Fat Head’s Brewery — one of the most award-winning breweries in the U.S. over the last several years — is looking to open brewpubs in Canton and Charlotte, N.C.
“We have a family friendly, value-oriented concept,” co-owner and brewmaster Matt Cole said about the expansion plans. “I think our food and our beer are high caliber.”
Fat Head’s has a deal in place to open in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood, while the Canton location is dependent on the outcome of two liquor options on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The Ohio-based brewery is eyeing a brewpub at 3885-3893 Everhard Road in a Plain Township plaza that also has an Earth Fare and is located just down the street from the Westfield Belden Village mall.
At 10,000 square feet, the brewpub would be slightly smaller than the Fat Head’s location in North Olmsted but would feature an outdoor patio. Fat Head’s also operates a brewpub in Portland, Ore., a production brewery in Middleburg Heights and a restaurant in Pittsburgh.
The Fat Head’s brewpubs serve beer made at the locations, along with a menu filled with wings, salads, burgers and “headwiches,” sandwiches described as being as big as your head.
The brewery, known for award-winning beers such as Head Hunter IPA, Hop JuJu and AlpenGlow Weizenbock, views the Canton site as a way to build its brand in the Canton-Akron market.
Stark County already is home to the Canton Beer Co. in Canton, Royal Docks Brewing Co. and Scenic Brewing Co. in Jackson Township, and Maize Valley Brewery in Marlboro Township.
But a Fat Head’s in Canton would be a coup for the local beer community. Fat Head’s has won 19 medals at the Great American Beer Festival since launching its brewing operation in 2009.
Royal Docks owner John Bikis is excited about the possibility. Fat Head’s would help build the local craft beer market and make it more of a destination, he said.
“The fact that they picked Canton should speak highly of the demographics here,” Bikis said.
Fat Head’s is bullish on the Belden area, with Cole saying the ownership group likes the strong surrounding population, number of workers in the area and the attraction of the mall.
He estimated that Fat Head’s would invest about $2 million in the project if the liquor options — local Issues 43 and 44 — were approved. He also would like to see it open next year.
Meanwhile, Fat Head’s was approached about opening in Charlotte, a community that has plenty of transplanted Ohioans.
“It’s younger. It’s energetic. It’s a very clean and affluent city that has a lot of eclectic neighborhoods,” Cole said.
Charlotte has about 15 breweries and is still a young craft beer scene, with the oldest brewery there being about seven years old, he said. The community also doesn’t have many full-service brewpubs and Fat Head’s hopes to fill that void, he added.
Fat Head’s is shooting to open there in early 2018.
The Canton and Charlotte brewpubs are likely not the end of the expansion for Fat Head’s.
“Yeah, I think you’ll see a few more brewpubs,” Cole said. “Where and when? I don’t have as much of that buttoned down. We definitely we have a few cities we’re also looking at.”
The brewery had considered Columbus a few years ago but that isn’t part of the immediate plan. Canton is the only expansion site in Ohio right now, Cole said.
He cited quality control and the ability to promote people internally as reasons for wanting to grow with additional brewpubs.
“It gives us a little better control over the quality of our product, meaning it goes grain to glass and doesn’t have to go through the channels of distribution, which for us is a little bit more manageable,” Cole said. “I use the term we can bear-hug it.”