Twisted Spike Brewery

[Pete]

Plans are underway for Twisted Spike Brewery at 1 NW 10th in Automobile Alley.

Bruce Sanchez, a brewer with over two decades of experience, has filed for a liquor license for a commercial brewery and tap room / bar at 1 NW 10th Street, immediately west of the railroad tracks.

The existing 7,500 square foot building will be renovated and split north/south, with the western section housing the brewery and the eastern section becoming home to large bar that will feature the various Twisted Spike offerings.

The building has built in 1927 and has been vacant for several years. The original brick will be revealed and restored when paint is stripped as part of the renovation process. The 10th Street frontage will also see the removal of a non-original wood awning. The overhead door along 10th will be replaced with a modern glass version and more glass overhead doors and windows will be added to the east side. Design work is being performed by HSE Architects of Oklahoma City.

The project comes as the City of Oklahoma City is set to start implementing a new 'quiet zone' along the rail corridor that runs along the eastern edge of downtown. Just this week, the City applied to close several railroad crossing easements and $4 million has been allocated for the project which will also include more secure gates that cars will not be able to circumnavigate when down. When the quiet zone is complete later this year, trains will no longer need to blow their horns from SE 23rd all the way to Wilshire Boulevard.

Twisted Spike will be yet another addition to the thriving 10th Street corridor that runs from the Health Sciences Center, through the northern end of Automobile Alley and then becomes the main Midtown thoroughfare.

The GE Global Research Center is well under construction to the east, Indian Motorcycles opened a dealership directly across the railroad tracks from the proposed brewery, and several new restaurants and bars have opened in just the last year to the west, including Sidecar, Broadway 10, R&J Supper Club, The Garage, Bleu Garten, Fassler Hall and Dust Bowl. They join the very popular McNellies and Packards as well as several other bars and eateries in the immediate area. Nic's Diner at 1116 N. Robinson is also set to open later this year.

Oklahoma recently changed its law around tasting rooms in breweries to provide up to 12 ounces of free samples. There is a pending state bill that would allow the breweries to directly sell high-point beer on premises which the industry hopes to put on a public ballot in November 2016.

In the case of Twisted Spike, the tap room and bar will operate under separate legal ownership and thus will be able to sell all of breweries' products, including the high-point varieties.

[John Knight]

This will be a great addition to the area! 10th street is turning into one of the best areas of Oklahoma City.

Pete, will they serve other local beers at the taproom or will it be solely Twisted Spike?

[Pete]

This will be a great addition to the area! 10th street is turning into one of the best areas of Oklahoma City.

Pete, will they serve other local beers at the taproom or will it be solely Twisted Spike?

I believe they will just serve their own varieties.

Sanchez said they plan to do about a dozen, including some interesting sours.

No food; will probably enlist food trucks at some point.

[TU 'cane]

I have not heard about these guys, are they completely new?
Not a bad location, either. Gives space between them and BT Brewery.

[Pete]

Sanchez has been operating as Red Plains Brewing and they've participated in a large number of local events.


The place reminds me of a pub in London that was built right into an at-surface tube station. It was really cool to have a pint and watch the trains roll by.

[BadBear]

Very exciting! I've had several of Bruce's beers and they have all been fantastic.

Should be noted that this won't be the first downtown brewery however. You have Anthem at Western and SW 4th street and of course Bricktown Brewery if we are counting low point offerings.

[sooner88]

Sanchez has been operating as Red Prairie Brewing and they've participated in a large number of local events.


The place reminds me of a pub in London that was built right into an at-surface tube station. It was really cool to have a pint and watch the trains roll by.

Being able to watch the trains roll by without them blowing their horns at every intersection will be so nice, the quiet zone can't happen soon enough.

It'll be interesting to see how many of these tap rooms open now that the laws have changed.

[BadBear]

Being able to watch the trains roll by without them blowing their horns at every intersection will be so nice, the quiet zone can't happen soon enough.

It'll be interesting to see how many of these tap rooms open now that the laws have changed.

The law change allowing samples isn't really affecting this plan much. Twisted Spike is following the workaround that Roughtail in Midwest City found where they created a separate legal entity that operates the space as a bar. The brewery still has to send their beer through the distributor and then buy it back from them. The law that is in limbo right now, HB 424, would allow breweries to sell directly to the consumer and bypass the 4 tier system for on site sales. Until we get our laws figured out, I'm glad we have an OKC brewery going this route. Should be wildly successful.

[Pete]

The law change allowing samples isn't really affecting this plan much. Twisted Spike is following the workaround that Roughtail in Midwest City found where they created a separate legal entity that operates the space as a bar. The brewery still has to send their beer through the distributor and then buy it back from them. The law that is in limbo right now, HB 424, would allow breweries to sell directly to the consumer and bypass the 4 tier system for on site sales. Until we get our laws figured out, I'm glad we have an OKC brewery going this route. Should be wildly successful.

Exactly right and the industry is hoping to have HB 424 (which I believe would also allow for cold beer and wine in grocery stores) on the public ballot in Nov. 2016.

