Kentucky brewing staple Braxton Brewing Co. is hosting a grand opening for its latest venture, Braxton Labs, this Friday at 5 p.m. that will feature the first Braxton Labs beers, a guest tap lineup, live music from The Kentucky Struts and local food from Cheese N Chong.
Love it. What is Braxton Labs?
As you might have guessed, Braxton Labs is a facility dedicated to innovation.
“It’ s hard to believe we’ re finally able to open these doors. When our leadership team sat down to discuss a future where we had nearly 2,000 barrels of capacity to dedicate solely to innovation, every aspect of the company was thrilled,” said Jake Rouse, co-founder and CEO at Braxton Brewing Co. “This space will be home to beers that are both on and off trend, educational experiments for the curious craft beer drinker, collaborations across multiple categories and so much more. Simply put, creativity will be the lifeblood of Braxton Brewing Company for years to come, and Braxton Labs will be the dedicated home to those projects.”
Braxton Labs will be used by the brewing company as a facility to innovate, experiment and create new products and styles. While production continues to increase at its Covington headquarter location, the brewing company will craft small, 15-barrel batches that reflect the creativity of the company’s talented brewing team at Braxton Labs. These beers will be served at Braxton Labs and a limited amount will be available in distribution and eventually, packaged product. It will also feature a taproom with 40 taps that celebrate some of the most unique beers in the category made both here in the United States and abroad. The facility will capture the spirit of the garage where Braxton was born.
“From day one, we set out to open Braxton with a commitment to what we deemed multiplicity. Multiplicity is the idea of a wide portfolio of extremely well done styles, both recognized and unrecognized,” said Evan Rouse, co-founder and COO at Braxton Brewing. “With the addition of Braxton Labs, we will have an unlimited ability to innovate, imagine and explore. We will do everything from pushing the envelope on new styles to creating our own, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
Meet the first beers
The first beers available from Braxton Labs will be a New England IPA, Cherry Saison and a Coffee Vanilla Milk Stout. Three other Braxton Labs beers are currently fermenting and may be ready for the Grand Opening Party. Follow Braxton Labs on Untappd for an up-to-date tap list. These beers will be joined by guest taps from local, regional, national and international breweries. The full list will be revealed next week.
“This is an exciting time here at Braxton,” said Zac Boehnke, lead innovation brewer at Braxton Brewing. “With production in full swing at our Covington facility, Braxton Labs gives our team the opportunity to create new and exciting beers, explore various styles and traditions and educate new and seasoned craft beer drinkers alike. Every batch that comes from this facility will be unique — driven by our passion for experimentation, research and quality.”
