Another tap room is expanding in Franklin where one recently closed.
Wooden Bear Brewing, which currently operates a brewery in Greenfield and a tap room in Geist, plans to open a full-service restaurant and taproom in the coming months at the site of the former Hoosier Brewing Co., off King Street near Interstate 65.
Hoosier Brewing Co. closed its doors two years after opening. The Franklin Redevelopment Commission had spent $138,000 to remodel the space in 2016 as an incentive to attract a business to the property in the city’s eastside gateway.
The new restaurant will seat more than 100 people. Once the new patio Wooden Bear owners plan to build in the spring is complete, the restaurant will hold about 150 people total, said Mike Williams, director of operations.
Hoosier Brewing Co. housed a brewery, but Wooden Bear owners are doing some minor renovations before opening. It will not serve as an in-house brewery initially, but the owners said they may add one in the future. Of the two locations they currently occupy, only the original one in Greenfield has an in-house brewery, and that is where the Franklin restaurant’s beers will come from, Williams said.
The Greenfield location is mostly just a brew house and taproom. The Geist location serves as a Greek-style pizzeria. The Franklin location will be a full-service restaurant with traditional sports bar foods as well as steaks and entrees.
“Food was never really one of the original concepts, but we decided to try it out,” Williams said.
The Greenfield brewery has been open for four years and the Geist location opened nearly two years ago. Franklin seemed like the right fit for Wooden Bear’s next step, Williams said.
“The cool thing is our Franklin connection runs pretty deep,” he said. “Two of the owners are Franklin College alumni, so the Franklin community is obviously very near and dear to their hearts. I live in Greenwood, so it’s close to home for me.”
Franklin is home to several breweries, and that helped draw Wooden Bear to the community.
“We’re excited to partner with the city. They’ve always been really big cheerleaders for us to come,” Williams said.
“If anything, having more breweries in the area is actually good for the industry. It creates a destination of sorts for people who love craft beer. People don’t travel to try one brewery, but they’ll travel somewhere to try several. At the end of the day, I think it’s a good thing.”
They’re open to the idea of even more growth in the future, but aren’t rushing it, he said.
“We’re always open for growth and continuation. The craft beer industry is booming and it’s a great place to be right now. But we try to do it right, when the time is right,” Williams said.
Wooden Bear has eight year-round house beers that are always on tap, and 42 recipes that rotate throughout the year. The brewery offers about 17 beers at a time, including its famous peanut butter porter.
