Soon Downtown will be awash in craft-brewed ale.
Bold City Brewery plans to open a small craft brewery in Downtown’s Elbow district next year.
The company signed a lease last week for the storefront at 109 E. Bay St., adjacent to the Cowford Chophouse. The location was formerly occupied by Forge 3D Printing.
The move comes within a year of Intuition Ale’s bid to move Downtown near the Sports Complex.
Both homegrown breweries are based in Riverside.
Bold City’s Downtown storefront is owned by Jacques Klempf, who in June purchased three units in the building adjacent to the Chophouse to design a larger kitchen with a specific layout.
The deal brought extra offices and the opportunity to lease to a new tenant. Klempf approached Bold City Brewery with the option to lease the space a while back, said Susan Miller, who owns the company with her son, Brian.
“We’re doing it for the added exposure of being Downtown,” she said.
Klempf said he sought out the Millers as a neighbor because of their company’s professionalism and ethics. Though the Chophouse is expected to carry a full line of beverages, a brewery next door is still a good fit.
“Who knows? Maybe we’ll find a way to brew a Cowford crafted beer,” Klempf said.
Bold City Brewery is planning a shotgun-style layout, with a three-barrel brewery in the back of the building and a taproom in the front.
The Downtown location will be used to brew and distribute small-batch releases, which are useful to companies that want an unusual brew for a special promotion.
“It’s going to be kind of like our test kitchen,” Miller said. “We’ll be able to give our customers more of that variety and we’ll be able to brew it right there.”
The taproom will also offer the Bold City Brewery’s main brands — Killer Whale Cream Ale, Duke’s Cold Nose Brown Ale and Mad Manatee IPA.
The Downtown brewery and taproom is expected to open by August or September.
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