USA, MI: ConfluxCity Brewing Co. eyeing fall opening in Portland

Jim Hilligan believes failure is key to brewing good craft beer.

In the last five years Hilligan, 31, and his wife Kiley, 32, have brewed hundreds of batches, but their first attempt, produced with a small kit they ended up with during a holiday gift exchange, "tasted horrible", the Lansing State Journal reported on May 30.

The second batch? That was better, according to Jim Hilligan.

The couple has been honing their artistic flair and learning the science of beer brewing one batch at a time since.

This fall, when they open their own brewery in a former auto repair garage and used car dealership at the corner of West Grand River Avenue and North Water Street, they’ll add everything from roasted pumpkin and butternut squash, blueberries, cinnamon sticks and bourbon-soaked vanilla beans to their creations.

ConfluxCity Brewing Co. will likely feature some of those results, including Squash Gobbler, Whittle Away and Bear Hug Porter, seasonal craft beers the Hilligans have invented together.

Go ahead and ask the Hilligans to explain the brewery’s name. They’ll be glad you asked.

It’s a play on the word “conflux,” which means a flowing together of two rivers or a coming together of people.

That honors Jim Hilligan's hometown of Portland, “the city of two rivers,” but it also speaks to the couple’s shared dream of starting a business where people come together.

“I like the fact that we get to explain it to them,” Jim Hilligan said. “As soon as they hear it, they’re like ‘Man, that’s cool.”

On May 31, the Hilligans stood on the ground level of their new business, where remodeling is ongoing.

Their son Hunter, 1, toddled around the empty concrete floor while they explained what's in store for the 4,000-square-foot space, which is located just across the street from Peppermint Twist Cafe, a restaurant and ice cream shop owned by Jim Hilligan's parents.

When the brewery opens in the fall, they'll offer food from the cafe to customers. They'll also encourage people to bring food with them when they come, if they want more than the popcorn, pretzels and snacks they plan to offer on site.

The Hilligans are doing most of the remodeling work themselves, with some help from family.

"And as much as we can we've going to get things from materials we've sourced ourselves," Jim said.

The couple said they got into craft beer brewing together when they met in Virginia. He was doing construction work and she worked for an insurance agency.

Both had tired of their jobs by the time they dove into the hobby, buying brewing equipment, testing recipes and making batches underneath the car port in their driveway.

"He liked the chemistry of it, and I liked the cooking and making it, then getting to enjoy the fruits of the labor," Kiley Hilligan said.

"I was brewing once or twice a week," Jim Hilligansaid. "And not having enough space, keg wise, for all the beer I was brewing, I started bottling it and giving it out to friends and family."

Then Jim Hilligan's father, Barry Hilligan bought the property across from his restaurant and suggested it may be the perfect spot for a brewery.

The Hilligans moved to Portland last year. They've thrown themselves into the project.

"It was like, 'Let's go do it. Let's do this thing,'" Jim Hilligan said.

The brewery's lower level will house boil kettles, tanks and other equipment.

The main level will look both rustic and industrial. The walls will be covered partly in planks of different textured wood from cherry, oak, pine and ash trees, and partly in steel. The couple is making the cherry table tops and bar stools for seating themselves.

The finished bar will feature 10 taps filled with staples and varying seasonal beers created downstairs. An outdoor seating area is being constructed off West Grand River Avenue.

"It will a place for the community to gather up, watch a game, talk to their friends and drink beer," Jim Hilligan said.

Kiley Hilligan said it's also sure to be a place where the couple can continue to craft unique beer together.

"We're very lucky," she said. "We make a great team. The way it all happened was really perfect, good timing."

Jim Hilligan has high hopes that customers will love the nuances of the beer as much as they do.

"I think everybody likes to do what we do, at least to some extent. They like to taste the beer, say 'Wow. That's different.' Talk about it and talk to the brewer and ask them how they did it. I hope they do that here."

01 June, 2017