Kentucky brewery plans major expansion, including second taproom, two restaurants
Cynthiana brewery Maiden City is expanding in a big way.
The brewery, which which opened four years ago in downtown Cynthiana, is adding a Paris location, which also will have two restaurants. The 4,900-square-foot building will include a Tex-Mex restaurant called Burnaco’s and a coffee and ice cream shop called Churn and Brews.
“The expansion of a second tap room in Paris is a key strategy in growing the Maiden City brand. The template of providing customers with multiple dining and dessert choices combined with exceptional locally crafted beer is concept that I believe customers are going to appreciate,” said brewery co-founder Austin Dacci in a statement. Dacci founded the brewery in 2016 with Alex Caldwell and Jamie Plummer.
All of this will take more beer than the micro-brewery can produce so Maiden City also is building a 5,000-square-foot production facility in Cynthiana, which also will have a taproom, kitchen, large outdoor patio and event space on more than 4 acres, creating a destination to draw tourists as well as locals.
The bad news is that the existing location at 123 E. Pike St. will close once the larger brewery opens, perhaps a year from now, according to Keith Slone, who recently became a new partner in the brewery along with Bill Gibson.
Slone said that they broke ground on the Paris taproom and restaurants at 202 Commerce Dr. in December and hope to have it open by summer.
The Cynthiana location will take longer. It’s in an industrial park just outside of town, and eventually they hope to add a canning line but having a bigger brewery is key to it all.
“The reason you do it is to send the kegs out to restaurants and expand the distribution,” Slone said. “I live in Lexington and I’d love to be able to buy my beer in Lexington. ... That’s the plan, the reason we’re expanding.”
Maiden City is expanding despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, looking forward to the days when hospitality returns to normal.
But Slone said it’s a struggle at the moment, especially to build relationships with potential bar and restaurant clients: “You’ve got to start before you have the beer and they are saying they can’t sell what they have right now, so they don’t want to take on a new tap.”
Maiden City Brewing
Where: 123 E. Pike St., Cynthiana
Hours: Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday 5 to 11 p.m., and Saturday noon to 11 p.m.
Call: 859-954-5151
Online: Maidencitybrewing.com
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
