Liability Brewing Co. to occupy historic corner in Westone Development

Stephanie Burnette | The Greenville News

Craft beer and coffee will anchor the Westone project, now underway at 109 West Stone Avenue. Construction began last month with an initial plan for signed tenants to open their doors around the end of the year or beginning of 2018.

Liability Brewing Co. will occupy a marquee corner location in the seven-parcel development with 3,426 square feet of brewery space and 1,200 square feet of sheltered courtyard bordering open patio seating (Coffee Underground and a related restaurant concept will fill the eastern storefronts).

Developers Pete Brett and Michael Fletcher worked diligently to find the right occupant for the corner tenant, which has an original 1920s façade currently obscured behind a wall; Star Cleaners and Dyers once occupied this location and the building is one of Stone Avenue’s original commercial structures. Its design, which features cast concrete around windows and doors, was mimicked across the city for decades.

“There is significant demand for local, craft breweries here and this is an ideal space because the historic building features high ceilings with clerestory windows, rivets in the original steel beams and an outdoor gathering space,” says Brett.

Terry Horner is the brainchild behind Liability Brewing Co. Fostering technology companies brought the software engineer to the Carolinas from Ohio (with his wife and three children) but craft beer has become a passion. He says advancements in equipment in the last five years have made it easier now for small breweries to become viable. What began as a home brewing hobby has turned into a second career launching Liability Brewing Co. with the help of a partner.

“I failed a bunch of times, but always came back to brewing,” he says. “The craft beer scene exploding the way it has in the southeast sucked me in and I love being sucked into the details of it.”

So what’s in a name? Horner says Liability is a term he uses to describe that friend who always creates a “situation while drinking,” good or bad and always amusing. “We’re fun loving guys and want the brand to reflect that. Our goal is to work hard, make great beer and have people enjoy coming to hang out at the brewery.”

Liability plans to brew around 300 barrels in their first year with six to eight variations of stout, IPA and seasonal brews including winter ale, a favorite of Horner. Coffee-infused beer will be a house feature brewed in conjunction with Coffee Underground’s second location at the Westone development. The brewery will open around 4pm each day and stay open until 9-10pm. Horner says he’s looking forward to the input customers will bring and creating a new place for craft beer enthusiasts to commune.

The 1.1acre development with about 18,000 square feet of retail and office space will be fully reimagined, not demolished, echoing eras of occupants. Surrounding residential neighborhoods are heartened by the continued redevelopment of Greenville’s vintage buildings in contrast to homogenous new construction. Projects such as Westone and Willy Taco Feed and Seed are examples of a fresh take on mixed-use/upcycled development along the commercial corridors of the city.

“We spoke with a number of breweries about this redevelopment, but Terry stood out due to his entrepreneurial experience. Most importantly, he makes good beer! Liability Brewing Company will be a great addition to the Greenville craft brewing scene,” says Brett.