New brewery in an old train station is helping revitalize an Eastern Kentucky town

A century ago, a new Eastern Kentucky brewery was a bustling train depot for travelers.

Evidence of the hub for train passengers exists at Eridanus Brewing in Russell — a coal heater tucked near a beam, a large ticket countera safe and a bullet hole in one of the interior windows. The story of how it got there is still a mystery.

Owners Justin and Kristen Matthews, of Ashland, opened Eridanus Brewing Tea and Taphouse in January, offering craft beer, Kentucky-made wines, a specialty cocktail, handcrafted teas and coffees.

The brewery is the first in the region — other breweries are across state lines in Portsmouth, Ohio and Huntington, West Virginia. Until about six years ago, Russell was a dry city, and until more recently, other Greenup County cities like Greenup and Raceland were dry, but residents voted to allow alcohol sales in 2020. The county is considered moist, with some dry districts remaining.

“We wanted a place where we get to showcase our passions and our art, but also have a gathering place for the community and just something for the region to build upon,” Justin said.

The Matthews thought opening a brewery in an area that had been previously dry for decades would be a hurdle, but they felt completely supported, even by those who don’t drink, they said. The two have ensured the community that it is a brewery and not a bar, and their focus is on a family-friendly atmosphere. Eridanus Brewing is equipped with kid-tested root beer, board games and outdoor games for warmer weather days.

Opening up a brewery is a dream come true for Justin and Kristen.

Justin has been a home brewer for more than 12 years, and since his first batch of beer, he’s wanted to open a brewery. Kristen also had dreams to have a service-type establishment, thinking of a bookstore with a coffee shop. The two decided to combine their dreams — both in the brewing world, one tea and the other beer.

Kristen and Justin had locked down a name: Eridanus, which is a constellation and is a river in Greek mythology.

The Matthews initially looked at setting up the brewery off of the Little Sandy River after going to a similar style of brewery in Florida. Kristen’s parents own Dragonfly Outdoor Adventures in Greenup, and envisioned partnering up to combine the outdoor space with a brewery. After a wet-dry vote that kept the location alcohol sales free, they began looking elsewhere.

Russell was beginning to focus on revitalizing its downtown, and the two met with Mayor Ron Simpson to ask if they had any riverfront locations.

Simpson reported back: it wasn’t a riverfront spot but instead faced the train tracks, the old Russell train depot. The two arranged a visit a year ago on a cold day. The building had no power or heat, but they quickly knew the train depot would be Eridanus Brewing’s home.

“As soon as we walked in, we both without even saying it to each other, we both realized that this was it,” Justin said. “We saw the vision of what this could be and we immediately fell in love with the building.”

The walls were crammed with train memorabilia, like the conductor’s uniform, the depot’s breakfast menu and photos. Justin and Kristen chose what they wanted to showcase and the rest was put into storage. The couple want to have a miniature train museum in the neighboring switch house, one of the few that is still functional and operational in the country, to display the remaining memorabilia.

The Matthews kept the historical features of the train depot. The building is owned by the City of Russell and because it is so close to the train tracks, CSX and the Department of Transportation has a say in the use of the building, along with the Kentucky Heritage Council. Justin said transforming the old train depot into a brewery hasn’t been an easy task, especially within the historic guidelines.

“The character, and the design and the historical aspect is what drew us to it, so the last thing we wanted to do is come in here and gut it and make it look like anything that it wasn’t,” Justin said.

The depot brings back memories for residents, including Simpson, who recalls boarding the train to go to a little league game in Cincinnati in 1962. The depot was one the primary hub in the city. Simpson sees the brewery as a gathering place with a comfortable environment to relax and have conversation.

The couple want Eridanus Brewing to be homey and customers to feel like they’re in their living room hanging out with friends. The brewery is separated into three rooms, the first — when customers walk in — has the bar, a couch and a warm fireplace. The second — the historic room — has photos and memorabilia from the train station with tables and stacks of board games and cards. And the third is where beer will be brewed.

Justin wants to help introduce craft beer into the area with simple beer offerings, like an IPA, stout and a red ale called Red Devil Ale that pays homage to the Russell High School team.

Justin plans to partner with local businesses, like coffee roasters to make a coffee stout and farmers for hops. Kristen’s focus will be loose leaf teas, such as English black, green tea, caramel rooibos, chamomile, jasmine, hibiscus, chocolate mint, honey mint and chai. Both the beers and teas will be available in flights as well. Tea lattes, coffee drinks, hot chocolate and sweet tea will also be on the menu. Eridanus Brewing will also have a signature cocktail.

The brewery will bring in Dragonfly Outdoor Cafe’s food truck for lunch and dinners. It will also offer beer cheese with soft pretzels, charcuterie boards and Justin’s smoked trout dip.

Downtown Russell, which once had a thriving downtown, has taken off in the past year. With the closure of Ironton-Russell Bridge in 2016 that connected Ohio and Kentucky, traffic slowed into Russell but the city is bouncing back. Last year, Russell had about 30 businesses opening and downtown storefronts are filling up. The Matthews were one of the first to sign a lease, but they could see the potential.

“They were forward thinking enough to see that this could be a game changer for the rest of downtown,” Justin said.

Visit Eridanus Brewing

Where: 1501 Ferry St., Russell, Ky.

Brewery hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed-Thur.; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri-Sat.; Sun.-Wed. closed

Online: eridanusbrewing.com

This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.