USA, KY: Braxton Brewing Co. sets opening date for second location

Covington's Braxton Brewing Co. has set an opening date for its second location, which will focus on innovation and experimental styles of beer, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported on May 18.

Braxton Labs, in the former Ei8ht Ball Brewing space in the Party Source in Bellevue, is hosting a grand opening party May 26. The party will unveil the first brews to come out of the innovation lab, as well as music from the Kentucky Struts and food by Cheese N Chong.

Braxton Labs is a 1,500-barrel facility that exists to push the envelope of craft beer innovation and flavor. The lab will allow the brewery to try new things, like sours or barrel aging or anything off-the-wall its team can come up with, while allowing the home base to play the hits.

"When our leadership team sat down to discuss a future where we had nearly 2,000 barrels of capacity to dedicate solely to innovation, every aspect of the company was thrilled,” Jake Rouse, co-founder and CEO, said in a news release. “This space will be home to beers that are both on and off trend, educational experiments for the curious craft beer drinker, collaborations across multiple categories, and so much more. Simply put, creativity will be the lifeblood of Braxton Brewing Company for years to come, and Braxton Labs will be the dedicated home to those projects!”

Braxton Labs allows the brewery to beef up its production in the original Covington brewery – it's brewing capacity is at about 15,000 barrels in 2017 – while shifting its experimental brewing to the new space. Rouse didn't disclose the amount of investment in Braxton Labs but said after adding new tanks in Covington and adding 10 new jobs between its two facilities as part of the expansion Braxton will have invested more than $1 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Small 15-barrel batches of beer will be crafter for limited sale at Braxton Labs before being distributed and eventually packaged for sale. Hours at the new location will be 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m.-midnight Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday.

19 May, 2017