On Wednesday, Rock Brothers Brewing, which collaborates with bands like Hootie & the Blowfish and Have Gun, Will Travel on signature brews, announced its plans to open a craft brewery and live music venue inside Ybor City's historic King-Greco Hardware building, built in 1895, sometime in fall.
At 1901 N. 15th St., the brewery will "retain as much authenticity within our remodel as humanly possible," Rock Brothers co-founder Kevin Lilly said in a news release.
Without a brick-and-mortar facility of their own, Lilly and co-founder Tony Casoria — who are also the minds behind Attic Records, which produces downtown St. Pete's annual WhigFest Music & Arts Festival — have been brewing at Tampa's Cigar City Brewing with out-of-state partners for the past two years. The brewing operation will move to Ybor during the space's remodeling phase.
Two Rock Brothers beers are available in Florida, while the rest, including Hootie's Home-grown Ale and 311's Amber Ale, are distributed throughout the musicians' hometowns. Once the new facility and tasting room open, patrons will be able to taste the brewery's nationwide portfolio.
"We will also feature fun and creative seasonal twists on all of our flagship brands throughout the year," Casoria said.
Rock Brothers' headquarters will function as "a literal tasting room and a listening room," according to Lilly. He and Casoria want patrons to discover new music alongside the brews.
"Music has always been a major part of everything we do, at its core actually," Casoria said. "It feels great to finally have a home for our concerts and a venue we completely direct and control."
In addition to the brick-and-mortar news, the brewery has brought Joey Redner of Cigar City and Dale Hunter, a real estate broker and entrepreneur handling the property's rezoning and more, on board as partners.
