Attention homebrewers, time to put your money where your mouth is. Those with dreams of taking their recipe to market can start designing that label. Isle Brewers Guild is finalizing the purchase of an old warehouse at 498 Kinsley Street for a proposed brew-by-contract operation. According to the ProJo,
The partners aim to help what they describe as “nano-breweries,” companies they said produce less than 3,000 barrels – 93,000 gallons – of beer annually.
The brewery would make beer under contract for five or six craft brewers who have outgrown their own production capacities. Duffy, Kelly and a third partner would retain a majority stake in the brewery, while the craft brewers each would have a minority stake.
Those brewing partners would sell their beer to retail customers at Isle’s Kinsley Avenue building.
The images at the Isle Brewers Guild website suggest a pretty ambitious project but architectural renderings have a way of super-sizing everything. This parcel is just across Sims Avenue from the Steel Yard (The site address of 498 Kinsley is still listed as the address at RIPAC, a medical marijuana advocacy coalition. No mention of a move). Let’s hope the new structures fit in with the industrial-cool character of the area.
But assuming the principals do get what’s great about the neighborhood then this could be an exciting addition to what the owners prefer to call “the Valley section” — Olneyville to the rest of us, although it is on the edge. In addition to the keg, bottling , and canning operation, the owners plan a sizable indoor retail operation with taproom and function facility. Outdoor festival areas are also planned.