Historic Johnson City Depot to be Transformed into New Brewery (restaurant, store)

[Rangerred]

Historic Johnson City depot to be transformed into new brewery | Johnson City Press

More development news coming out of downtown JC. While this will be the second brewery in town, this one seems to be more of a legitimate operation rather than a group of homebrewers turning pro. The gentleman developing the brewery, Brandon Greenwood, has an extensive history in commercial brewing and was most recently VP of Brewing for Lagunitas, a huge player in the craft beer world. It's obvious he has a lot of capital to work with based on the work going on with the building and someone from outside the area making this big of an investment in downtown Johnson City is very telling of the direction downtown is headed.

[Serious Conversation]

I think some quality breweries that also serve decent food could do very well in the area. The craft brewing scene in the Tri-Cities, to be frank, sucks. You have a couple breweries that have put out some beer locally (Depot Street, Wolf Hills, etc), but none of them are the caliber of the breweries in Asheville, and are a bit lacking.

[Rangerred]

I think some quality breweries that also serve decent food could do very well in the area. The craft brewing scene in the Tri-Cities, to be frank, sucks. You have a couple breweries that have put out some beer locally (Depot Street, Wolf Hills, etc), but none of them are the caliber of the breweries in Asheville, and are a bit lacking.

I agree. I would love to see something like Wicked Weed in Asheville which has excellent food and even better beer. For the past several years I've said this depot would be the perfect place for a brewery and restaurant. I'm glad someone else had a similar thought.

[jjbradleynyc]

This is exciting news for sure! Johnson City is headed in the right direction with its development and attraction of these types of openings downtown. Good start!

[jabogitlu]

Sampson Mountain (commerce/main) is renovating into a bulk grocery store, too, and (supposedly) will carry items from the ever-popular Mennonite Mountain View Bulk Foods store on the 107 Highway.

[Rangerred]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Sampson Mountain (commerce/main) is renovating into a bulk grocery store, too, and (supposedly) will carry items from the ever-popular Mennonite Mountain View Bulk Foods store on the 107 Highway.

I saw this too. I'm really glad the owner decided to do this because I was concerned about the original incarnation of Sampson Mountain General Store; just didn't seem to fit with the vibe of downtown JC. I really believe this will be another "destination" type place that draws people in from outside the city. Great news.