3rd Turn Brewing to open new brewery and farm in Oldham County
Oldham County is about to get its first craft brewery. The owners of 3rd Turn Brewing announced today they will break ground soon on a new brewery and taproom as well as a 4-acre farm in Crestwood.
The brewery will house up to a seven-barrel brewing system that will focus on locally sourced ingredients, as well as a taproom with indoor and outdoor seating and 20 taps. In addition, the farmland attached with the project will be used to grow ingredients for beers 3rd Turn will create, along with a possible community garden. 3rd Turn initially will invest $500,000 toward capital improvements to the property, with equipment set to arrive in the spring.
Most importantly, the owners of 3rd Turn hope to establish the business as a community brewery in Oldham County, much as it has done in Jeffersontown since opening its original location in 2015.
3rd Turn co-owner Greg Hayden points out the brewery was the first to open outside the Interstate-264 ring, while the forthcoming brewery, set to open sometime in 2017, will be the first in the Louisville area to open outside the I-265 ring.
The brewery site is located at 6300 Old Lagrange Road, near Yew Dell Botanical Gardens and Kentucky Artisan Distillery, the latter of which is on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
The brewery will be located in an existing concrete building that will be drastically renovated, 3rd Turn co-owner Ben Shinkle says.
“The outside of the space is going to be the star of the show,” he says. “I want it to look like a farmhouse.”
Meanwhile, 3rd Turn is working with a horticulturist to establish a growing program for things like habanero peppers, fruits and other ingredients that will be used in 3rd Turn beers. There are no plans as of yet to grow hops or other brewing ingredients; however, there are other farms in Oldham County that can provide those ingredients, potentially making an all-Oldham-County beer a possibility in the future.
Hayden says the brewery will hire two to three people initially to help get the space ready, with more hires possible.
“It’s a matter of how many days we’re going to be open and how much people appreciate what we’re doing,” he says. The current plan, according to a press release, is to have the taproom open three days a week at the beginning.
Hayden says Oldham County was actually the first choice when an expansion was proposed. The primary goal, he adds, is “educating people on craft beer and investing in the community there.”
Based on the community involvement the ownership team — which also includes Brian Minrath and Shinkle’s brother Dale — has experienced in Jeffersontown, the group feels Oldham County will be a perfect spot. Hayden and Shinkle share the story of a couple who met, got engaged and then got married at the brewery. That couple is just two of many regulars who have become ingrained in the culture of the neighborhood brewery.
While many brewers expand in production with an eye toward distribution around the state and even the region, 3rd Turn made the conscious decision to stay community-focused.
“Serving beer in-house is going to be our focus,” Greg Hayden says, with small-batch brews continuing to be the brewing standard. Adding a second location is more about adding space for barrel aging and a new sour and wild program.
The announcement comes at the end of a year that has seen significant growth in brewing statewide; eight breweries have opened in 2016, with several more in the planning stages, from Louisville to Somerset.
More are coming to the Louisville area, as well with Holsopple Brewing set to open in Lyndon early next year and Flywheel Brewing coming to Elizabethtown, among others. Mile Wide Beer Co. opened early this month and is the current local beer scene darling.
“3rd Turn Brewing is adding another dimension to Kentucky’s craft beer scene by growing and incorporating their own ingredients for the beer,” says Derek Selznick, executive director of the Kentucky Guild of Brewers. “Adding a brewery to Oldham County demonstrates how Kentucky craft beer is growing and maturing.”
