Liberty Street Brewing Co. first beer maker in Livonia

Frequent patrons of Plymouth's Liberty Street Brewing Co. may have noticed a wider variety of brews on tap now.

That's all thanks to this year's opening of the company's new production facility in Livonia, which began brewing earlier this year at a building on Levan.

Because of that, brewmaster Joe Walters said customers have a wider selection of beers to choose from. The facility has begun brewing the company's standard beers, including Red Glare and Starkweather Stout, leaving room in Plymouth for the brewing of more unique beers.

"What that allows us to do is not brew them in Plymouth anymore," said Walters, a Livonia resident. "So if you go into Plymouth right now and want specialty beer, we've got five or six specialty brews.

"We used to be limited to one batch a month of the specialty brews. Now, we can brew two or three batches in a row."

With the new facility, Walters said the brewery expects to increase the number of barrels made from 400 to between 1,200-1,600 in the first year. Brewing takes place about once a week, Walters said, and can take as long as 10 hours before the beer is ready to ferment for 7-10 days.

Eventually, he hopes to have additional supplies in the facility and allow for production to go five days a week with three shifts in the next few years. If that's the case, he said more than a dozen people could be hired to assist with the process.

Liberty Street Brewing is the first Michigan craft brewer to have a presence in Livonia, something that received city council approval late last year. It exists solely as a production facility and will not sell bottles or glasses in Livonia; thirsty patrons will have to go to the brewpub at 149 W. Liberty in downtown Plymouth or to a shop that carries bottles.

Expansion not uncommon in Michigan

The production facility is just one more step in the increase of local beer in western Wayne and Oakland counties: Canton Brew Works, a microbrewery and tap room, just opened in Canton, while breweries have also opened in Northville and Farmington in recent months.

Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild, said it's not been uncommon for breweries across the state to open a facility away from their taproom. Companies such as Bell's Brewing in Kalamazoo, Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven and Arcadia Brewing Co. in Battle Creek have opened facilities away from their original locations.

Looking back 10 years, Graham said, the state wasn't expected to have as many places brewing as there are now. He said it's hard to tell how the landscape will look in another 10 years, but hopes to see continual growth from Michigan brewers.

"Right now, the share of market in Michigan by Michigan breweries is 6 percent. We expect it to get to 20 percent or more," he said. "There's going to be a lot of volume growth."

Even though there's no place to sit or sell the beer at the new Liberty Street Brewing Co. facility, there's one little shout-out to the city on every bottle that leaves: regulations require the location of bottling on the label, meaning every bottle that leaves Livonia has the city's name on it.

"They made us get rid of the 'Plymouth, Michigan' under the logo," he said. "We had to get rid of that. Now it says, 'made and bottled by Liberty Street Brewing Company in Livonia, Michigan.'"

dveselenak@hometownlife.com | 734-678-6728 Twitter: @DavidVeselenak