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Partners David Long, Ryan Reed and Derek DeFranco (l-r) opened Mirror Twin Brewing on National Avenue at the end of September. Not pictured is partner Mike Sobalek, who lives in St. Louis. Photo by Tamara Watson
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Mirror Twin features Lexington’s first “twin draft” system, which puts out two beers with the same grain recipes but with a small variation. The brewery currently features 20 beers on tap, with a goal of maintaining 10 of their beers and 10 guest beers. Photo by Tamara Watson
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Photo by Tamara Watson
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Photo by Tamara Watson
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Photo by Tamara Watson
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Photo by Tamara Watson
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Located in a refashioned warehouse on National Avenue, Mirror Twin Brewing and Rolling Oven Pizza open at 12 p.m., seven days a week. Photo by Tamara Watson
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Photo by Tamara Watson
A nascent nightlife scene has arrived for Lexington’s growing Warehouse Block district, with two new businesses – Cosmic Charlie’s and Mirror Twin Brewing Company – joining the scene on National Avenue.
Cosmic Charlie’s, a music venue and bar located for seven years in Woodland Avenue’s University Plaza, is relocating to a repurposed warehouse at 723 National Ave., with plans to officially open the doors in early November. Known for an eclectic live music schedule that features everything from bluegrass to electronic music, the venue will share a parking lot – and probably more than a few customers – with the newly opened craft brewery Mirror Twin Brewing. The pair join a varied group of businesses cultivated by real estate developers and owners Walker Properties in an area the company has christened Warehouse Block – covering about two city blocks bound by Walton, National and North Ashland avenues.
“We wanted to give the neighborhood a name that our clients could rally behind and use for marketing and brand awareness,” said Greg Walker, who owns both buildings and runs Walker Properties with his brother, Chad, and father, Randy. “Having an easily identifiable brand was a natural next step for the neighborhood.”
Construction on the new Cosmic Charlie’s began in late September, with the original campus-area location hosting its final show on Sept. 30. Despite original hopes to open the new space at the end of October, construction delays pushed that target open date back by about a week, leaving venue owners Mark Evans and John Tresaloni scrambling to reconfigure two Halloween weekend shows that they had had on the books for months. What was initially a headache soon become an opportunity for the venue and its neighbor to test out their symbiotic relationship, however, with Mirror Twin having stepped up to host the Oct. 27 and 28 shows originally scheduled to take place at Cosmic Charlie’s.
Mirror Twin co-owner and head of marketing Ryan Reed says it’s the first of what he hopes will be many collaborations.
“In the future I envision opening the parking lot and doing a mini block party,” he said.
The most recent addition to central Kentucky’s growing craft brew scene, Mirror Twin brings not only beer but also its favorite pairing – pizza – to the neighborhood. While food was not part of the brewery’s original plans, when owners found out they were not zoned for a brewery – it had to be a “brewpub” – they reached out to Rolling Oven pizzeria owner Nick Ring to jumpstart a collaboration. Offering a menu of Neapolitan-inspired pizzas, salads and sandwiches, Rolling Oven, which originally started as a food truck, has a brick-and-mortar presence – and a woodburning pizza oven – inside the taproom of Mirror Twin.
About that name: Co-owner and Mirror Twin brewmaster Derek DeFranco is a mirror twin, meaning he has an identical twin brother whose dominant hand is the opposite of his, essentially making them mirror images of each other. Branching off of this concept, Mirror Twin will offer some “twin” beer selections: beers made with identical ingredients except for one minor change (e.g., different hops, different yeast strains, etc.).
“I just thought it would be a really unique concept that would kind of make us a little bit different than all of the breweries, and it was true to how I grew up,” said DeFranco. “Once people find out about the concept, people love it. That’s kind of what I wanted – people to see how this small change makes a huge difference.”
Across the way at Cosmic Charlie’s, two large garage doors will provide an abundance of natural light – something its previous location was lacking.
“As a musician myself, I’m going to build this from a musician’s point of view,” said Walker of the plans for Cosmic’s interior. “It will be modern yet have vintage flares, clean lines, state-of-the-art equipment and an abundance of natural light, which is exactly what a music venue needs.”
While the original Cosmic Charlie’s – essentially a black box with no windows or natural light – was mostly geared toward late-night concert-goers, owners plan to up the “neighborhood bar” focus at the new space, opening about 4 p.m. on weeknights to accommodate a proper happy hour and creating a more inviting atmosphere to grab an afternoon or early evening drink. Weekends might include earlier shows.
“It’s the same name and that’s pretty much it,” said Evans of the new business model. “It would probably be easier to list the things that are the same, because it is so different.”
Despite changes that make the bar side of the business more inviting during the day, the music will remain the focal point. Evans stated that the budget is more concentrated on production than anything else.
“We’re really focused on making the best show possible,” said Evans.
He added most of the feedback he’s heard about the move has been positive.
“I think it goes to show we were just in the wrong location all these years,” said Evans. “The young people that live on campus were never really our audience, and that’s been proven by the response.”
Reed is optimistic about the potential synergy between Cosmic and Mirror Twin.
“I think this will be mutually beneficial,” said Reed. “People can pregame in here, or people that come here can have a nightcap over there – either way, I think it will bring people to the neighborhood.”
Both Reed and DeFranco cited the Distillery District along Manchester Street as a model for what they are hoping the Warehouse Block can evolve into.
Having started out as a home brewer, DeFranco is interested in inviting home brewers to brew on Mirror Twin’s system. One upcoming beer, a jalapeno pale ale, uses a recipe they received from a home brewer.
Some of the more popular Mirror Twin beers currently in the tap room include the Red Blooded American (a red ale), the For Freedom (a Scottish ale) and the Mos Def (IPA with mosaic hops), which is twinned with the Chin-know-you-want-it (same recipe as Mos Def but with Chinook hops instead of Mosaic).
DeFranco soon plans to twin the Red Blooded American with an imperial version of the recipe, almost doubling the alcohol percentage.
Both of these new nightlife options, along with other notable businesses like Locals and The Breakout Games, are helping to transform the once lightly traveled area into a burgeoning entertainment destination.
“We’re super happy about having them here,” said DeFranco about his new neighbors. “Anything to make the neighborhood a little bit more hip.”