E-Malt.com News article: USA, MI: Six Spoke Brewery coming to Detroit soon

Two James Distillery and Cork & Gabel in Corktown will soon welcome new neighbor when a section of the building that currently houses both businesses is transformed into a craft brewery in the coming months, the Eater Detroit reported on January 11.

The spot will be called Six Spoke Brewery, a nod to the “spokes” that make up the city’s major roadways, says founder Jordan Mifsud — whose father Joe Mifsud owns the building on the 2400 block of Michigan Avenue. Mifsud tells Eater that he’s is having brewing equipment installed in the space now and that he hopes to be able to open this summer.

Mifsud says that he became inspired to launch the effort after seeing the success of Clark & Gabel, a sit-down restaurant and bar that his dad opened in 2018. Being within a block or so of the Michigan Central Train Station — which is currently in the final months of redevelopment by Ford Motor Company subsidiary Michigan Central Innovation District LLC — and the makeover of Roosevelt Park, the area is expected to draw even more workers, residents, and visitors to the city’s oldest neighborhood.

“With Corktown really popping off like it’s been, there’s no better place to do it than Corktown,” says Mifsud. “My wife and I both had corporate jobs and we were thinking, ‘my dad’s already got his hand in this, maybe if we partnered with [him], we can kind of get into business for ourselves.’”

Mifsud says he’s in the final stages of bringing on an as-of-yet unnamed head brewer, who he says has experience working for other more established Michigan breweries and says that he wants Six Spoke to produce a wide variety of beer. In addition, he says the bar will also feature a limited menu of snacks like pretzels, sausage, and other shareable bites. In addition, a sprawling outdoor patio has been built out, which will offer guests summertime lounging options when the time comes.

Corktown over the past decade or so has seen a boom in new restaurants and bars, but also an influx of microbreweries, including the opening of Batch Brewing Company and Brew Detroit, both in 2015. Trumbull Brewing and Distillery is in the inside a 5,000-square-foot space at 1515 W. Lafayette. Developer Rick Stanza (Metropolitan Variety) told Eater last fall that he was working to identify a funding source to develop the project and hoped to be able to open in fall 2023.

Speaking of Metropolitan Variety, the bar-neighborhood market-restaurant in Detroit’s West Village area, Stanza tells Eater that its latest menu iteration has been unveiled.

Stanza says the food menu is now a better fit for the chill neighborhood vibes that he originally wanted the space to embody when he opened the space in 2021. That means a brief selection of wraps, salads, fried chicken drumsticks and tenders, roasted veggies, and other casual offerings that can be enjoyed at the bar or for takeout along with the staples, beers, and wines available at the adjoining convenience store.


12 January, 2023