It was the summer season of 1903. Industries similar to a wool warehouse, a lumber mill and a slaughterhouse populated the east aspect of Reno alongside Fourth Road, properly earlier than it grew to become the Lincoln Freeway. That was additionally when three males of German descent opened Reno Brewing Firm, simply east of the present Wells Avenue.
For greater than 50 years, Reno Brewing Firm produced tremendous lagers—the well-known Sierra Beer identified all through the state. After surviving Prohibition, by 1950, it was the one remaining brewery in Nevada, however in 1957, it halted manufacturing ceaselessly. All that is still of it immediately is the shuttered bottling plant, inbuilt 1940, and a historic legacy that lives on within the neighborhood, now often called the Brewery District.
Quick ahead to the 2010s, when Reno was exploding with progress—and scuffling with an identification disaster. Districts like Midtown and the Riverwalk labored to develop their manufacturers and appeal to guests and locals with commerce, artwork and leisure. Alongside East Fourth Road, a mix of the central location and affordable rents drew native craft brewers to arrange store, hoping to capitalize on the wealthy historical past, location and thriving recognition of native craft beer.
Beneath the Rose was the primary to place “brewery” within the then-unnamed Brewery District, opening in 2013 in a Nineteen Thirties welding store. Pigeon Head Brewery, specializing in lager beers, opened the next yr in a former SPCA shelter. House owners of The Depot, Nevada’s first mixed brewery and distillery, spent greater than a yr revitalizing their 1910 N-C-O railroad depot constructing, superbly balancing trendy use with its century-old former glory, earlier than opening on the finish of 2014. Co-founder and brewer/distiller Brandon Wright is proud when he talks concerning the “gem of the group” they occupy; as a substitute of possession, he talks of being “the caretakers of this asset—historical past provides a way of group.”
In 2017, Lead Canine Brewing opened simply east of The Depot. Lead Canine’s success with hazy IPAs, sours and a signature peanut butter stout led to a a lot bigger brewery in Sparks two years later, leaving the unique facility as a taproom. The model was acquired by Mammoth Brewing in 2021.
Because the district developed, it mirrored the ups and downs of the larger area and past: Companies rise and fall; tastes change; tendencies differ. A startup, Lake Tahoe Brewing, introduced plans to open close by, solely to fail rapidly amid authorized troubles. Beneath the Rose shut down unexpectedly in 2018. Document Road Brewing confronted years of challenges renovating their historic constructing (relationship again to 1929, with a 1954 addition) whereas brewing elsewhere, earlier than opening on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—solely to shut abruptly final yr.
However as they are saying, when one door closes, one other door opens. The newest addition to the neighborhood, Slieve Brewing, opened in an previous firehouse subsequent to Pigeon Head final yr.
The revitalization isn’t all about beer; a lot of the district’s character lies in its range. In 2019, the primary meadery in Nevada, Black Rabbit Mead, opened its doorways. Co-founder Will Truce, a former instructor, noticed the potential within the district and set to work rising a group. He rallied the neighborhood’s fellow entrepreneurs, property homeowners and stakeholders to solidify the Brewery District identify and create a coalition to carry the idea to life. Though not a brewer, he sees breweries as “sources of native delight, the place individuals come collectively,” and embraces the spirit of breweries as group gathering locations. After pandemic setbacks, the imaginative and prescient of Black Rabbit as a easy tasting room was deserted, and the house is now established as a neighborhood middle for stay leisure, tasty hand pies—and, in fact, a various number of their pretty glowing meads. Fittingly, one other beer-related enterprise, the Reno Brew Bike, shares the constructing to accommodate their multi-rider “brew bikes,” upon which individuals can take pleasure in brewery-hopping journeys.
As Reno continues to develop and evolve, so will the Brewery District. Today, the varied enterprise homeowners are like pleasant neighbors.
Remodeling the neighborhood additional, the Brewery District now consists of three wineries sharing a tasting room subsequent door to Lead Canine; Ferino Distillery, producing Italian-inspired spirits; and, rounding out the beer-related portfolio, the Reno Homebrewer, in a 1946 brick grocery constructing. In fact, many industrial and different alcohol-unrelated companies name the district dwelling as properly.
As Reno continues to develop and evolve, so will the Brewery District. Today, the varied enterprise homeowners—Wright describes them as “a unfastened group {of professional} mates”—are like pleasant neighbors. Somebody, usually Truce, will counsel a block social gathering, or maybe one other “Tour de Brews” occasion, and everybody will take part. These small enterprise homeowners work lengthy, exhausting hours and might’t dedicate countless hours to organizing, so informal occasions are inclined to occur. Each Truce and Pigeon Head brewer/proprietor Bryan Holloway echoed a aim of getting previous the world’s damaging popularity (which nonetheless persists) and rising the historic, walkable neighborhood, the place locals and guests can spend a day and night having fun with meals, drink and leisure.
The previous Reno Brewing Firm bottling plant was bought in 2021 to an investor with a plan to revitalize the historic brick construction into an open market—assume small retail, eateries and occasional retailers, a potential jap anchor for companies like Pigeon Head, barely remoted of their spot furthest from downtown. When one other enterprise opens, it’s seen as rising the district—and making progressing towards their collective success greater than competitors.