Former Chattanooga native Nathan Michaels has returned to his hometown to open Five Wits Brewing Company with long-time Denver brewers, Elliot Kehoe and Bryan Harris.
Five Wits Brewing Company is slated to open in the Fall of 2019 and will reside in the new Southside Chattanooga Market South development in the former Grocery Bar space on Main Street.
After nearly a decade in the Mile-High city, Mr. Michaels decided to return to Chattanooga alongside two friends and tenured brewers, Mr. Kehoe and Mr. Harris, who met while working together at Great Divide Brewing in Denver, one of the Rocky Mountain region’s oldest and largest craft breweries. The trio will bring more than 15 years of craft brewing experience with them to this new Chattanooga craft brewery.
“After spending so much time living in Denver and watching craft breweries in the city continue to grow, I became super passionate about not only the craft of brewing beer but also the opportunity to be a part of the community and culture that comes along with it. After meeting and working closely with Elliot and Bryan, I knew that I had found the right people and we decided that it was time to venture out and start a brewery of our own,” said Mr. Michaels.
“It’s all about finding the right location. Starting your own business is super challenging and we wanted to find a place that we knew we could contribute to and bring our craft to a community that is growing. I have continued to visit Chattanooga frequently over the years and I was starting to see a local craft beer community flourishing. I knew that moving back to my hometown and starting this here was the right decision and I could not be more excited about opening Five Wits Brewing Company in the heart of the Southside in Chattanooga.”
This group will not only bring great brews to this project, but also a big vision to be a great addition to the Chattanooga craft brewing community. “Since moving to Chattanooga from Denver last year, we have really enjoyed learning about the craft beer community in Chattanooga and the surrounding Southeastern region,” said Mr. Harris. “We are huge advocates for collaboration and have spent our entire brewing careers in Denver in a culture of comradery amongst the breweries in that community. It’s not just about the beer, it’s about growing an amazing group of breweries that all work together to help put a city on the map as a respected brewing community. And that’s exactly what we are hoping to be a part of here in Chattanooga.”
Elliot Kehoe, Five Wits Brewing Company’s lead brewer, has been hard at work studying the local and regionally brewed beers and has been working to put together a line-up of Five Wits own hand-crafted beers that will complement the offerings that are available in this part of the country. “It’s been an exciting and incredible experience to meet all of the local Chattanooga brewers over the past year,” said Mr. Kehoe. “Chattanooga has it’s own unique identity and we hope that Five Wits Brewing Company will be a big part of helping the city’s beer community continue to thrive.”
The Five Wits Brewing Company will also house a restaurant incubator, R&D Test Kitchen, that will host a rotating line-up of up-and-coming aspiring chefs and restaurateurs from all over the country. These aspiring chefs will apply for a residency program to occupy and operate their restaurant concepts in the R&D Test Kitchen as the sole food offering for the Five Wits Brewing tap room.
For more information, contact nathan@fivewitsbrewing.com.