Seattle’s Fremont Brewing Reopens Beer Garden Following Temporary Closure
Seattle-based Fremont Brewing reopened its beer garden on Sunday after a temporary closure following an employee testing positive for COVID-19.
“All of our Urban Beer Garden staff tested negative for COVID-19, and we did an extra deep sanitation cleaning of the entire Urban Beer Garden and both brewery locations,” the craft brewery posted on Facebook.
Co-owner Sara Nelson told Brewbound that more than 70 Fremont employees were tested and all were negative for COVID-19.
The closure lasted five days, and Fremont consulted a “medical professional who developed back-to-work protocols” for the company based on the latest CDC guidelines.
Fremont had limited capacity at its Urban Beer Garden to 50%, according to its website. Customers can reserve tables using the OpenTable app and are asked to limit their visits to two hours or fewer. Washington state requires masks to be worn and limits parties to five or fewer people.
Night Shift Brewing May Partner With Gaming Venue
Six weeks after calling off its Philadelphia expansion, Everett, Massachusetts-based Night Shift Brewing may add another taproom location in Natick, Massachusetts, in early 2021, according to the Natick Report.
The taproom would be part of a Level99, an immersive gaming venue slated to occupy the 48,000 sq. ft. former Sears department store inside the Natick Mall. A spokesperson for Night Shift described the company’s involvement in the project as “the exploratory phase of a potential partnership.”
Level99 would include 43 rooms for different, interactive games guests can play in groups. The venue’s target audience would be adults ages 21-39, but the taproom would be offset from activity spaces to separate it from underage guests.
Last month, Night Shift announced it was pulling the plug on the $12 million brewery in Philadelphia, due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sin City Brewing Closes All Locations
Sin City Brewing, a brewpub with four locations in Las Vegas, will not reopen, the company announced on social media last week.
A message from the Sin City Brewing Co. family… pic.twitter.com/OYeCXAhP7i
— Sin City Brewing Co. (@sincitybeer) June 17, 2020
The brewpub chain operated locations in the Grand Bazaar Shops at Bally’s; the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino; the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian; and at Harmon Corner. All locations are located on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Las Vegas casinos began reopening on June 3 after being closed since March 18, the gambling destination’s first major shut down since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Sin City brewed 2,500 barrels in both 2018 and 2019, according to the Brewers Association, which lists the company as a small contract brewer. Sin City brewmaster Richard Johnson founded the company after serving as director of brewing operations at Gordon Biersch.
Short’s Brewing Revives Arcadia Brewing Offerings
After a nine-month absence from the market, Arcadia Brewing’s Whitsun will return to statewide distribution in Michigan through a partnership Short’s Brewing’s Superfluid Supply Company, Superfluid announced.
“Arcadia Brewing Co. has long been one of Michigan’s legacy breweries,” Superfluid CEO Scott Newman-Bale said in the announcement. “We’re excited to carry on their tradition of brewing excellent craft products. Eventually, we’d love to bring other Arcadia brands to market, and we’re setting the stage to do just that.”
Arcadia ceased brewing operations in September. The company faced foreclosure after falling $1.4 million behind on its mortgage payments and owing $150,000 in back taxes. Arcadia’s mortgage holder, First National Bank of Michigan, assumed control over the financially distressed company’s property in March 2019.
According to MiBiz.com, Short’s acquired Arcadia’s intellectual property and beer brands. Thus far, Superfluid expects to exceed its initial projections of 1,000 barrels of Whitsun in just six weeks.
Modern Times Brewing Expands to Texas
San Diego-headquartered Modern Times will begin shipping beer to Texas through Ambiente Opco, a statewide beer and wine distributor, according to a press release.
“We are absolutely delighted to bring Modern Times to Texas,” Modern Times founder and CEO Jacob McKean said in the release. “Ambiente has a kickass team, and we’re really excited to hit the ground running with them.”
Texas will be Modern Times’ 28th state. In 2019, Modern Times’ volume increased 36%, to 70,150 barrels, according to the Brewers Association (BA). It ranked No. 44 on the BA’s list of top 50 craft breweries by volume. The company operates six taprooms in California (Los Angeles, Encinitas, Sana Barbara, Oakland and two in San Diego) and one in Portland, Oregon.
Ambiente’s craft beer portfolio includes Portland, Oregon-based Hopworks Urban Brewery and Texas-based breweries such as Grapevine-based Hop & Sting Brewing, Corpus Christie-based Lorelei Brewing and Arlington-based Legal Draft Beer Company.