Fort Worth's Wild Acre Brewing Co. is gearing up for an expansion.
The brewery, which opened in 2016, received approval from the city's zoning commission this week on plans to build a second manufacturing facility in the Ridglea neighborhood. The Fort Worth Weekly first reported the news.
The planned brewery will inhabit 3,000 square feet inside a former Kroger grocery store that is being redone as a co-working space, says owner John Pritchett. Next, he needs the green light from the city council to begin securing permits.
Pritchett says he's been thinking about a second location for "a really long time." Wild Acre currently resides in an industrial district, which gets traffic on the weekends, but is more of a destination than part of a community.
"We thought it was really important to have a location in town where we can touch people seven days a week, out in the community," he says. "Everyone goes to restaurants and bars, and fewer people make the trek to breweries."
The original location will continue to brew and package Wild Acre beers in kegs and cans to distribute through Dallas-Fort Worth. The new spot will have a small brewery - likely a 5- or 7-barrel system, Pritchett says - to brew staples like the Tarantula Hawk IPA as well as recipes unique to the location. It will also be a full-service restaurant, he says.
Because the plan is in its preliminary phase, there's not yet an opening date set for Wild Acre 2.0, though Pritchett would like to be brewing there by the end of the year.
"We just need to clear the hurdles to get permission to do it," he says.
