USA, NC: Rivermen Brewing Co. aiming at spring opening

Belmont residents have been waiting with bated, beer-starved breath for a local brewery to complete its move downtown.

Rivermen Brewing Co. owner Pat Brennan said he understands that local craft beer aficionados are restless. But if all goes well from here on out, the first customers will be able to walk through the door this spring, the Gaston Gazette reported on January 30.

"Right now, we're looking probably at early April," he said this week. "It just adds up to the amount of time it takes to get something like this off the ground. It's the natural progression of things."

Brennan announced a year ago that he would be relocating Rivermen from its original industrial space beside the Catawba River to a brick building at 52 Ervin St. That site is only a block off Main Street, where it stands to gain from downtown foot traffic.

The space is tucked out of view behind the U.S. Post Office in Belmont. But it will gain unique visibility when a new parallel greenway and Belmont trolley line next door become active in the next year or two.

Last June, Brennan was still eyeing a late-summer opening date. But complications tied to redeveloping a historic building with old bones made that impossible. He has tried to keep eager patrons up to date and reassure them that progress is being made with regular updates on Rivermen's Facebook page.

"We've got a few more design elements to submit to the county (building inspector) to wrap things up," he said. "It's just the way things go in an old building like this."

Brennan said plans are still for the brewery to feature 20 rotating taps, and to offer a food menu with a farm-to-table culinary concept. He expects the space to have a unique atmosphere that will allow it to coexist nicely with other established pubs downtown.

02 February, 2017