goosecreek
Glenn's Creek Brewery owners T.J. Gordon, Bob Douglas and Brett Rowlett. PHOTO BY EMILY MOSELEY
Hammers pounded, drills turned and tables were being jostled all about. Three men sat in the middle of it all, at a table resurfaced with wood repurposed from a Kentucky barn, seemingly oblivious to the organized chaos surrounding them. After all, starting a new business — especially one with a fast-approaching grand opening — takes time. The challenges multiply when taking over and remodeling a location that has had its share of unsought notoriety in recent years.
But they spoke calmly and positively about Glenn’s Creek Brewery, a new addition to the Chevy Chase area that has a planned early-September launch date. They know in this evolving section of Lexington their business model will fill an otherwise vacant niche: a boutique brewpub that serves American pub-fare food. Completion of the project will deliver the trio access to a key demographic, the many young professionals who have settled into the adjacent Ashland and Chevy Chase neighborhoods.
The group already owns TBar further down Euclid Avenue — which provides direct contact with nearby University of Kentucky and its students — as well as Glenn’s Creek BBQ near Versailles, which serves as a conduit to a more rural market.
If successful in Chevy Chase, that’s three powerful groups from which to draw revenue. Perhaps that’s why the three men were able to joke and smile knowingly to one another about the escalating investment involved with getting the brewpub off the ground.
“The figures aren’t all the way in yet,” said Brett Rowlett, who is partnered with Bob Douglas and T.J. Gordon as owners of Glenn Creek Brewery, “but it was a significant expense.”
Though those final totals are unavailable, what is known is the trio is trying to turn around the fortunes of an otherwise prime location that’s been a Lexington hotspot for decades.
Bill Farmer Jr., owner of Farmer’s Jewelry just a few doors down on Euclid Avenue, recalled that the Saratoga occupied the same 854 East High St. address that Glenn Creek Brewery is taking over when his father opened Farmer’s Jewelry in 1950. (“It was the place to go for a T-bone or roast beef sandwich and a nice stiff drink,” Farmer joked.) The spot then changed hands about a decade ago into Roy’s East High Diner before becoming Buddy’s, which enjoyed initial success.
The spot became available last fall when Buddy’s closed after nearly $50,000 in past-due rent and other fees sent it into default. This came less than two years after Buddy’s owner Arron Rhodes was sentenced to 30 months in prison for embezzling in excess of $300,000 from his former employer. The Rhodes family continued to manage the establishment, which had been purchased in 2009 from Dudley’s owner Debbie Long, until the doors were finally shut in early October of 2011.
After launching TBar last year, the partnership searched for about six months for another location to set up shop before learning of the available site on East High Street. They initially envisioned a boutique distillery bar where products ranging from beer to distilled spirits would be produced on site, but that concept wasn’t feasible due to retail liquor license restrictions in Kentucky. Still, the group agreed the location and size of the facility were ideal and secured the spot earlier this year.
“It’s exciting. If you go back a little more than a year ago, you’ve had a dozen businesses open up in this area. There’s still a part of Lexington that comes here and through here,” said Farmer, who is also the Lexington City Council member for the Fifth District. “And as far as Glenn’s Creek Brewery, people have been going to that spot for 60 years. What they’re bringing is a nice addition to this neighborhood, in that it will cater to a good demographic and draw on a younger crowd.”
The adjusted business plan will eventually see Glenn’s Creek Brewery serving 180 different bottled beers and 32 variations on tap along with a variety of cocktails and selections of wine. The menu will feature traditional American food such as various sandwiches and side items, as well as, of course, barbecue. Dozens of televisions have been installed, and the brewpub will have DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket this fall for patrons wanting to watch professional football. Business hours will be 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. seven days a week.
New tables were added and existing ones were resurfaced with Kentucky barnwood, while parts of the walls and ceiling were altered to deliver a rustic feel. The walls, for the most part, will remain clean.
Renovations to the space have created a few changes to its layout, allowing for a separate play room with a pool table as well as the insertion of front windows that open toward the street and patio area, along with the addition of two more bar areas.
One of those new bar areas focuses on just beer (“a beer pit,” Gordon said), keeping with the original theme the group intended for the establishment. Though they can’t make the beer onsite, plans are in development for a brewery to open near their barbecue restaurant at the start of 2013.
It’s all part of a plan to develop the Glenn’s Creek brand. The namesake comes from the first source of water for distilled spirits in Kentucky, which is rich in limestone and runs outside of Lexington near Versailles. The trio, however, want to extend that name into the city.
“The craft beer industry has grown 5 to 7 percent per year in the United States over the past decade or so,” Douglas said. “We want to have a product that’s high quality and brands ourselves.”