USA, KY: Kyros Brewing Co. soon to open in Louisville’s Portland neighbourhood

At the soon to open, Kyros Brewing Co., located at 2425 Portland Ave. in Louisville, there are six co-owners, with three toddlers and a baby on the way that make up the "team" that runs the beer garden, the Courier-Journal reported on March 22.

Co-owners Rich and Cameron Shanks, Taylor and Sarah Diaz, and Nooch and Jeana Saeedi initially bonded over their faith at Kingdom Life Church, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that their shared love of craft beer and homebrewing would inspire them to open their own brewery.

"I kept joking about starting a brewery and then one day I was like, 'Nooch, you know I'm not joking about starting a brewery, right?' And then it kind of all came from there," Taylor said.

In 2020, the Shanks started remodeling their house in the Douglass Hills area right as the pandemic halted everything. Suddenly forced out of their house for renovations, they found themselves staying with the Saeedi family in the Portland neighborhood.

Every evening during their two weeks stay, the Shanks' found themselves enjoying "porch time" — a socially distant, outdoor gathering with their friends and some of Taylor and Nooch's homebrewed beers.

Taylor, who is the Kyros Brewing brewmaster, has been homebrewing with his wife Sarah for the last five years and Nooch, who handles management, has been brewing on and off again with friends and family for at least 15 years.

"What we loved about it was the community that was really created," Cameron told the Courier Journal. "We could sit, and talk about any subject, and respectfully listen to one another, and share ideas and share our heart with ... no fear of being judged and it was just really cool. We want to recreate that."

Once each family received their pandemic stimulus checks, Taylor's ongoing joke about opening a brewery started to seem like a feasible task. The group of six began looking for a location and brewing equipment.

It took three years, but with equipment gathered, beer recipes completed, and a space rented, the group created the family-focused brewery they all wanted. Since both the Diaz’s and Saeedi’s have young children, they wanted their brewery to be a place where families could come together with their children.

"This is our back porch now," Nooch said.

After more than $30,000 of personal investment and some prayers, the crew landed on their "kairos," an opportune and decisive moment to open. The Greek word was also the inspiration for the brewery's name.

"We added a little twist on it since we're in Kentucky … we changed it to KY for Kentucky," Sarah said.

The brewery is waiting to receive its alcohol license but has already passed other inspections, Rich said. The beer garden will have a grand opening sometime in May, with a projected soft opening with friends and Instagram followers in early spring.

Kyros Brewing Co. will have three or four signature beers on its menu, with a rotating list of seasonal offerings. Some of the signature beers, which will cost between $5 and $7, are a Scotch Ale, a Jalapeño Porter, a Raspberry Gose, and a Belgian Tripel made with Portland-grown honey.

The brewery also intends to offer beers to local restaurants, like Brickhouse Tavern in Plainview, and will have juices and possibly root beer on tap for kids and non-drinkers.

"I've always loved craft beer as long as I can remember," Taylor said. "Then once I started writing around my own recipes we found out and I was pretty good at it (homebrewing)."

The beer garden will not serve food but will allow patrons to bring in their own food. In the future, the co-owners hope to offer food trucks or even partner with their building neighbors, Farm to Fork Catering.

"I think one of the things we're bringing to this space is a place where families can come and hang out in Portland," Nooch said. "Something in the evening and be a place that's cozy and homey and gives, I think, a different expression of what many people think of when they think of Portland."

Kyros Brewing Co. is located in the heart of the Portland neighborhood and shares a building with Farm to Fork Catering, though the businesses are separate entities.

"I absolutely fell in love with the space five years ago when it was open as Farm to Fork Cafe in the front and I literally walked in and said, 'man, I want this space,'" Taylor said.

The brewery is housed in the back, third unit of the Portland Avenue address, in the space previously occupied by Gelato Gilberto. It can only be accessed from the back of the building through the alley.

The space currently has two picnic tables and a small courtyard, which will serve as the beer garden. There is also a small indoor lounge space with a couple of tables and chairs for people to gather just past the commercial-grade kitchen. As a family-oriented brewery, there will also be children-friendly play areas.

"I love sharing beer with people in a way that brings people together and the community that it can create," Taylor said.

Following the grand opening in May, Kyros will be open Fridays from 3:30-10 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 1-10 p.m. Updated hours will be posted once the brewery permanently opens.

22 March, 2023