Public Brewhouse To Open Behind Ermanos in Late June

Brettanomyces Sour Ale at Public Brewhouse (Photo: Sarah Ritchie)

It’s been a long and bumpy road for Public Brewhouse co-founders Mike Gura, Cody Van Haren, and Don Rubino.

What began as a Kickstarter campaign in the fall of 2012 is finally coming to fruition, albeit in a different location and with a few different players than it began.

The focus, however hasn’t wavered. Public Brewhouse will still serve an ever-changing selection of nanobrews and quality coffee in a beautiful space.

Mike Gura, well respected and connected within the Tucson beer community, began planning for the brewery with his original partner Beau Hintz in 2012. The two had parted ways by the fall of 2013, and new partners Van Haren and Rubino have helped make Public Brewhouse a reality.

I’m intrigued to taste the beers these gentlemen will create, after sampling a delicious and very pink, homebrewed blend of a Brettanomyces sour ale and a hibiscus wheat beer. Public Brewhouse will be utilizing an electric, two-barrel system from Stout Tanks in Portland, Oregon with the goal to implement solar power down the line.

“We want you to be able to experience all of these amazing beers,” states the Kickstarter campaign. “We do not want to be an assembly line churning out the same beers all of the time, we want to be a crafthouse, rolling out beers that are an expression of the season, the freshest ingredients and the creativity of the brewer.”

“That being said,” the campaign continues, “we are open to being a “brewocracy” where if the beer-drinking public would like to see a particular style or recipe on our menu we will brew it…”

Public Brewhouse is located at 209 N. Hoff Avenue in an old brick building behind Ermanos on Fourth Avenue. The space most recently housed Whiskey Del Bac’s Hamilton Distillers, before upgrading to a much larger distillery near Grant and I-10. Originally, Public planned to set up shop at the Charles O. Brown House at 40 W. Broadway.

Public Brewhouse plans on opening in late June.

For more information, visit publicbrewhouse.com or Public Brewhouse on Facebook.