River North Forced Out From Facility
River North Brewing is being forced out of the emergent Denver neighborhood it’s both named after and has called home since opening three and a half years ago. As reported by Westword, the company is closing its taproom and production brewery this October as the building’s owners have decided to raze the structure and construct, in its place, a luxury apartment complex.
To keep operations running smoothly, the brewery will move its equipment into a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse space, twice as large as its current digs, four miles away. Though the company was given six months notice, founder Matthew Hess told the website he was surprised by how difficult securing a new space turned out to be.
“Most of the places we talked to didn’t see much value in a brewery, even one that has been around for a while and been successful,” he told Westword. “We were in dire straits.”
He added, however, the company expects to only be temporarily absent from the River North neighborhood. “We will be looking to come back to River North with a flagship tap room as soon as we can,” he said.
Kroger Expands Beer Station Initiative
In an effort to “court beer lovers,” Kroger, one of the country’s largest grocery chains, is expanding its beer station initiative and installing in-store taps at two of its Ohio stores this fall. Additional outlets in the Cincinnati-Northern and Kentucky-Dayton markets are also expected to be receive draft systems in 2016, reports Cincinnati.com. Once operating, customers will be able to bring in or buy growlers for fills to take home. Flights for on-site tastings will also be an option.
“Wine and growler bars are a natural evolution for our adult beverage departments,” said Jason Milburn, Kroger’s national beer coordinator. “By adding growlers, we are able to introduce our customers to new and emerging breweries that are only available on draft.”
The company has long operated beer stations inside of some locations in Arizona, Columbus and Atlanta. In 2015, it began adding growler stations to select stores in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, New Mexico and in the Pacific Northwest at Fred Meyer and QFC Chains, the website said.
Redskins, Dolphins Bolster Craft Selection
Add the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins to the growing list of professional sports teams expanding the beer selections at their stadiums to include more craft offerings.
According to the Washington Post, the Redskins introduced the “Craft Beer Corner” at FedEx Field this preseason, a stand where fans can buy brands from home market beer makers like Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, Port City and Jail Break. There are also non-local craft brands available from the likes of New Belgium, Magic Hat, and Goose Island.
Down in Miami, per the Miami New Times, the team installed two taprooms in Sun Life Stadium Stadium’s lower levels that will sell local beer on draft from the likes of Cigar City, Funky Buddha, Wynwood Brewing and more.
“These two taprooms were really, really important to me and I hope it’s a bit of a sensation because there aren’t really too many stadiums that have anything like this,” Ben Metzger, Sun Life’s director of concessions and retail management, told the New Times.
BrewDog to Host Pair of Public Meetings in Ohio
BrewDog will host two public meetings in Ohio this month to answer questions and address concerns from the community regarding the planned construction of $30.4 million brewery in the Columbus area.
“We have experienced overwhelming outreach from the Columbus region and throughout the U.S. from folks asking about the project. Who we are. How they can help. And when we will start hiring,” Katie Murphy Hamilton, BrewDog’s ‘expansion matriarch,’ told Ohio.com. “Many of the concerns raised are easily quelled, so the event will provide an opportunity for us to state the reasons why residents need not worry, and we’ll also be presenting some killer sustainable resolutions which prove our commitment to making our Ohio brewery the best it can possibly be.”
Such concerns weren’t specified.
The first meeting will take place on September 8 at the Canal Winchester Community Center at 6 p.m. The second will take place at the Giant Eagle Market District on September 10 at 6 p.m.