A pair of Western breweries are strengthening their ties to the East Coast.
Colorado-headquartered New Belgium Brewing Company is said to be opening a taproom at Mohegan Sun next month, according to a press release issued by the Connecticut casino and resort.
Meanwhile, Southern California’s The Bruery today announced that it would open a brick-and-mortar store in Washington, D.C., in November.
Mohegan Sun PR specialist Elizabeth Woodmancy told Brewbound that the resort reached a 2-year beer sponsorship deal to feature the New Belgium brand at the resort’s Race Book — a technologically advanced gaming area dedicated to thoroughbred, greyhound, harness and jai alai racing — inside the “Casino of the Earth.”
The 74-seat New Belgium Brewing Taproom, which will feature 12 draft lines pouring the company’s core lineup along with a rotation of sour and seasonal releases, will be owned and operated by Mohegan Sun.
The licensing agreement will give New Belgium, the fourth largest domestic craft brewing company, a secondary outpost on the East Coast. In April 2016, the company began shipping beer from its East Coast brewing facility in Asheville, North Carolina. The news follows last week’s announcement that the company was leading a group of investors — including Elysian Brewing co-founder Dick Cantwell and Belgium’s Oud Beersel — in the purchase of San Francisco-based Magnolia Brewing Company out of bankruptcy for $2.7 million.
In the another West-to-East move, The Bruery Store at Union Market District at 513 Morse Street Northeast is being established, in part, to allow members of its various “societies” to pickup online purchases. The general public will also be able to purchase bottles and can releases from The Bruery as well as its sister brands, Bruery Terreux and Offshoot Beer Co., according to a post on The Bruery’s blog.
The store will also offer merchandise and “potentially” growler/crowler fills for Society members and the general public.
A Washington, D.C., storefront gives the company a central presence for people along the East Coast to access the company’s beer, The Bruery said in the post.
“The city and surrounding area also boast a vibrant community and appetite for independent craft beer,” the company wrote. “In addition, a number of members in our Hoarders Society, Reserve Society and Preservation Society live in and around the area, and certainly within driving distance, making it easier than ever for them to pick up online bottle purchases of our most limited and exclusive releases at our D.C. store.”
The Bruery said a “notable” partner — to be named later — would share the 5,000 sq. ft. space. Find out more details here.
In January 2013, The Bruery closed a similar retail concept, The Bruery Provisions, in Southern California in order to focus attention on brewing and to improve service in its tasting room.
In May, The Bruery sold a majority stake to Castanea Partners, a Boston-area private equity firm. Brewbound reported at the time that as much as 20 percent of The Bruery’s products were sold directly to consumers.
“When we tell our story face-to-face, it is that much more impactful,” The Bruery founder Patrick Rue told Brewbound at the time.