Now pouring: Eastern Market Brewing Company officially opens in the market

Adventures in renovating old buildings often reveal all sorts of surprises.

In Eastern Market, an old meat packing plant has recently been redeveloped into a brewery. The long German-style wooden tables have legs made out of old ammonia cooling pipes. An old meat scale has been re-purposed. So, too, has the meat rail.

And when Dayne Bartscht, co-founder and co-owner of Eastern Market Brewing Company, was tearing out ceilings, old meat hooks started cascading from above.

They worked those into the interior design, too.

Bartscht and his crew recently celebrated the official opening of Eastern Market Brewing on Friday, Oct. 20.

For Bartscht, it's been important to remain connected to the building's past, as well as the market's. Working old relics into the decor is one thing, but he says he's also committed to celebrating and becoming part of the rich community that is Eastern Market.

"There have been at least nine different breweries in Eastern Market over the past 150 years," says Bartscht. "It stopped when Stroh's left. We're hoping to bring brewing in the market back to life."

Taking advantage of their location, many of the ingredients that go into Eastern Market Brewing's beers come straight from the market itself. The brewery isn't building a kitchen, but instead will have a food truck parked outside the building. And Bartscht says that customers are allowed to bring in meals from any of the surrounding Eastern Market restaurants, be it from Supino Pizzeria, Russell Street Deli, or otherwise.

At any given time, the brewery plans on having ten to twelve beers on tap. It's small batch brewing, so customers can expect the beer selection to change over failry quickly.

While it may be too early to call it their flagship beer, Bartscht considers the Market Day IPA to be their baseline IPA. They'll incorporate different ingredients into the beer each month, depending on what's in season at the market.

A can seamer is on site, so customers can take home beer straight from the tap.

Eastern Market Brewing Company is open Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., Friday from noon to midnight, Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. It is located at 2515 Riopelle St. in Detroit.

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