11 Apr Salt Creek opens Bloomington tap room
Bedford’s Salt Creek Brewery made quick work of its plans to set up a tap room in Bloomington, opening one on the west side of town last week.
The tap room is attached to a Noble Roman’s restaurant at 3890 W. Third St. That’s just west of Big Lots.
It has eight taps but will serve more than just beer. Customers will have the option of ordering food from the Noble Roman’s menu, thanks to a partnership between Salt Creek owner Brad Hawkins and Noble Roman’s owner Brad Holmes.
“We kind of formed a company — we jokingly call it Brad squared,” Hawkins said. “He’s basically managing the tap room for me because I’m going to be so busy brewing and handling the behind-the-scenes part of it that I don’t have time to physically deal with the tap room.”
The tap room is about 1,000 square feet and will seat roughly 50 people. It’s in a space that Holmes had been using as his office.
Giving up the office was a small price to pay, Holmes said.
“We didn’t have beer,” he said. “It was a good complement.”
Customers who want a beer should be sure to go to the tap room side of the operation, though. Suds won’t be served on the Noble Roman’s restaurant side.
The partners moved rapidly to open the Salt Creek tap room. Hawkins said in February that he was working on permitting and picking out a location. He hoped at the time to be open by April 1 but admitted that might be a stretch.
He just about made it. The new Bloomington location held a friends and family night April 1, running its taps and registers to make sure everything worked smoothly, Hawkins said. He listed its official opening as the next day.
Hawkins and Holmes plan to be at the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival Saturday to help introduce Salt Creek to the city. The new tap room has a unique feel, Holmes said.
“Our feel is supposed to be relaxing,” he said. “The west side doesn’t have anything like this over here.”
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