Three award-winning members of the Big Country Home Brewers Association plan to open Grain Theory Brewing in the spring of 2019.
After Big Day Downtown last week, David Kasselman and his family shared the Facebook page. By the following morning, he said they had already been contacted by press to cover the future opening.
“We became friends and started talking about dreams of opening the brewery one day,” said Kasselman, one of the three owners of Grain Theory.
Kasselman will open the brewery alongside Mathew Cogburn and Jeremy Sivley, who said the goal of the company is to assist in the revitalization of downtown as well as provide a place for friends to have a community space. Originally the three planned on starting the brewery out of Abilene, but decided to stay downtown, in part because Kingslee Allen, owner of the Kings Barbers on Walnut Street, convinced them to find a local building.
Grain Theory Brewery will lease a space from Daniel Gutierrez, at 202 Pine St. Kasselman said Gutierrez originally envisioned a brewery in one of the balcony areas. After seeing the floor plan and rendering of the building, the three were convinced to open there. Other local businesses will also be able to lease a space, including an area for a rooftop lounge.
Kasselman said the trio plans to open a clean, open atmosphere with a lot of windows and garage-style doors that can open.
Throughout the year before its opening, the company will finalize business plans, finances, aesthetic and equipment. Next week they will attend the Craft Brewers Conference to look at equipment and decide what they want, including stainless tanks.
“If you had to go to a brewery in a big city, that’s what we’re aiming for for Abilene,” Kasselman said. “We’re hoping to provide a place for our local community. We want to try to create a communal environment and be part of the local community, specifically downtown. We want to help bring attention to downtown, and bring people to downtown.”
Construction on the project is set to begin this summer.
