The last two breweries to occupy the long, narrow space at 1604 East 17th Avenue didn't fare too well. Deep Draft Brewing opened in 2015 and closed two years later, while the Thirsty Monk Pub, an offshoot of the North Carolina brewery of the same name, took over the spot in 2017 and left for good in March 2020.
Nate and Lindsey McAlpine are hoping that the third time's the charm. The two will open Reverence Brewing, with a vintage lounge theme and a variety of beer styles on tap, as soon as late July.
Nate says he researched where the previous two breweries struggled, which is why he's planning to start with some broadly appealing beers — including a hazy IPA, a Mexican lager, a raspberry wheat and a stout on nitro — and then react to what the neighborhood wants and doesn't want. "I think the previous breweries may have pigeonholed themselves," he explains. "So I need to listen to myself as an entrepreneur — not as a brewer — so that it's not all about who we are, but who the neighbors are, and then we meet in the middle."