To paraphrase a local marketing tag line, downtown Jacksonville is on fire. Bold City Brewing Company has announced that it will open a small-batch brewery and tap room on Bay Street adjacent to the Cowford Chophouse project already underway.
Bold City is the third Jacksonville brewery to announce plans for downtown – or near downtown – facilities. Last year Intuition Ale Works revealed plans to build a new brewery, tap room and restaurant near the sports complex and several years ago Beaches brewery Engine 15 Brewing Company purchased several buildings on Myrtle Avenue for a production brewery and eventually a beer garden and tap room.
The new location places Bold City squarely in the center of the growing downtown entertainment district known as The Elbow. Neighbors include the already mentioned Cowford Chophouse from the Forking Amazing restaurant group as well as 1904 Music Hall, Underbelly, Burro Bar and Dos Gatos.
With a smaller production system, the downtown brewery will focus on more varieties of beers rather than the brewery’s core brands. This provides brewers a greater amount of latitude for experimentation and bolsters creativity. It also will allow the main brewery on Roselle Street to continue to focus on producing core brands for both keg and can distribution.
Hours of operation have not been announced yet, but the brewery is shooting for an August or September opening date for the new location.