[sooner88]

The law change allowing samples isn't really affecting this plan much. Twisted Spike is following the workaround that Roughtail in Midwest City found where they created a separate legal entity that operates the space as a bar. The brewery still has to send their beer through the distributor and then buy it back from them. The law that is in limbo right now, HB 424, would allow breweries to sell directly to the consumer and bypass the 4 tier system for on site sales. Until we get our laws figured out, I'm glad we have an OKC brewery going this route. Should be wildly successful.

Gotcha, good to know!

[bchris02]

I have not heard about these guys, are they completely new?
Not a bad location, either. Gives space between them and BT Brewery.

It appears this place is actually going to serve real beer, a first for a brewpub in Oklahoma. BT Brewery doesn't tell you this but I believe everything there is 3.2 ABW.

These kinds of places are opening up by the dozens in other cities. If the state would pass SB 424 I am sure we would see an explosion of them here. At any rate, this brewpub sounds amazing and I can't wait for it to open.

[bille]

I have not heard about these guys, are they completely new?
Not a bad location, either. Gives space between them and BT Brewery.

Bruce had been homebrewing for many years and I've also been lucky enough to try some of them. He's well known in the craft/homebrew scene, especially for his accolades in brewing sour beer. This is going to be a fun venture for all of us!

If you want to keep up with the progress (or lack of) and discussing of OK liquor laws there's a ~5 year old thread here where we've been updating the latest on SB424 (brewery direct sales) and SB383, which was for cold storage of beer only in liquor stores, it's since morphed into something far bigger. Regardless we're hoping both make it to a vote next year and we'll need all the support we can muster, passing alcohol bills in this state isn't easy!

[bille]

It appears this place is actually going to serve real beer, a first for a brewpub in Oklahoma. BT Brewery doesn't tell you this but I believe everything there is 3.2 ABW.

These kinds of places are opening up by the dozens in other cities. If the state would pass SB 424 I am sure we would see an explosion of them here. At any rate, this brewpub sounds amazing and I can't wait for it to open.

Nope, this isn't going to be a brewpub, this is going to be a production brewery with a tap room.

[Pete]

Bruce also said they will actually do some contract brewing for other companies as well, so this really is a commercial brewery and they have a big cold room for hops, etc.

I'm sure they'll offer tours and demonstrations as well.

[TU 'cane]

It appears this place is actually going to serve real beer, a first for a brewpub in Oklahoma. BT Brewery doesn't tell you this but I believe everything there is 3.2 ABW.

These kinds of places are opening up by the dozens in other cities. If the state would pass SB 424 I am sure we would see an explosion of them here. At any rate, this brewpub sounds amazing and I can't wait for it to open.

Bruce had been homebrewing for many years and I've also been lucky enough to try some of them. He's well known in the craft/homebrew scene, especially for his accolades in brewing sour beer. This is going to be a fun venture for all of us!

If you want to keep up with the progress (or lack of) and discussing of OK liquor laws there's a ~5 year old thread here where we've been updating the latest on SB424 (brewery direct sales) and SB383, which was for cold storage of beer only in liquor stores, it's since morphed into something far bigger. Regardless we're hoping both make it to a vote next year and we'll need all the support we can muster, passing alcohol bills in this state isn't easy!

Ok, great. Thanks for the information.
I'll be looking forward to even more Oklahoma grown craft beer.

[onthestrip]

The law change allowing samples isn't really affecting this plan much. Twisted Spike is following the workaround that Roughtail in Midwest City found where they created a separate legal entity that operates the space as a bar. The brewery still has to send their beer through the distributor and then buy it back from them. The law that is in limbo right now, HB 424, would allow breweries to sell directly to the consumer and bypass the 4 tier system for on site sales. Until we get our laws figured out, I'm glad we have an OKC brewery going this route. Should be wildly successful.

Helluva deal for those lucky few distributors in this state...

[AnthemBen]

Hello,

This is Ben Childers, Brand Ambassador for Anthem Brewing Company. I originally signed up just to drop a little knowledge that there were some breweries already operating in downtown OKC, us since May 2012, but that appears to have already been taken care of. I would like to extend an invitation to you all to join us for open house this Saturday from 1-5pm at our brewery located at 908 SW 4th St just east of Western. Our facility and tap room will be open for free tours and free samples of our products. Hope to see you all there

[Pete]

^

Welcome Ben! Thanks for the info.

[bille]

Ben is incredibly sexy too so that's a bonus as well.

[Pete]

Here is the proposed floor plan. Note the long counters facing east towards the RR tracks.

[AP]

When are they planning to get started?

[Pete]

Their ABC permit goes before the planning commission this Thursday then has to be stamped by City Council.

After that all goes through, they'll be starting work shortly thereafter.

[trousers]

Any word on if everything went well with the permit process?

[Pete]

Any word on if everything went well with the permit process?

On 8/13 the Planning Commission recommended approval then City Council approved on 9/1.

[trousers]

Great, thanks Pete.