This fall, a new brewery is set to open in a Cincinnati neighborhood.
Cincinnati.com reports that The Woodburn Brewery will set up shop in East Walnut Hills later this year. Chris Mitchell and Dennis Chacón, the managing partners of the brewery, have extensive experience in the brewing industry and have 14 investors on board with them. The investors, like the managing partners, have extensive experience in brewing.
The Woodburn Brewery reflects a national trend of an increase of new breweries. It is estimated that a majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery.
The brewery will occupy 4,000 square-feet of land in a building originally built as a movie theater in 1909. Though an outline of the movie screen is still visible on the back wall, the building has also served as a bank and a dry cleaners before becoming a brewery.
Mitchell said he will preserve and commemorate as much of the building’s extensive history as possible. The brewery, for example, will keep the exposed brick layout and will re-install the former bank vault gate. It will also be designed in order to allow tap room visitors to see the brewery itself through a large glass wall.
“It’s got that Union Terminal feel, with sandstone in the front and art deco style,” Mitchell said.
He hopes to include space for 120 people and to be open for seven days a week.
Upon opening, the brewery plans on making up to six house brews to start out with, including a pineapple saison, a red porter, and an India pale ale (IPA) brewed with genuine Spanish cedar. The brewery’s pride, however, happens to be an award-winning pilsner, the rights of which the investors acquired from the German brewery BrauHaus Espelkamp.
Mitchell has been brewing beer at home for at least 15 years, which he feels will make all the difference once business gets started.
“I think our willingness to experiment is going to set us apart,” he said. “We’re not just going to have six flagship beers and that’s it.”
The Woodburn Brewery may even distribute its beer to local bars and restaurants depending on how the opening goes. It already owns 20 barrels for brewing. Mitchell plans on brewing at least 500 barrels its first year.