EARTHBOUND BEER ANNOUNCES EXPANSION
CHEROKEE STREET, ST LOUIS, MO: Earthbound Beer is jazzed to announce an expansion from their current location, a ten foot wide hallway on Cherokee Street that once housed a nail salon, to the former Cherokee Brewing Company stockhouse located at 2724 Cherokee Street. A nano-brewery by classification, Earthbound brews beer 45 gallons (1.5 bbl) at a time and will produce roughly 70 distinct beers across 120 brew days during their first year.
“We wanted to start very small, so we could get to know our customers and focus on making a large number of very experimental beers” said Stuart Keating, the head brewer and president. “Fortunately, St. Louis’ fantastic beer-drinking community has responded very well to what we are doing, and we’re pleased to increase our size and capacity so that we can get bigger and weirder.“
The new location is a mere 100 feet from the current brewery and served as the stockhouse for the Cherokee Brewing Company, which occupied the entire block from 1866 to 1899. The brewery will occupy the main floor of the building and adjoining biergarten, and will eventually expand into two sub-basements, totaling some 8,000 square feet in all.
“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished in our thousand square feet of hallway, but after spending 80 hours a week in there, every week, we’re ready to grow.” said Rebecca Schranz, Earthbound’s apprentice brewer and VP of Business Development. “Plus, after apprenticing with Stuart, I’ve started developing my own recipes, and with more space we’ll be able to keep more beer on tap.”
Earthbound is working with the building’s owner to renovate the façade and restore the building’s seventeen foot ceilings and cavernous basements. “The Cherokee Brewing Company was known for its biergarten, reportedly the largest in Saint Louis” said Schranz. “We’ll be tearing out the parking lot next to the brewery and turning it into beautiful green space where people can hang out and enjoy the usually acceptable St Louis weather.” The taproom will be sized to host 263 people, a significant increase over the current facility’s 32 seats.
Earthbound will also upgrade their brewing equipment, purchasing a seven barrel brewhouse and canning line, as well as adding food and cocktails to their taproom selections. “A seven barrel brewhouse gives us the flexibility to continue producing unique beers like the Rosemary Juniper Pale Ale and Dead Druid King while canning seasonal favorites like the Thai Basil IPA and Slam Dunkel” said Jeff Siddons, Earthbound’s cellar dweller and VP of Operations. “Also, we’re going to sell really good hotdogs made with our beer, so even if you can get cans of Earthbound at your favorite bottle shop you still have a reason to come say hello.”
Earthbound will take possession of the location on November 1 and aim to start brewing for distribution in early 2016. They will keep their current location operational until the full taproom opens, anticipated for June 2016. “We’re doing most of the buildout ourselves and we’re committed to maintaining the look and feel of the current taproom in our new location” said Keating. “It’ll just be slightly wider than ten feet.”
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