Local craft-beer enthusiasts Brady Barlow, Joe Kuosman, Ben Self, and Robin Sither announced today that they have founded West Sixth Brewing Company, Lexington’s newest craft brewery.
“Today, we’re excited to announce West Sixth Brewing Company. We’re passionate about craft beer and excited to bring more high quality craft beer to Lexington,” said founder Joe Kuosman.
Founder Brady Barlow said, “Since we came from very different backgrounds with diverse sets of experiences and talents, we joined forces to create beer that can be enjoyed not only by craft beer experts, but also by those who just want something tasty to drink after going for a bike ride.”
Robin Sither, the brewer, said “We plan to brew beers that are not only always changing, but always top quality, fresh, and use local ingredients wherever possible.”
Brewing top-quality beer that Lexington can be proud of is important to West Sixth’s founders, but also is commitment to the community. “We started this company not only to brew great beer but also to build a company that, from its founding, will show a strong commitment to the community. We’ll do that in a variety of ways — from being very environmentally conscious, to respecting our local neighborhood, to helping out as many local non-profits as we can. In fact, as a nod to our name, we plan to, from day one, commit to donating at least 6 percent of all of our profits to local charities,” said founder Ben Self.
West Sixth Brewing will be located in “The Bread Box”, a newly planned mixed-use development located in the old Rainbo Bread Factory, on 6th and Jefferson. Located in the historic Northside Neighborhood, The Bread Box will host not only the brewery but also other companies and community organizations that share its values, beliefs, and commitment to the community.
“This is another exciting step forward for the Jefferson Street area, bringing new life to what has long been an empty building, and the creation of another great Lexington brand,” Mayor Jim Gray said. “Congratulations to Ben, Brady, Joe, and Robin!”
In fact, three organizations have already committed to moving into the space:
The Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop (a non-profit whose mission is “to provide better access to better bicycles for all people and to empower individuals to perform their own bicycle maintenance.”) (more info at http://www.facebook.com/BrokeSpoke).
Cricket Press, a locally-owned and operated printing press business that is “geared towards designing and hand printing silk-screened posters for music events, art shows, propaganda, and basically anything you’d want to make a poster for.” (more info at http://www.cricket-press.com/).
FoodChain, a new non-profit focused on demonstrating and educating Lexingtonians on urban indoor agricultural food production and processing will operate a vertical farm to grow fresh greens and Tilapia fish in the Bread Box. (more info at http://www.facebook.com/foodchainlex)
A concept rendering of the development is linked to the bottom of this release.
Seth Brewer, President of the Northside Neighborhood Association issued the following statement:
“The Northside Neighborhood Association is positively thrilled about the Bread Box’s and West Sixth Brewing’s commitment to our neighborhood and to the old Rainbo Bread Bakery building. A dream scenario is for all the industrial property- especially the vacant- to become filled with human use industries. We want people walking around, conducting business, and making a living in the Northside.
Any resident family wants a good neighbor out of the industrial business that abuts their yard; we feel very confident that the Bread Box and West Sixth Brewing will be just that kind of neighbor, while also contributing to the coolness of the Northside.”
Tim Buckingham, a Broke Spoke board member issued the following statement:
“We are eager and excited to become part of the Bread Box community. We have had a very successful first year, but the potential for future growth is limited by our current space. That being said, we are extremely thankful to Les Miller for giving us the opportunity and the support needed to start the shop in its current location. Without Les Miller, the thought of Broke Spoke would only be a thought.
Moving Broke Spoke into the Bread Box space will give us the opportunity to fully realize the mission and vision of the bike shop and to expand to more than 2,500 sq ft of educational space.
We have been working closely with members of the HOPE center and this new location will place us even closer to their front door. Additionally, with the future addition of the Legacy Trail/Coolivan Park Trail just mere feet from the front doors of Broke Spoke, trail users will find Broke Spoke as a valuable resource to making sure their bike is trail ready.
The overall idea of the Bread Box creating and bringing community together is very important to the community fabric that Broke Spoke is working to weave. As an educational resource and a group that is working to make Lexington more bike friendly, this partnership between Broke Spoke and the Bread Box sitting next to the bike trail will help create a stronger bike economy in Lexington.
Working with the Bread Box crew has been a wonderful collaborative process and we cannot wait to start working on the space and get geared up to open our doors in early 2012.
The amount of opportunity the Bread Box offers is amazing. Soon you will be able to come down to one place and learn to fix your bike, drink a pint of craft beer, purchase goods from Cricket Press, and visit a vertical farm. This is why Lexington is so exciting, there are lots of good people working to create strong cross community ties and Broke Spoke cannot wait to be a part of it.”
Brian Turner, owner of Cricket Press, issued the following statement:
“There are so many possibilities with the space, and for attracting a diverse group of local businesses to the area. We’re excited to move in and be a part of it growing into something really good for downtown Lexington.”
More info at:
http://www.westsixth.com
http://www.breadboxlex.com
