Unruly Brewing to open community brewery in downtown Muskegon, aims to make city a beer destination

Unruly Brewing and Pigeon Hill Brewing will soon put Muskegon on the beer destination map when the two craft breweries open in the city's growing downtown district this year.

Pigeon Hill Brewing (500 W. Western Ave.) plans to open later this year in the Noble Building (read story here), while Unruly Brewing will bring a community-brewing aspect to the historic Russell Block Building (360 W. Western Ave.) as early as this spring.

Unruly's owners, Jeff Jacobson, Mark Gongalski, and Eric Hoffman, plan to get the brewery established, then open the brew house to select home brewers who will introduce their own tried-and-tasted recipes to the community on a larger scale.

"We want Unruly Brewing to be a place where local brewers talk about beer, learn about beer, and eventually have an opportunity to make their own beers onsite," Jacobson says. "We're hoping by the end of 2013 to start developing a program for that."

The brewery's 2,500-square-foot taproom will be a room without walls, Jacobson says, and open to the rest of the Russell Block Market where it will share seating and occupancy space with Drip Drop Drink coffee shop and possibly a food vendor.

Downstairs, the brew house occupies another 1,500 square feet. Outside, a patio area on the building's south side will have outdoor seating.

Jacobson says he, Gongalski, and Hoffman are active home brewers. Gongalski and Hoffman founded the Muskegon Area Society of Homebrewers (MASH) and Hoffman will be the pub's brew master.

Unruly Brewing opens late this spring with 10 of its own brews on tap, including an ale, a pre-prohibition crème ale made from authentic pre-prohibition ingredients, a double IPA, a coffee porter, and an IPA.

"I'm hoping this brings people downtown," Jacobson says. "During the summer it's packed with all the festivals, but it could be so much more than just space for that. There's a lot of space that could be filled with retail and restaurants."

Source: Jeff Jacobson, Unruly Brewing
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor