Minglewood Brewery hopes to fill void in downtown Cape

Editor's note: Stuart Matthews' name was corrected below.

Craft brewing has grown in popularity over the years, and Stuart Matthews and Jeffrey Lage intend to take advantage of the untapped market in Cape Girardeau.

The duo plans to open Minglewood Brewery, a microbrewery and pub, in the old Keys building at the corner of Broadway and Spanish Street by late this summer.

Though neither Matthews nor Lage has brewing experience, they recently hired Tony Johnson, assistant brewer at Big Muddy Brewing in Murphysboro, Ill., as the brewpub's head brewer. Johnson will take command of brewing about four or five "staple" beers the pub will have on tap year-round, such as an English-style pale ale, Belgium, IPA and stout beer.

The rest of the 12-tap system will be filled with "interesting, unique beers that are a little crazy," Matthews said, all of which will be brewed in-house using a seven-barrel brewing system.

Ethan Riddle, tasting room manager at John A. Huber Brewing Company in Jackson, pours a Rye IPA from the tap Saturday. The family business began with Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri in Jackson, opened by John Huber in 2009. The John A. Huber Brewing Company opened in 2011 in Fruitland, and began brewing beer in 2012. In the late 1970s, only about 89 breweries were operating in the U.S. In 2013, about 2,538 breweries were in operation, according to the Brewers Association’s website for craft brewers. (Laura Simon)

The business will double as a restaurant that will serve artisan pizzas, open-faced sandwiches and appetizers, including Bavarian pretzels, bruschetta and cheese platters. Though they are "here for the beer," wine and spirits also will be available, along with high chairs and a children's menu for the little ones.

"We didn't want to exclude anybody," Lage said.

After the latest brewery in Cape Girardeau, Buckner Brewing Co., closed its doors on North Main Street in February last year, Matthews said he and Lage saw something missing from the city's downtown, and they thought the area would be a good fit for their business.

"We saw that craft beer was growing," Matthews said. "The industry was growing at a rapid rate, and we saw that there was a void in Cape Girardeau, and we thought we could fill that void."

In the late 1970s, only about 89 breweries were operating in the U.S. -- fast-forward about 30 years to 2013 when approximately 2,538 breweries were in operation, according to the Brewers Association's website for craft brewers.

The craft-brewing industry growth was 18 percent by volume and 20 percent by dollars in 2013, compared to 15 percent by volume and 17 percent by dollars in 2012, the website says. The organization has record of 413 breweries opening in 2013, including 304 microbreweries and 109 brewpubs.

Aside from the John A. Huber Brewing Co. in Fruitland, a family-owned and-operated business known for its flagship beer called Hubrew, other craft breweries extend outside Cape Girardeau County and into Ste. Genevieve County, Mo., Southern Illinois and the St. Louis area that is home to about 20 breweries.

Because the craft-brewing industry is a niche market, Matthews said, "a lot of people know a lot of people."

"We all know each other," he said of craft brewers, making the business unique and fun.

And Matthews said he doesn't necessarily see other area brewers as competition because they offer original twists on the same product.

Though Matthews and Lage have encountered some hiccups along their yearlong path toward opening the brewpub, such as opening a brewpub in a building that sits within 200 feet of a church, their focus has remained bringing something of value to downtown Cape Girardeau.

What makes craft beer different from beers shipped from distributors is authenticity, Matthews said.

"We bring originality, basically by brewing our own beer," he said.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent addresses:

121 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

3463 State Highway FF, Jackson, MO