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Mirror Twin owners - outside
Photo by Tamara Watson
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A nascent nightlife scene has arrived for Lexington’s growing near east side Warehouse Block neighborhood, with two businesses — Cosmic Charlie’s and Mirror Twin Brewing — joining the lineup on National Avenue.
Cosmic Charlie’s, a music venue and bar located for seven years in University Plaza on Woodland Avenue, is preparing to move to 723 National Avenue, sharing a parking lot – and probably more than a couple of 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, but co-owner Mark Evans said they still plan on having their annual Halloween party on Oct. 28, regardless of whether they are finished. If construction hasn’t been completed, the festivities will take place in the parking lot.
Across that parking lot, at 725 National Ave., is Cosmic’s new neighbor and the latest addition to the Brewgrass Trail: Mirror Twin Brewing.
Mirror Twin was not originally planning on having food, but when owners found out they were not zoned for a brewery — it had to be a “brewpub” — they reached out to Nick Ring, owner of Rolling Oven and jumpstarted their collaboration. Rolling Oven has a brick-and-mortar presence – and a woodburning pizza oven — inside Mirror Twin’s taproom where it serves pizzas and more. Mirror Twin officially opened its doors to a packed house on Sept. 30. 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: 8-ounce side-by-side pours of 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 their previous location was lacking.
“As a musician myself, I’m going to build this from a musician’s point of view,” said Walker on his plans for Cosmic’s interior. “It will be modern yet have vintage fl ares, clean lines, state-of-the-art equipment and an abundance of natural light, which is exactly what a music venue needs.”
While the previous location opened at 9 p.m., owners plan on opening the new venue around 4 p.m. on weeknights and having a proper happy hour. Weekends might include earlier shows.
“It’s the same name and that’s pretty much it,” said Evans of the new venue. “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 is still 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.
Evans said most of the reaction 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.”
Ryan Reed, a co-owner of Mirror Twin and head of marketing, 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 and Manchester Street as a model for what they are hoping the Warehouse Block can evolve into.
Having started out as a home brewer, De- Franco 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 taproom 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 of his new neighbors. “Anything to make the neighborhood a little bit more hip.”