USA, NC: Clouds Brewing opens new location on Franklin Street, replacing Gizmo Brew Works

Last week Clouds Brewing, a Triangle-based brewery, opened a third location on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, replacing the space previously occupied by Gizmo Brew Works, The Daily Tar Herald reported on October 1.

On Aug. 14, Gizmo Brew Works announced on Facebook that it would be transitioning to Clouds Brewing. The announcement said Clouds Brewing is hiring the previous staff at Gizmo Brew Works.

Gizmo Brew Works filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in March, yet the Chapel Hill location remained open until August. There are two Gizmo Brew Works locations still active in Raleigh and Durham.

Clouds Brewing staff has been friends with Gizmo Brew Works staff for several years, Matt MacNeil, the co-owner of Clouds Brewing, said.He said after Gizmo Brew Works declared bankruptcy, Clouds Brewing staff were trying to figure out a way to help them out.

“We had the money to purchase it, and so it just became a good partnership to work with Gizmo on the acquisition of this,” MacNeil said.

He also said in an email that Clouds Brewing will be offering trivia night on Tuesdays and Thursdays — just like Gizmo Brew Works did — and mimosas on Sundays.

John Oldendorf, co-owner and chief beer officer of Clouds Brewing, said he received his brewing degree in Germany, so Clouds Brewing experiments with different styles and flavors of German beer, especially lagers. He said they are working on monster-themed beers for Halloween.

Oldendorf, the brewmaster at Clouds Brewing, experiments with small batches, producing a few kegs at a time, and tests how well they sell before deciding whether to scale up production, MacNeil said.

“At the end of the day, we sit around and have a beer and talk about what we can do around the brewery [to] make the brewery better, what kind of products we can make [to make] the brewery experience more fun,” Oldendorf said.

For the first year of Clouds Brewing's operations, MacNeil said his goals include attracting a solid crowd on weekends and providing a fun atmosphere for visitors to watch games.

“We're really excited about getting into another territory," Oldendorf said. "We are now covering all three big schools in the Triangle. We’ve got a location in Raleigh, Durham and now we're in Chapel Hill, so we can start doing some more fun things and try to compete between the three schools and see how it goes.”

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