New brewery opens in Beech Grove
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) – A new brewery is now open in the city of Beech Grove and it is the first ever in the city.
It is called Beech Bank Brewery and is located off of 3rd Avenue and Main Street.
“I was born and raised here and I’ve always wanted to see this town do well. I remember Main Street being a lot more bustling, a lot more activity, a lot more business when I was a kid,” said David Farris, who is the President of Beech Bank Brewing Company.
Farris said he started making beer about 20 years ago on the kitchen stove. That turned into brewing on the front porch using a 20 gallon Igloo cooler as his mash tun.
“It became a hobby, then it became an obsession, then the next you know I’m serving beer to my friends on the weekends. The defining moment was when we had a sample from a commercial brewery here in Indianapolis. We tried some of it and then said ‘hold on a second,’ then I went over and got a couple of mugs of my stuff and they were identical. That’s when I realized if we could do this with a cooler on the front porch, what could we do with commercial equipment.”
This business idea has been in the making for five to six years at this point. Currently, the brewery is only open Thursday through Sunday because Farris and the other employees all have other jobs. The goal is for this to become the full-time job one day.
“I’m over 50-years-old at this stage and in your mid 40’s sometimes you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night staring at the ceiling and saying ‘what have I done with my life.’ At some point or another you get the bug that you want to create something with your own hands, I want to build something and I want to sell it for a profit,” he said about when the business idea began.
The brewery gets its name from the area that is now Sarah T. Bolton Park. Many years ago it was called Beech Bank and Bolton lived there during her later years in life. She was a famous poet from Beech Grove during the 1800’s, who was known for her poem “Paddle Your Own Canoe.” That poem is now the slogan of the brewery and has significance to the owner.
“The significance is the independence and being your own boss and holding your own destiny in your hand and going forward confidently and doing that,” he said.
You can connect with the brewery on social media, click here.