E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Rock County Brewing to open in downtown Janesville by the beginning of 2016

A Janesville microbrewery has landed a home downtown for brewing, tapping and selling beer that three local craft brewers say will fly under the name Rock County Brewing, Gazettextra reported on August 13.

“We wanted it to be simple. No big gimmicks, no crazy, extreme names or product labels. The beer and the location will do the talking. We'll teach people that like big-name, light beer that beer made with hops that have a little flavour and colour isn't a bad thing,” said Janesville resident Andy Walker, one of the brewery's partners and brewers.

Walker along with Janesville resident John Rocco, who owns Janesville home-brewing retailer Farmhouse Brewing Supply, and Rockton, Illinois, resident Ed Sundstedt, an employee at Rocco's store, signed a lease last week at the former Carriage Works building at the northeast corner of Milwaukee Street and Parker Drive in downtown Janesville.

The partners will have a three-barrel microbrewery and tasting room in the Carriage Works' northeast end along the east side of North Parker Drive.

The Rock County Brewing partners say they'll submit plans within weeks for city review to wall off the back portion for fermenting and brewing operations.

Rocco said this week it'll be a four- to six-month process to get federal and state approval to run the microbrewery, and the brewery also needs approval of site and operating plans from the city's plan commission and the city council.

If all goes well, Rocco said this week, Rock County Brewing could be producing and selling beer for walk-in customers and under distribution deals with a small number of downtown taverns by January or February.

The council in May approved key zoning changes to allow microbreweries and brewpubs to operate in the city's downtown business district, setting limits for gallons of beer produced based on state law.

Rock County Brewing for months has been trying to find a place to house a brewery, which would start on a small, local scale with 260 to 300 barrels of annual production.

Rock County Brewing plans to have anywhere from six to 10 varieties of beer on tap, with varieties ranging from light-coloured ales to a spicy Saison, a Belgian-style farmhouse ale.

The brewers, who each have between 10 and 15 years experience brewing craft beer, said they want to brew a slew of varieties each month. Rocco said he and his partners don't have a flagship variety they'd try to market under Rock County Brewing.

“We all like a lot of styles and varieties. We've all got a lot of different ideas and tastes and have to see what people will like,” Rocco said.

Barry Badertscher, a local real estate broker, helped Kennedys reach a deal on the Carriage Works this year, and then brokered a lease deal with Rock County Brewing.

He calls the microbrewery a “progressive” step as the downtown enters a riverfront revitalization that would in part revamp the area as a hub for adult entertainment.

“This is how I think re-development will happen here. It'll be engineered one step at a time. You can build a distinctive flavour and a destination for people,” Badertscher said.

A trickier philosophical hurdle, Badertscher said, is to erase a local notion he believes is pervasive, yet false: that only a small number of Janesville residents are open to trying something new, such as a downtown microbrewery.

“I don't believe there's a lack of open-minded people in Janesville who'll embrace something new and different,” Badertscher said. “I think there's just a shortage of people who want to be open-minded that we've got open-mindedness here.”


19 August, 2015