The City of Alcoa and Blackhorse Brewery are proud to announce that the City will be home to the brewery’s third and newest location. The brewery’s latest addition will be in the former City of Alcoa garage located at the corner of Bessemer Street and Hall Road.
Owners Jeff and Sherri Robinson said, "Blackhorse Brewery is excited to announce that we are expanding to the City of Alcoa with a new brewing facility. This facility will become our primary brewery for production and distribution of Blackhorse beers. Phase One of the project will aim at getting the building renovated and into use for the brewing operation. Phase Two will include a restaurant and beer garden area. We plan to start work as soon as we have all of the required permits and approvals in place.
“My wife Sherri and I have been looking for the right location for over a year now. We were driving down Hall Road when she saw this classic old Aluminum Company of America building and said, ‘Why can't we find a building like that?’ We turned around and saw the City of Alcoa signs on the fence and called the City Manager's office the next day to see just what was going on with that building. BOOM! Here we are now.
“It is our goal to save the historic character of the building while putting it into use as a brewery that we hope becomes part of the fabric of the Alcoa community. We think it's really cool that our canned beer sales are driving the need to expand our production and the aluminum for those cans comes from Alcoa.
“We want to give a shout out and many thanks to City of Alcoa leaders and staff. They have been the most friendly, professional and positive group we have worked with. Thanks to the Blount County Industrial Development Board for facilitating the process as well.”
City of Alcoa Mayor Don Mull applauded the brewery by saying, “We are very pleased that Blackhorse has chosen Alcoa for its new location and are appreciative of their vision to re-utilize and preserve this historic - building. Blackhorse will not only provide a boost to the local economy but will be a welcome addition for the enjoyment of the entire Blount County community.”
The steel and brick “Garage Building No. 476” as it was known by the company, was completed in August 1941 and deeded to the City in 1960. It served as the City garage until the opening of the Service Center in July 2008. The Alcoa brewing and canning operation is expected to be operational by late August or early September of this year while it is anticipated that the restaurant and beer garden will open later this fall.
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