Brewery Openings: Jolly Pumpkin Opens Ninth Location; Uinta Airport Pub Debuts; Other Half Expands to Washington, D.C.

Dexter, Michigan-based Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales has opened a new cafe and brewery in East Lansing, Michigan, the company’s ninth location.

“It’s a bit of a homecoming for me personally,” CEO Tony Grant said in a press release. “I have a lot of pride that we were able to invest in East Lansing as it changes before our eyes to create such a wonderful gathering place for so many memories to be made by the community.”

The new location will operate at 50% capacity in accordance with health regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jolly Pumpkin, which specializes in barrel-aged sour beers, will serve offerings from its sister brewery North Peak Brewing Company to cater to all palates. The two breweries combined in 2009 to form Northern United Brewing Company.

Northern United is betting that North Peak’s Sparta IPA, named for the Michigan State University Spartans, will be popular at the East Lansing location, located steps from campus. An alumnus and former football player, Grant said he has “a lot of love for MSU and East Lansing.”

“I did a lot of growing up here, and it is a huge part of who I am today, so this is a big deal on several fronts for me,” he said in the release.

Although the East Lansing location will have a brewhouse, it will only be used occasionally, a Jolly Pumpkin spokesperson confirmed. The majority of the beer sold there will come from the company’s production facility in Dexter.

Jolly Pumpkin operates locations in Detroit, Dexter, Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Royal Oak and Traverse City, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois.

In 2019, Northern United Brewing’s volume declined 4%, to 7,267 barrels, accounting to data from not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association (BA).

Uinta Brewing Opens Airport Pub

Travelers through Salt Lake City International Airport are now able to purchase pints and packaged beer from Uinta Brewing’s new pub in the airport’s Terminal B, which opened today

The airport pub marks Uinta’s first offsite expansion since it opened in 1993.

“We’ve always enjoyed a steady stream of travelers due to our brewery’s proximity to the airport,” Uinta president Jeremy Ragonese said in a press release. “We look forward to giving even more travelers the opportunity to try Uinta beer while they are in Utah.”

At its new location, Uinta will offer a full menu for dine-in and to-go service, plus packaged beer and merchandise.

Uinta is the largest independent craft beer company in Utah, and produced 47,540 barrels of beer in 2019, down 40% from 2018.

Other Half Opens Washington, D.C., Location

Brooklyn, New York-headquartered Other Half Brewing opened its third brewery and taproom in Washington, D.C., last week.

“We look forward to welcoming guests safely to enjoy our beers, first with cans available for curbside pick-up and then in the taproom as soon as it’s safe,” co-founder Matt Monahan said in a press release.

Other Half has installed 20 draft lines in the new taproom, which includes 5,000 sq. ft. of indoor service space and 7,500 sq. ft. of outdoor space, including a patio and roof deck.

The company plans to use the Washington, D.C., brewery as an innovation hub to expand its offerings.

“We built Other Half D.C. to meet our specific needs and enable our team to develop a more robust, barrel-aged Imperial Stout and barley wine program as well as brew more lagers,” co-founder Sam Richardson said in the release. “Our signature IPAs will always be available but we’re really excited to expand our offerings and brew more broadly at this location.”

Other Half was founded in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2014, and opened its second location in Bloomfield, New York, near Rochester, in 2019. The company’s fourth location in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood is under construction.

In 2019, Other Half produced 14,500 barrels of beer, up 12% from 2018, according to data from the BA.