MADISON COUNTY, Ky. — A microbrewery in Richmond is growing its business, after voters approved looser alcohol sale laws in Madison County.
Dreaming Creek Brewery will open a second location 30 minutes down the road in Berea, mainly for production.
A majority of voters (67%) approved a referendum in May to go “wet” which loosened alcohol sale restrictions in communities like Berea. Soon Madison County will see additional tax revenue from alcohol sales and hopes it attracts businesses to open up shop.
Patrick Fannin, head brew master at Dreaming Creek Brewery in Richmond, said they’ve needed more space for a while.
“Right now, our tanks are as high as they’re going to go. The ceilings are as high as they are, so we really need some bigger tanks so we can put beer into cans and get it on shelves in a more efficient manner,” Fannin said.
Dreaming Creek opened its doors in April 2018. Fannin has been there since Aug. 2018. Now, with growing popularity, the brewery will open a second location.
“Having a second taproom is instant sales and engagement with our customers,” Fannin said.
Recently, the brewery owners closed on a building in Berea at 207 N. Broadway. Fannin said it’s a location they’ve had their eyes on for a while, but because of Madison County being a moist county, liquor laws prohibited them brewing and selling their product there.
“That’s going to be about a 9,000 square foot building and about 8,000 square feet of that is going to be for production, which is more than we have here total in this (current) entire building,” Fannin said.
Dreaming Creek Brewery makes around 90% of its sales from the taproom, the other 10% comes from distribution.
It’s in Berea’s Artisan Village; full of craftsmen's shops and the visitors’ center for the town. It’s an area. Berea Mayor Bruce Fraley says it’s one of his favorites and is always popular with visitors.
“Berea is a tourist town. We do a very good tourism business and have a lot of people that like to visit here. So having the full alcohol sales will bring more business and it’ll bring, we think, it’ll bring even more tourists,” Fraley said.
It’s a major change for Berea, a city that’s maintained a moist status. Fraley grew up here and moved back to raise his family.
“Our job in the city is to implement the will of the people and to respect people who supported it and those who didn’t, because there were good people that were on both sides of this question,” Fraley said.
Fraley said alcohol sales will provide a new source of revenue and hopes looser alcohol laws make Berea more attractive to businesses.
“There are businesses that had alcohol as part of their business model before that chose not to come to Berea, but we think this will get us more looks and more consideration for a business locating or expanding here,” Fraley said.
Fannin said Bereans already come to Richmond for their beer and most people are excited about their taproom to open.
“We are getting calls every day asking when we’re opening, if we’re hiring, if we want to want certain types of vendors for certain things, we taproom. There’s a lot of people are very excited that we’re coming down,” Fannin said.
Dreaming Creek hopes to have the Berea taproom open by the end of the year, with production being phased in over the course of the next year.