At the new Local Beer Works in Midtown Reno, craft goes three ways.
There’s the obvious direction: a celebration of craft brews, with 24 beers on tap (plus kombucha and wine).
There’s craft as in arts and crafts, with beer-related goods and crafting classes.
And there’s craft as community — in the neighborhood sense and as a larger philosophy.
“We love our neighbors,” said founder Ashley Johnson, with Craft Wine & Beer, Pangolin Café (confections and coffee) and the Emerson (cocktails and light bites) being among them. “This neighborhood really fits our concept, fits our vibe.
“Looking back at the history of beer in pubs and taverns, beer has always been something that brought people together in a community to enjoy that community. We want to do that in a modern atmosphere.”
Local and regional brews available
Location scouting for Local Beer Works began in spring 2019. The build-out started last October. Local Beer Works opened Jan. 24 in the former Happy Happy Joy Joy space at Martin and South Virginia streets in Midtown.
Local Beer Works replaces Happy Happy’s manic kitschiness — remember the giant leering purple cat astride the building? — with something bright, airy and clean-lined.
Craft beer ubiquities like reclaimed wood and cold rolled steel are notably absent in the 44-seat, 1,400-square-foot shop, one of a handful of local beer outfits partly or wholly owned by women.
The current tap list (on flat-screens) features mainly local and regional brews. Among the two dozen taps are a Boulevard Berry Noir Berliner Weisse, lightly sour and fruity; a local Imbib Munich Dunkel, a rich malty lager; and the roasty coffee notes of Able Baker Red Mercury Hoax.
Johnson said she plans to rotate the tap list “fairly often. We want people to have different options, to be exposed to new types of beers, new styles.”
The store motto, “Explore Craft Culture Daily,” is stenciled above the taps. Fixtures that resembles hops (and artichokes) hang from ceilings that soar 16 feet to exposed ducts. Light tumbles through a glass roll-up garage door. One corner of the shop is reserved for art by customers and local artists.
There’s a free adult coloring bar and shelves offering beer-related crafts. “Recycle Beer Here” reads the hallway leading to the bathrooms. In one, a giraffe looks over to appraise the goings-on.
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Ensuring beer tastes like the brewer intended
At Local Beer Works, what’s behind the bar — literally — is as important as what’s out front.
Johnson worked with On Tap, a Reno draft beer service company, to design a draft system that’s housed in a “cool box” behind the wall that forms the back bar.
The system incorporates custom racks, a winch to lift kegs so Johnson doesn’t have to strain her back, and draft lines configured so they can be cleaned all at once, not the usual one by one.
“We didn’t take any shortcuts with our draft system,” which cost $27,000, Johnson said. “We don’t want anything to affect the taste of the beer. We want to make sure the beer is of the quality the brewer intended.”
It all started in business school
Local Beer Works began five years ago as the capstone project for Johnson’s Master of Business Administration from Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif. Johnson, a longtime home brewer, worked for independent brewers while she was in business school.
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LOCAL BEER WORKS
Address: 945 S. Virginia St., at Martin Street
Phone: 775-348-1060
On the web: This way to the craft
Grand opening: Feb. 29
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Over the next few years, she would also complete an introductory brewing course at the University of California at Davis; become a certified beer server through the Cicerone program, the industry standard; move to Reno (in September 2017); do a stint at Revision Brewing Co. in Sparks; and become involved with a local group for women who are craft beer enthusiasts.
All the while, Johnson and her partner, Tina Nielsen, worked on making the capstone a reality. With the store now open and Johnson directing the beer end of craft, it’s Nielsen who is handling the crafting side of things.
Classes in art, yoga and beer pairings
That adult coloring bar? It’s already become a draw, with customers grabbing pencils and crayons to brighten pages of beer images.
“They get so quiet and focused and coloring. They say, ‘Will you hang mine, too?” Nielsen said, pointing to the artwork corner already hung with customer efforts.
A large part of crafting at Local Beer Works involves crafting instruction. Think classes in coaster making or bottle cap art, in etching beer glasses or fashioning jewelry from beer cans (like whimsical drop earrings shaped like green hops).
Beyond crafting instruction, there are plans for a class on beauty tips, a class on pints and plants (including the care of a Venus flytrap), push-back-the-chairs sessions with yoga and pints, and beer and confection pairings with Pangolin Café next door.
Plus visits by local brewers “to talk about their beer and their processes and how their flavors came to be,” Nielsen said. "Beer education is a big focus."
And day to day at Local Beer Works, there are always the DIY packs folks can purchase to make things like invitations or birthday cards while they sit and sip.
Have pint, will craft.
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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor of RGJ Media, part of the USA Today Network. Join @RGJTaste on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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