USA, KY: Gravely Brewing Co. owners shooting for early May opening

When Gravely Brewing Co. opens later this year — owners Nathaniel Gravely and Corey Buenning are shooting for early May — it will mark the end of a long brewing drought in the Phoenix Hill neighbourhood, Insider Louisville reported on February 7.

The new brewery-meets-music-venue is situated in a spot that previously was part of Phoenix Brewery, a nationally revered brewery and beer garden that once was a cornerstone of Louisville as not just a brewery but also an event space.

In fact, before deciding to purchase the former home of Pride Tile Co. at 514 Baxter Ave., Gravely first looked at a building next door that originally was the horse stable for Phoenix Brewery — and the only part of the original brewery that remains.

For years, that building had housed Acme Auto Electric, and until recently bore hand-painted murals recalling Phoenix Brewery and its history.

“I wanted it because of the history,” Gravely says, noting that both he and Buenning, who are brothers-in-law, are of German descent. What stopped them from acquiring that building was the sheer amount of work they felt would be needed to turn the place into what he wanted. Instead, he chose the spot next door, which also includes tunnels formerly used for lagering beer.

The former Pride Tile space is nearly 12,000 square feet — roughly 1,500 square feet will be allotted for the taproom, which will be on the left side of the building when facing it from the street. Gravely plans to install a bar about 50 feet long in tribute to the famed Phoenix Brewery outdoor bar that was about 92 feet long.

The music venue, meanwhile, will account for about 3,500 square feet. Gravely, who has worked extensively in the music business, says when live music is happening, a thick stage curtain will divide the tap room from the stage area, with half the bar being exposed to serve customers on each side. The stage area in the back right corner of the space is on a downward slope, which Gravely says will help with acoustics.

Asked if the beers will have musical names, Buenning chuckles and says, “We’ve been compiling names for two years now.”

Gravely believes it makes sense to connect beer with music from an artistic perspective; both require creativity and expression.

“At the end of the day,” he says, “music and beer are really on the same team.”

The brewing system is expected to be delivered by April 1; it will be a 15-barrel system with five 15-barrel fermenters plus 40-barrel hot and cold liquor tanks. Sometime down the road, if all goes as planned, the brewhouse will be expanded to include larger fermenters and a packaging line.

To start with, however, Gravely Brewing Co. will focus on draft sales around the Louisville area, with bomber (22-ounce bottle) releases being the only packaged beers.

“It will be hyper local,” Gravely says.

Gravely says he’s actually been planning to open a music venue since 2009 when he nearly acquired a space farther south on Baxter Avenue. He also looked at other cities, but ultimately decided Louisville was the right fit. Buenning had been brewing at Snake River Brewing in Wyoming.

“It’s a music town almost more so than a beer town,” Buenning says. Gravely says he’s already been receiving calls from bands wanting to book shows.

That said, Buenning and Gravely will take the beer quite seriously, even though he is tight-lipped about what people can expect. He does admit he likes his hops, however, and says he also will do some experimental brews.

The space will undergo a $1 million renovation that will involve knocking down some walls and changing the general floor plan fairly extensively. Work has already begun to transform the building to meet Gravely’s vision.

“You’ll know it’s a brewery,” he says with a smile when talking about plans.

And it will be a brewery on a fitting parcel of land, with the last remnants of Phoenix Brewery literally next door, and the original lagering tunnels just feet from where the 50-foot bar will sit.

06 February, 2017