E-Malt.com News article: USA, MI: Grand Rapids Brewing Co. to reopen

Grand Rapids bar owner Mark Sellers has purchased the assets of the recently closed Grand Rapids Brewing Co. with plans to reboot the brand again in a new location downtown, Mlive.com reported on September, 1.

Sellers said he's still considering several locations for the new Grand Rapids Brewing Co.

He purchased the brewing system and other contents of the former location. In a separate deal, he bought the rights to the GRBC brand and beers like the historic Silver Foam (one of the bestselling brands in the region prior to Prohibition) from Schelde Enterprises. Schelde had run the brewpub until 2010, when it sold the business to John Ljuljduraj and Mark DeHahn.

Rights to the business reverted to Schelde when the operation closed, Sellers said.

“It's a great brand and it's been mismanaged, in my opinion, so I thought if I could move it to a different location and really focus on rebuilding that brand it could be successful,” said Sellers, whose other bars include Hopcat, Stella's Lounge, The Viceroy, McFadden's and a part ownership of The Pyramid Scheme.

“I see basically zero brand equity right now,” he said. “It will be really easy to get people to realize it's different now. They don't have a horrible, horrible reputation. They just have no reputation.”

Hopcat already has a small in-house brewery, but GRBC's brewing system has two 15-barrel fermenters and two seven-barrel fermenters has far more capacity – enough to produce about 1,000 barrels a year.

Grand Rapids Brewing Co. opened on 28th Street in 1993, reviving a brand that died after Prohibition along with Silver Foam, a light pilsner-style brew.

Sellers said he plans to revive Silver Foam again but likely will ask a brewmaster to come up with a new recipe.

“It's not like thousands of people liked that recipe,” he said.

Still to be determined is whether the new GRBC will be a microbrewery or a brewpub.

The former would allow it to bottle and distribute its products at retail outlets and other bars.

The latter would allow the restaurant to have a full bar and sell beer for takeout, but not for distribution in retail channels.

The most recent GRBC incarnation was a brewpub as is Hopcat.

Founders Brewing Co. and smaller area breweries like Schmohz are classified as microbreweries under Michigan law.

If all goes according to plan, Sellers said he will lease a space rather than buying one for the new venture. He expects the new GRBC to be the last for his Barfly Ventures LLC.

“After that I'm going to manage what I have,” he said.

Sellers previously announced plans to open Beatnik Brewing Co. in a building he planned to buy on Commerce Avenue. He abandoned the concept when he decided to pursue Pyramid Scheme and financing for the brewery became an issue. This time around he doesn't expect to need a bank loan.

Grand Rapids Brewing Co.'s planned revival means there are at least three new breweries in various stages of planning in the city. Harmony Brewing Co., a brewpub in Eastown, is expected to open this fall. Elk Brewing Co. is in the early stages of development on Wealthy Street SE.

North of Grand Rapids Rockford Brewing Co. is in the early stages of development but has yet to secure financing or publicly announce its planned location.

The original Grand Rapids Brewing Co. had been located at Michigan Street and Ionia Avenue at the site of what is now a state office building. The area had been chosen because of a cool, gushing spring in that area. GRBC closed when Prohibition took effect, but several other breweries occupied the building after its repeal.

Fox Deluxe Brewery was the final company to operate the facility, closing the distinctive "Rhineland Castle" style brewery in 1951. The city demolished it as part of a wave of urban renewal in 1967.


02 September, 2011