Bare Hands Brewery Opening Soon!

If all goes as planned, it will be a very merry Christmas this year for craft beer drinkers in the Michiana area, with Bare Hands Brewery in Granger set to be unwrapped within the next month.

After weeks of schedule mismatches, I was finally able to stop by the brewery to hang out with Chris Gerard last week to discuss progress and beer.

When starting a small brewery like Bare Hands, it's incredibly useful to not only understand beer, but carpentry as well. I walked into the tasting room to find Chris's dad furiously sawing away on a piece of wood for the bar. There was a world of difference from the last time I visited over the summer, the floors, ceiling, walls and bathrooms are all done and look great. The bar looks to be the last project to complete, and it also seems to be coming along nicely. The Fire Marshal was by a few days prior to my visit for an inspection and placed a limit of 49 people on the tasting room, a space they will have no trouble filling.

Through the tasting room and into the brewery is where I found Chris, getting down and dirty cleaning up some kegs he recently bought. As with the tasting room, the brewery side of the building has come a long way since the last time I was there. The cooler, fermentation room, shelving and much more has been installed, giving Chris the ability to brew beer in anticipation of their opening.

Speaking of brewing beer, this is what he's currently working on for the brewery opening. I don't currently have stats on any of them at this point.

Russian Imperial Stout
Peppery Pale Ale dry-hopped with Cascade Hops
2 IPAs (Maybe Thai.P.A.)
Cream Ale
Barleywine

Obviously as I hear more about an opening date, I will pass it along. I'm definitely excited for Chris and his tasty brews!