As Brew Bridge approaches their one year anniversary on July 10, co-owner David Haynes says it’s been a four-year process to get the brewery to where they are now.
The planning for the brewery began in 2017 and was met with a lot of pushback, Haynes said. Since none of the owners were over 30, they were met with legal struggles finding funding — but they eventually became all self-funded.
“No matter what happened, if we took a hit, something good came along that counterbalanced it,” Haynes said.
When their ability to open in their current location on 2nd Street, they were on a one-barrel system, a newly renovated building and five months into a global pandemic.
Haynes said the pandemic was actually beneficial for them, though. They were able to build a plan and provided the ability to warm up into restaurant and bar service, something that they weren’t initially intending.
“It was all going to be about beer,” Haynes said. “We’re a small-batch brewery, which means we do smaller beer production schedules.”
This distinction makes Brew Bridge different from other breweries in the state. Hayden said many breweries across the state often are dedicated to making their beer and not being a “brewery for everybody” like Brew Bridge, as Haynes said.
Since they first opened, Haynes has seen community support and encouragement from several parts of the city. So much so, they had to evolve from a one-barrel system to a six-barrel system brewing around 10 new batches a month.
The brewing process can take anywhere from seven days to four weeks to even longer depending on the type being made. Over time he has seen the crowd change their taste as they rotate new brews in.
A fan favorite was their sour, which sold out quickly. They are constantly growing with their IPAs as well and have plans to expand to a 20-barrel system by the end of the year.
For Haynes, he hopes the Brewery expands past the walls of their 2nd street spot, sharing their location with Western Kentucky and eventually all of the Commonwealth.
“We just really want to be able to share our product with Kentucky, the people that we grew up with, the people that supported us,” Haynes said.
