Coffee shop has warehouse space, says: let's make beer

Coffee shops feel like siblings of craft breweries. One wants you to rise a little earlier, hang out and be productive — maybe read the paper; the other wants you to have fun and stay out just a bit later — maybe play “just one more” game of pool. They are both good people to know.

Anyway, what if we brought these siblings together — a coffee shop and a craft brewery — under one roof? Would you ever want to leave? Would it even be allowed? These combos are starting to pop up here and there, including at the place that inspired this post: Toledo, Ohio.

After relocating their Red Rambler Coffees shop to a bigger spot, Jo and Melvin Michelson took a look at the open warehouse space out back and said what any two awesome people would say: let’s open a brewery. And voila, their North River Brewing Co. just opened.

From the Toledo Blade:

“In the building that we rented, it had a warehouse space behind it,” Mrs. Michelson said. “My husband and I like craft beer as much as we did when we started our coffee business [12 years ago]. So, when we saw how much space was back there we kind of got the idea, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to brew beer back here?’ ”

Despite their love of craft beer, neither of them know how to, you know, make it. So, they tapped some homebrewers they knew who were ready to make the leap. Good times. Head over to the Toledo Blade for the full story. And then maybe check out “Craft a brewing business plan: Tips from a brewery in planning” from our archives.