Owners of new brewpub want to bring neglected corner of Bedford back to life

Dried glue dots the floor where there was carpet and the walls need painting, but those are minor matters for the four young owners of Turning Point Beer, who say they have big plans for the city’s first brewpub.

Josh Davis, James Peery, Alex Knight and J.P. Goytia all have ties to Bedford and Northeast Tarrant County, Knight said, and they want to give back to the community. They spent months searching for the perfect spot to brew and sell their craft beers, and they found it in an unlikely place — a former Rent-A-Center on Brown Trail.

“We always had the idea that we would start our own brewery one day. There aren’t any other brewpubs around here, and we know people want more craft beer,” Knight said.

The new brewpub, which is scheduled to open in February at 1307 Brown Trail, is in a run-down late 1950s shopping center that houses a pawnshop, a church, a nail salon and a gymnastics center.

Peery said they reached out to development officials from other cities, but Bedford responded quickly and encouraged them to open the business.

When asked about the location, Peery said the 6,000-square-foot building has everything they need, including space for the brewing equipment, the bar, and seating for patrons. The building also has the necessary electrical requirements.

The inside will have the atmosphere of an English pub.

Goytia said it costs about $1 million to start a brewery the size of Turning Point Beer, and the four friends are working with two investors.

“All four of us will indeed be working at Turning Point once we open —ideally a month or two before the grand opening,” Goytia said.

“Our current employers were gracious enough to keep us on in the interim, knowing that we will be starting this exciting new venture. We are very grateful for them. It made for a perfect scenario.”

Craft beer enthusiasts

The four entrepreneurs have experience working in breweries, and Peery and Knight “homebrew” about every other week. They can’t sell what they make at home, but they enjoy making different types of beer and letting friends sample them.

They studied craft beer maps of the Metroplex and found that most of the brewpubs are in Fort Worth and Dallas. Davis said the closest pubs to them in Tarrant are in Grapevine and Keller, more than 10 miles away.

“We see this big circle [referring to the map] where there is nothing but emptiness here,” Peery said.

The entrepreneurs want to bring a family atmosphere to their new home in Bedford.

Craft beer fans are “a close-knit, welcoming group,” Peery said.

Knight said brewpubs are often found in neighborhoods in areas such as Portland and Seattle, and they want to bring the same feel to Bedford.

Turning Point has applied for the necessary permits to sell and serve beer, and it still has renovation work to finish, including work on drainage and plumbing to run water to the brewpub and to properly dispose of the waste from the brewing process, Peery said.

Davis said he and his friends believe that when Turning Point opens, it will be a catalyst to bring other businesses to the area.

“We can’t wait to be the best neighbor they’ve ever had,” he said.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Owners of new brewpub want to bring neglected corner of Bedford back to life."