Craft Brew Bar StoryGarth’s Brew Bar Progress Update – October

“When are you opening?”

That’s the question everyone – including myself – wants to know. While we don’t have a specific date, we know it will be in November, hell or high water.

We’ll have a series of soft openings to get staff trained up, fine-tune processes and make sure everything is as buttoned-up as possible for the official opening.

If you’re not already subscribed to the GBB newsletter, please scroll to the bottom right of this page and sign up sooner than later so you can be invited to the soft openings!

Now, let’s get to the update.

Location

You’ll find us at 1726 Monroe Street and we’ll have an outdoor business sign installed within the next 20 days so you can spot the space more easily.

So far, our wonderful neighbors are the Monroe Street Arts Center and Creando. There are still two-ish vacancies in our building – and we almost had Greenbush Bakery as a neighbor before they decided to stay on Regent Street. No sad sighs though, we’ll still be partnering with them for some beer and donut pairing events!

What’s not vacant are the series of apartments right above the retail spaces. We are beyond stoked to connect with everyone and be a convenient outlet. And, yes, the idea to move in an apartment of the bar did cross our minds at one point. Ha.

For those who need to travel a bit more than 100 feet, please note that there’s plenty of parking around the bar. You’ve got spots directly in front of the building, a handful of spots in the back of the building that you can access off S. Spooner, and there’s plenty of street parking all around the building and neighboring side streets.

Point is, you can find parking after making a turn off Monroe Street – no problem at all.

Atmosphere

Now that framing is done and dry wall is going up, we’re getting into more of the specifics of light fixtures, wood paneling and paint color.

For those reading this who have gone through a home remodel or are in the process of remodeling even one room – we salute you.

The amount of evaluation that takes place over every single element is insane. What kind of product, weight, shape and color? How do you want it? Where do you want it placed, glued and capped? Does it align with the rest of your aesthetic? Can you afford it? Will it pass inspection?

Now run through those series of questions for lights, tiles, counters, appliances, tables, chairs, hallways and the rest of the bar. Phew!

Thankfully we have a wonderful architect, contractor and series of vendors and friends to talk us through the options. Admittedly, we’re curious people, so we ask more questions and seek more information than what’s probably needed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Alas, the reality is that there are so many pieces of the puzzle that people won’t notice, appreciate, and, in some cases, not even see. What matters is that we’ve kept our minds on creating a lively space to imbibe, socialize and escape to.

Time & Money

Our two favorite friends have been easy and difficult to work with at times. When folks ask how the bar is coming along, the answer they get is dependent on how these two variables are playing with each other that day.

That being written, as we get closer to opening, we also get closer to bringing money in to pay team members fairly for the value they create and to pay off the loan we took to build this wonderful thing.

Speaking of profits, we’ve talked about them a bit in the past, but the reality is that this bar isn’t built so we can retire early. It’s not built to buy a corvette as much as we’d like it to be. And it’s not built so we can make a quick buck. (Really, who goes into the beer industry to do that?!) Any profit from the bar – which would likely occur around year three – will likely go toward another venture to continue our mission of helping breweries – and the communities they serve, specifically Madison, thrive.

For those who pre-ordered merch last month, thank you. We’re not holding back from delivering on our promise of raising the bar of bars, so every purchase, gift and idea you generously support us with helps us deliver on that promise.

Employment

We’re officially role calling for a bar manager. You can read the details of the bar manager position here. In a sentence, we’re looking for someone to treat the position like a project and not a series of tasks.

If you’re interested in beertending, you can shoot us a note at careers@garthsbrewbar.com with a paragraph of why you would like to beertend at Garth’s Brew Bar. We have 2-3 spots on the team remaining.

Other Updates

• We’re building the calendar for events for 2020. If you’re interested in collaborating or using the space for podcasts, pairings, events, tastings, etc., please reach out to garth@garthsbrewbar.com with your idea.
• As much as we want to give tours and host bottle shares at the space as progress on build out is made, we can’t for insurance reasons. For now, your best bet is to have your phone open to the Garth’s Brew Bar Instagram account in one hand and a glass of delicious craft beer in the other.
• Recently, we had an epic time pouring at the annual Craft Beer, Cheese and Chocolate Pairing event and at Wauktoberfest. We’ll be at Beechwood’s Retailer Expo and heading to Chicago to meet with a few breweries in the coming weeks. If you’ve got an event you’d like us to pair beers for, host, pour or anything else fun – drop us a note.
• Anything else you would like an update on? Have a specific question about the progress? Ask it in the comments section below!

Cheers!

• September’s update
• July’s update
• June’s update
• April’s update