Last September, Hi-Wire Brewing founder Adam Charnack waded through floodwaters that had surged onto the floors of the brewery’s flagship taproom in Asheville.
The Asheville community, along with several key Hi-Wire facilities, was devastated by Hurricane Helene. The storm was one of the most consequential in United States history, blanketing western North Carolina in torrential rainfall, resulting in economic disruption, the destruction of property and loss of lives.
“We didn’t make beer for almost two months because we didn’t have running water in Asheville,” he told LINK nky.
In the aftermath, Charnack began to evaluate his options, eventually deciding to put the Norwood taproom up for sale to focus more resources on their Asheville operations.
Jake Rouse, co-founder of Covington-based Braxton Brewing Company, Northern Kentucky’s largest brewery, believed the Norwood taproom would be a great fit underneath the Braxton umbrella.
On June 2, Braxton Brewing announced it had acquired Hi-Wire’s Norwood taproom, located inside Factory 52—a prominent mixed-use development within the Cincinnati enclave.
“The Factory 52 development is probably the best, like best in class development I’ve seen in terms of mixed-use in Cincinnati, and so as a consumer, I have spent quite a bit of time there, and really did love it,” Rouse said.
For Braxton, the decision allows the brewery to maintain a brick-and-mortar presence in Cincinnati, something it lost when its Pendleton taproom closed in December of last year. Additionally, the Norwood taproom provides Braxton with greater proximity to other neighborhoods in eastern Cincinnati.
“For us, being able to be a little bit more suburban, a little bit in an area that is surrounded by great neighborhoods,” Rouse said. “I mean, you’ve got Norwood, but then you’ve got Oakley, you’ve got Hyde Park–all these places that are within a five-minute radius. You really get to touch a great portion of the population that I don’t think are consistently coming to Northern Kentucky.”
Braxton will retain the entirety of Hi-Wire’s Norwood staff. For fans of Hi-Wire’s beer, several of the brewery’s beers will remain at the taproom. However, Braxton is gaining control of the greenspace and full-service bar in front of the brewery, rebranding it as The Porch by Braxton Brewing Co.
“The team’s been really great to work with and excited about what’s to come and to continue this relationship going forward,” Rouse said. “We’ll keep pouring some Hi-Wire beers and continue to help promote their brand as well as ours, and it should be a really great way to bring everything together.”
Rouse said Braxton will temporarily close the taproom for minor interior renovations. Current Hi-Wire employees will train at various Braxton Brewing locations until the brewery and The Porch by Braxton Brewing Co. reopen, expected to be sometime in June.
Despite the sale, Hi-Wire is committed to selling beer in Ohio, Charnack said.
