E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: Knox County Brewing Co. to hold grand opening on October 20

Galesburg’s Knox County Brewing Co. is set to have its grand opening Oct. 20 with live music and a local food truck, the Galesburg Register-Mail reported on September 28.

Matthew and Sarah Hansen will open the newest microbrewery in Galesburg at the Sustainable Business Center, 2900 W. Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Smokin’ Willies BBQ will be on-site as a food option with live music from New Cats on a stage within the pub.

The Hansens have been reworking the former en season restaurant location into their own with a table and chairs area, more comfortable chairs area and high top tables spread evenly throughout. One area could be cleared off as the stage area for live music, which the Hansens plan to have.

While the business will not operate a kitchen, KCBC plans to offer meat and cheese platters while also working with food trucks in the area. In fact, the Hansens plan to talk with food truck operators at Saturday’s Food Truck and Art Fest in downtown Galesburg.

The Hansens gave thanks to Galesburg City Council and the Sustainable Business Center as they said both were “amazing” to work with.

The couple wants area residents to know that KCBC will be family friendly and, when the weather is nice, outdoor seating will be available where kids would be allowed to play games.

“We’re going to have craft sodas in bottles, hopefully on draft. We’re going to have food trucks set up outside hopefully on most of the weekends. We’re going to partner with Cornucopia and Thrushwood Farms on meat and cheese plates and we’ve got a line-up of bands that we’ve already started to book that we’re going to announce as well,” Matthew Hansen said.

The plan is to have four to six Knox County Brewing Co. beers on tap with two slots for DeNovo Beverage Monmouth and a slot for a gluten-free beer. There are also ongoing talks with G&M Distributors for wine offerings, but Hansen, with a smile, said of course he will try to convert wine drinkers into beer drinkers.

Once some of those draft beers start to sell well, it is expected some of them will get names, maybe with a historical tie to the area, and become flagship beers.

Starting out, KCBC will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday with set times yet to be determined. The Hansens plan to use Wednesdays for holiday bookings, but once spring rolls around more evenings could be in play.

But KCBC already has received some bookings before opening.

“Culturally, I think we’re ready for something new. I think we’re ready for growth. We’re ready for locally based businesses,” Matthew Hansen said.

“We don’t just give back through our taxes. We are an organization through every beer we brew and sell, we’re giving money back to local non-profits. I think that’s interesting to people and that instead of paying a little less to get our tap handles manufactured in China, we had them made from a woodworker here.”

He continued, “Instead of paying less to have our flight boxes made somewhere overseas, we had them made from a woodworker here. So the fact that we’re willing to pay a little more for locally made products, the fact that we are constantly looking for ethical supply chains in anything we resource ourselves with and that we’re giving back from our profits, I think people are interested in that.”

Following up on that, the Hansens haven’t quite decided how supporting nonprofits will work. Some options include: several nonprofits that split a pool; a specially made beer for an event or organization like Iron Spike Brewing Company did for The Orpheum’s 100th year; picking a nonprofit on a yearly, biannual or quarterly basis; or another option.

Citing a recent study, Hansen said for every local brewer 33 jobs are created, whether that be in manufacturing, wholesale retail or farming.

That “means the brewer has the power of where they’re going to create those jobs. So if we outsource everything through companies that buy from China or other big corporate businesses, we’re creating jobs but not right here in our own county. And if we’re here to support our county, then we want to use that power that is gifted to us to create jobs and resources right here.”


30 September, 2018