The 23rd Ave Brewery guys in R&D mode (Image: 23rd Ave Brewery)

(Image: 23rd Ave Brewery)

There will be more Black ownership — and more Black-made beer — in the Central District. 23rd Ave Brewery is on its way to opening later this year with a small production and filling shop at 23rd and Jackson.

“It’s really dope that we are kinda back home,” Mario Savage tells CHS. “We grew up on that block.”

Savage and his three brothers — “it’s a family affair,” he says — now have a place to take their beer making to the next level, selling bottles and cans, filling kegs, and keeping fans supplied with 23rd Ave merch from the new brew shop being set up as part of the retail spaces added to the Jackson Apartments outside the neighborhood’s Amazon Fresh.

For now, the new space will be a grab and go operation with no seating or bar service. Future growth is hoped to eventually add elements like a taproom and increased production in the neighborhood.

CHS reported here on the smaller, more affordable commercial spaces and efforts to include small businesses in the new development as part of a ripple of new Black ownership including Simply Soulful and Catfish Corner in this core of the Central District.

Savage said in about three weeks, new brewing equipment will arrive and be installed as 23rd Ave Brewery ramps up its small-scale production with more trials and testing.

He’s a good man to know if you want to try new beer. Savage said he and his brothers have been giving it away for years as they grew from hobbyists toward the work needed to start their own brewery.

“Some reviews were like, yo, you need to fix that,” Savage said.

Now, showtime is coming quickly. The hope is to be open by summer and producing beer for sale at the shop and distribution. Savage says it is now “R&D” time for the beer-making brothers. He’s a fan of Belgian Blondes, brother David Dixon is the stout and porter man, while James Dixon likes his IPAs. You’ll have to check in to find out what brew Matt Dixon prefers.

In addition to crowd-testing 23rd Ave’s creations, the brothers are also raising funds to launch the venture with more than $5,000 already raised:

Being a black business owner can limit traditional funding from banks; but like our many other successful black entrepreneurs before us, we will not be deterred. We knew at this point that we needed help from our community. The funds will be used to establish our atmosphere. We will fill this space with what the Central District once meant and continues to mean to us. The essence of the CD will be represented in our store- our lineage, our home, and our community.

23rd Ave Brewery will join another new Black-owned beer project in the Central District. CHS reported on the plans for Métier Brewing Company’s new taproom on E Cherry. CD resident Rodney Hines talked about his plans for a hoped-for February opening as well as the importance of bringing a new Black-owned business to his home neighborhood.

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While the beer is a priority, Savage said he feels a similar pride and is excited to be part of what he feels like is “almost a Renaissance of Blackness” in the Central Area.

“A group of four black men running a business in the Central District,” he says, “It’s a blessing.”

“We feel uniquely privileged,” Savage said. “We have a storefront on the block that we used to hang out in as children.”

Meanwhile, there are new brews to experiment with, taste, and improve.

“By the time summer rolls around, we’ll be selling beer.”

23rd Ave Brewery will open later this year at 2301 S Jackson. You can learn more at facebook.com/23rdavebrewery.

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