ATTENTION: Gray's Opening Brew Pub
THU., AUG 10, 2006 - 12:04 PM
Hopping into brew pub market
BARRY ADAMS
608-252-6148
badams@madison.com
Beer aficionado Pete Kroll is getting his wish, but he's also patiently waiting.
Brew pubs - businesses that combine beer production with a restaurant - are on the rise, though owners say keeping them viable is a constant challenge. By the end of the year, three more will open their taps, giving Dane County eight brew pubs.
Two are being built near malls, while the other will open in Verona, one of the fastest- growing cities in Wisconsin.
But Kroll, 59, of Sun Prairie, another of the state's fastest- growing cities, is hoping that his city of about 25,000 people will be next in line for a brew pub.
Kroll owns a business called Glasses, Mugs & Steins and sells glassware. He's also an avid beer drinker looking for unique flavors.
"I don't think we have too many," Kroll said of the area's brew pubs. "I'd be happy to see more because I like to try different things."
According to the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo., 42 brew pubs opened in 2005 to bring the number nationwide to 979.
But the better news, according to the association, was that fewer brew pubs closed - 58 last year, compared with 83 in 2004. Brew pubs also increased their production, producing 651,623 barrels of beer in 2005, almost a 3 percent increase from the year before.
Association Director Paul Gatza believes the restaurant industry has finally recovered from the effects of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. And he notes that many of the new brew pubs are being opened by already established brew pub companies.
"Things have turned around the last two years, but before that, it was a very difficult time for brew pubs," Gatza said.
In December, Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. will open another location near Hilldale Shopping Center. In 2005, the company's Downtown brew pub ranked 10th in the country in beer production for brew pubs.
Granite City Food & Brewery, a Minneapolis-based company, has 13 locations, all in the Midwest, and is building five more, including one at West Towne Mall. The company brews its beer a bit differently than most. It starts the process at a wort house in central Iowa, where malted barley is mashed and hops are added. The wort mixture is then shipped to the brew pubs, where yeast is added and fermentation begins.
"When you get into a chain atmosphere, consistency is key," wort house brewmaster Larry Chase told the Brewers Association publication The New Brewer. "The wort house allows us to better control our consistency in the beer, but it reduces up-front and ongoing costs of having a brewery on- site. You have to sell a lot of beer to keep up a brewery in a restaurant."
In Verona, Gray's Brewing Co. of Janesville will open its first brew pub this fall to help mark its 150th anniversary. The brew pub, part of the Vincenzo Plaza development at Highway PB and Whalen Road, will feature an outdoor fire pit and wood-fired pizza ovens. The brewery operation also will help test Gray's products, which include sodas.
"This is an entity that has its own taste, smell and feel. This will really represent who we are," said Fred Gray, a fifth- generation brewer. "I think there's definitely more room (for brew pubs) because each one is a different entity."
This will be the place we hold our first stockholders meeting.
Every day I do some DD and I keep finding good reason, why I am convinced that Rushnet has so much potential.
Pete
GO GATORS
statements made by me are considered opinions of mine unless those statements are made of facts.
