It’s not all doom and gloom after Ei8ht Ball closes its doors in early April.  Braxton Brewing company announced today that they’d be buying the space for what they’re calling the ‘Braxton Labs’.  This new space will be all about innovation – housed in the brewery space deep inside the heart of Party Source in Newport, Kentucky.

The brewery is what you would call ‘hot’ right now, with new packing springing up faster than we can drink and a second-anniversary party planned for this weekend that’s going to be packed.  But they aren’t resting yet. They’re planning for the future.

This will kick Braxton up to a level that I’m not sure they could have imagined when they opened their doors just two years ago.

Why?  A Second Location?

It might not make sense to everyone when you first look at it.  We are seeing breweries all across Cincinnati open spaces with bigger production systems, massive warehouse-like breweries, and towering fermenters.  So why would a brewery buy a space that for all intents and purposes be smaller?  It’s about innovation.

The new space is about creativity, about continuing to push the envelope of new products.  In short – it’s about more beers, more packaging, and an even bigger Braxton presence in Cincinnati and beyond.

The brewery had been looking at implementing a smaller-scale system at its current location in Covington but just didn’t have the space to do so.  If you’ve ever seen what they’re dealing with there, it’s getting progressively more crowded by the minute.  This is a good thing for us drinkers, as it’s enabled the tidal wave of new packaging that we’ve seen lately, but it also means that the space is not conducive to innovation, nor is the hectic brew schedule that they’re in the middle of.

About The New Space

Braxton Labs will implement a smaller 15-barrel brewhouse, which will turn out fun, one-off styles from the brew team.  In addition to a newly remodeled taproom that will feature exclusive, innovative Braxton beers, 40 taps will keep pouring innovative and exciting brews from the United States and beyond.  These new beers will inspire and create things that will make their way down to the Garage, they’ll end up in packaging, they’ll inspire even more to happen.

It’s a space that will keep the minds of Braxton’s brewers pumping with ideas.

The remodel should kick into high gear as soon as Ei8ht Ball closes shop and after the needed permitting is scheduled to open up this summer for Braxton fans on the other side of NKY to enjoy.  Stay tuned, I can’t wait to see how they turn this space into something that speaks Braxton, while putting a new spin on a familiar space.