Atwater Block Brewery to open tap room, expand brewery

Atwater Block Brewery is hoping to be pouring beers in a new downtown location within the next few months. Atwater's Detroit Taproom, planned for a Foxtown location on Woodward Ave., will serve Michigan beer, Michigan wine, and Michigan-focused food, to highlight to visitors from out of town and out of state what the region has to offer, says brewery owner Mark Rieth. He hopes to offer full restaurant service at the new location and perhaps a shuttle to the existing brewery, at 237 Jos. Campau, which no longer has a restaurant but is still a brewing operation and taproom.

Rieth, born and raised in metro Detroit, says many of the new bar's 40 taps will be Atwater brews -- which offer a wide range from smooth lager to flavorful stout -- but other Detroit beers, with old Detroit labels, will also be served. "We want to be able to expose more people who don't know of our products, and Michigan products," he says.

Atwater is also expanding at its currently location, which Rieth bought in 2005, adding more tanks to produce more product. In a few years, he hopes to open a full-scale brewery somewhere inside the city. That and the new taproom will hopefully move the company forward, he says. But he also wants to be a part of the city: "Part of what I want to do is see Detroit come back," he says. "We've got to spread that word to people."

Source: Mark Rieth, owner of Atwater Block Brewery
Writer: Kristin Lukowski