Denny Foster said he and his father, Barry Foster, hope to open their new Central Main & Mill Community Tap & Tasting Room in Festus next month.
The Fosters own Main & Mill Street Brewing Company & Barrelworks at 204 E. Main St. and have been overseeing renovations to a nearby building they own at 10 E. Main St. where they plan to open the new venture, which Denny Foster said will be familiarly called Central Tap.
“On our shirts and other items we put out there, it will say Central Tap,” he said on July 23. “We should be having our soft opening in late August. It will be a phased opening.”
Foster said he and his father plan to eventually open two other businesses in the building currently under renovation, including a sandwich shop at 8 E. Main St. and a cocktail lounge at 6 E. Main St. The Fosters previously moved their brewing operations to the back of the building and are in the process of creating space above the vats to be used as a stage.
Central Tap is housed in a 1,100-square-foot space, and the sandwich shop and cocktail lounge will each include 800 square feet. A 500-square-foot common restroom area also will be included. The brewing and stage area will comprise 1,900 square feet, Foster said.
Central Tap will offer a wide variety of beverages, he said.
“It’s just beverages to start. We brew our own beer,” Foster said. “We’ll have eight different slushies at all times, some with alcohol and some nonalcoholic.
“We’ll have a variety of different beverages on tap at all times, ranging from teas to cold-brew coffee to kombucha. We’ll have handmade sodas and different kinds of lemonade.”
Foster said Central Tap will be open to all ages, and he hopes to offer families a fun, welcoming atmosphere.
“The whole idea here is centered around nostalgia, just having fun,” he said. “Our murals we had done are by Kenzie Wolk (who did the Festus Schneider Park mural). She is fantastic. Everything she does is incredible.”
The tasting room will have a patio area with some more seating, Foster said.
“It will have a standing bar with seven seats,” he said.
Foster said the business will be hiring employees soon.
“We’ve hired a general manager for all the spaces,” he said. “For Central Tap, we’ll probably hire eight employees, give or take. The hiring for the other spaces will be determined later.”
Foster said Central Tap’s hours likely will be noon to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; noon to midnight Friday and Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
He said the Fosters hope to open the sandwich shop by the end of the year.
“We plan to run the sandwich shop at this time,” he said. “That could change. There’s no name for it yet.
“It will be carry-out only. It will have a window into Central Tap, and Central Tap will essentially be its dining room.”
Foster said he also hopes to open the stage area in back by the end of the year.
“Our back events deck should be done about the same time as the sandwich shop,” he said. “It will have a stage for bands, trivia, comedy. It will hold about 150 people.”
The cocktail lounge at 6 E. Main St. will be called Six Main.
“That will be the last thing we open,” Foster said. “It will be a different atmosphere from anything on Main Street. It will have a curated cocktail list. It will be something like you’d find in a metropolitan area.
“It should hold 54. This will be for adults only."
Foster said Main & Mill Brewing Co. will not be affected by the new ventures.
“Everything people have become used to at Main & Mill – nothing will change,” he said.
For more information about Central Tap or any of the Fosters’ other businesses, visit mainandmill.com or go to the Main & Mill Brewing Company Facebook page.