Brewer's recognized for eco-friendly design

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Brewer's recognized for eco-friendly design

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Josh Brewer knew that he wanted to introduce Beaufort to the concept of the brewpub, but when his Brewer's Brewing Company received a nomination for its design, it was the proverbial icing on the cake.

The brewpub's Binghamton, N.Y.-based architect, Chianis & Anderson Architects, nominated Brewer's for the 2008 American Institute of Architects New York State Design Awards in the category of "Commercial: Small Projects."

"For Chianis & Anderson to choose us for the nomination out of hundreds of projects is a pretty big deal to us," said Brewer, 34. "I think for what I had in my head, everything has come out the way I wanted it. We tried to do as much green building as we possibly could with our space. Trying to have the smallest carbon footprint is the big thing now, and (we wanted) to pay less in square footage to make our bills smaller."

A brewpub, sometimes called a microbrewery, is a restaurant-brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer on site through the restaurant, bar, and by "to go" containers. The beer processed on-site is referred to as a "craft" brewed beer.

In addition to making its own beer in a visible brewhouse in the restaurant, Brewer's Brewing Company also serves food. The 3,340-foot space officially opened for business on Dec. 14, 2007.

"The table tops are compressed agricultural waste with sunflower husks," said Brewer. "The bartops are all concrete. The no-flush urinals save 50,000 gallons of water a year. All of the sit-down toilets have special flush valves where it's one gallon if you push it up and 1.6 gallons if you push it down. We have touchless water faucets for the sinks. We have one small freezer, because our menu is basically as fresh as you can get."

Brewer's also keeps it green with low VOC paint resulting in less fumes to harm the environment, the partitions in the restrooms are recycled plastic, and signs hanging up in the restaurant let visitors know that whenever possible, the brewpub tries to deal with like-minded green vendors. Rather fittingly, the walls are a natural shade of light green.

While Josh serves as the owner/brewer, his wife Alexia is the co-owner/operations manager. The couple's 9-month-old daughter, Adelai, was born just before Brewer's had its grand opening. Alexia said that while going green is more expensive in the short term, it pays off in the long run, both for them and the community.

"We're excited and proud, because Josh and I had a lot to do with the design, the layout and the finishes," said Alexia. "We had a big hand in everything. One thing that's really important to us is trying to add something to the community and not just build this building and step back and try to roll in the cash. We want to be a positive influence in the community and the world at large."

DESIGNING THE SPACE

Greg Chianis of Chianis & Anderson Architects said that while his firm has designed lots of retail and food service space, this was its first brewpub.

"We were very excited about it from the beginning, because it was something really nice and different for the community," said Chianis. "It's a great building. The location and it being a new building were key. I don't think we missed much as a team, because what I didn't understand about the brewing part, (Josh) certainly did. Alexia was very involved in the finish and the color section. It gives off a warm environment that people like."

Most of the final architectural planning was conducted when Greg Chianis came to Beaufort for an intense, three-day period of planning with the Brewers. Nobody got much sleep that weekend.

"Josh was very interested from the beginning in making it a green project and using a lot of green, native materials from the community, which was good," said Chianis. "All of the insulation we used was recycled blue jean and fabric materials."

A native of suburban Chicago, Josh Brewer worked a series of "odd jobs" and served as an AutoCAD technician for Sears before he tried home brewing in 1997. He lived in Belize where he made wine for a French/Thai restaurant, among other jobs.

"That was about 20 percent of my life, and 80 percent of it was hanging out, snorkeling at the end of the dock and not doing too much other than that," Brewer said jokingly.

He and his wife lived in Beaufort before moving to Kona, Hawaii, where he worked for the Kona Brewing Company and where they bought and sold a bicycle tour business, but they missed the Lowcountry, and the money made from the bicycle business sale enabled them to buy a house in Beaufort in 2005.

Brewer also served as head brewer at Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah for 3 1/2 years and as a brewer at the Hilton Head Brewing Company. Prior to opening Brewer's Brewing Company, Brewer founded a local home brew club in Beaufort called the Pluff Mudd Hop Heads. The group now has home brew meetings at Brewer's at 7 p.m. every third Wednesday of the month.

"We've developed a really good following with our beer," said Brewer. "People seem to love it, and we sell quite a bit of it, enough to keep me fairly busy in the brewhouse making beer all the time.

"Having the last name Brewer, maybe somebody was doing something a long time ago and kind of ingrained it in me, but it's just something that I really like. It's art in a way. I'm producing a food product that just happens to be liquid."

A LOCAL FAVORITE

Despite drawing beer connoisseurs, Brewer is happy that his restaurant is open to everyone. He makes a point to say that he instituted a non-smoking ban before the local law was passed banning people from lighting up. The brewpub also features local artwork, hosts charitable events and has blues bands perform every Thursday night.

"We're really happy about the overall clientele range that we've reached," he said. "People come in here with their families and their kids, older people, and young people and professionals like ourselves. We've gotten the whole gamut and spectrum of people, more than we thought we were going to get, so we're real happy about that."

Cat Thomas has worked as a waitress at Brewer's for about a month. She said that she really likes the design, and visitors often agree.

"It's a very chilled and relaxed setting," said Thomas. "Everyone's really nice to each other. We get a lot of compliments from people who feel like they can come and relax."

As the bartender, Judi Justice often gets compliments on the bar from patrons. She has been the bartender at the brewpub since it opened.

"It's very comfortable here," said Justice. "It's very unique. It's not the typical sports bar or the downtown historical type. It's giving Beaufort something different."

Alexia said that Josh designed the tap handles, which are in the shape of a B, by using a wooden prototype. He then found a shop in Savannah to make the actual handles.

"Small touches like that make a difference," she said. "I like the brewhouse area. With the walls, you can see everything. I like the openness of the space in general. The ceiling fans are really cool. We've had so many compliments on the colors that we use, especially from women. I think they're kind of daring and bold. I also like the use of light. Everything works well together."