scale up their brewing operations over the next several years. While the goal in finding a new space wasn’t a third taproom, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
“Ultimately, just as we approached Ferndale Project, 330 E. Lincoln will become a new brewery concept,” said Getz. “We will always be taproom-focused and it’s important to us that each location reflects the neighborhood. I’m proud that both our Eastern Market and Ferndale locations share our mission of fostering human connection through craft, but the spaces and products are uniquely their own. We’re still building the strategy for what that looks like in Royal Oak. But I’ll give a hint: lots of barrel-aging.”
Eastern Market Brewing Co. has recently begun releasing barrel-aged beers at both Eastern Market and Ferndale Project taprooms with significant fan-fare from the craft beer community. With significantly more space in the new Royal Oak location, the possibilities are endless to launch barrel-aging and blending programs. Plus, the new 30-barrel brewhouse will ensure demand is met in a post-pandemic world and beyond.
However, Bartscht was clear they’re not going to rush a grand opening at 330 E. Lincoln: “Having opened two breweries, we know that it takes time to develop and execute a concept. On top of that, our entire team worked long hours throughout 2020. We all need to find time this year to get away and recharge. In the best-case scenario, we could open the new location to the public by the end of the year. In the meantime, we’re going to use the space to further expand our Peddler delivery service, scale the production of our vegan donut company, Dooped Donuts, and soon, we’ll announce a new pizza company based on the Detroit-style pizzas our Ferndale Project customers grew to love. Stay tuned!”
For More Information:
https://easternmarket.beer