Smart Use of a Former Industrial Area

…continuing with our short but attraction packed road trip this past October to the area around Lexington Kentucky.  Following our visit to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, I decided that we’d drive through the center of Lexington to see what possibilities we might discover…

As we neared the center of Lexington, we spotted a large complex of old buildings.  We were especially intrigued because the parking lot was packed and it was a Sunday!

It turned out that this 25 acre property was once the home of the James E. Pepper Distillery.  That distiller began making bourbon in 1879 but in 1958 the site was abandoned and it remained deserted for about 50 years.  But in 2008, some local creative business leaders decided to repurpose the site while maintaining the former structures.  Now the “Distillery District” is a hot destination for locals and tourists alike!

FYI, the James E. Pepper, aka the Old Pepper Distillery occupies part of the site and it is back in business too.  This distillery uses filtered limestone water from the property’s historic well in the distillation process.  Tours are available.  To learn more, go to https://jamesepepper.com/.

We decided to stop into Ethereal Brewing to check out their beer and relax a bit.  Note the fact that this establishment is dog friendly!   I don’t know if the patio belongs to the brewery or to Goodfellas Pizza next door…or if it’s open for anyone’s customers.

Ethereal Brewing is the only brewery in the area that has its own dedicated yeast lab.  They have focused on Belgian farmhouse and American craft beers…so Bonnie and Bill ordered a couple of sample flights to try out the product.  Laurie and I stuck with something we knew that we would prefer rather than gamble on the unknown.  In any case, I am a beer sissy, drinking only light ales.  Plus neither of us imbibe very much at this point in our lives.  The Brewery does mention that sometimes there is a taco stand available for customers but otherwise, all we could obtain to side with our beer were these pretzels and a container of cheese dip.

To learn more about Ethereal Brewing and the variety of their offerings, just go to http://www.etherealbrew.com/#getsocial.

Our next stop was at the Elkhorn Tavern.  This is a much smaller venue, resembling a lodge both through its bar and décor.  It is located adjacent to the Barrel House Distillery…which is in the old ‘barreling house’ of the original James E. Pepper Distillery.  Additional adult beverages were consumed…except by myself as I was driving.  The Elkhorn Tavern did have a bit of live entertainment to offer…and it does have a food menu offering burgoo and a full charcuterie board.

The tavern not only provides libations and food, but it also allows the Barrel House Distilling Co. to showcase special cocktails made from their products.  A shop offering the distillery’s products is connected to the Tavern.  To learn more about both the tavern and the distillery, go to https://www.barrelhousedistillery.com/elkhorn-tavern/.

This massive building at the other end of the packed parking area is the former James E. Pepper ‘rickhouse’, the warehouse for the distillery where they aged and stored up to 100,000 barrels of bourbon.  This building, built in 1936, is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Today, it’s almost one-acre ground floor houses a unique assortment of retail businesses.

The preceding photos give you an idea of the variety of retail operations located in the former ‘rickhouse’.  Relic is a public warehouse/store full of vintage, rustic and reclaimed items.  Brevede Coffee Co. offers hot and cold beverages as well as sandwiches and some bakery products.  They also offer a small event venue.  Wise Bird Cider Co. crafts small-batch, heritage-style hard ciders from heirloom apples.

The coffee shop in the former rickhouse was closed during our visit, so we headed into the Rickhouse Pub.  This pub offers a full service bar with more than 100 varieties of beer and cider.   They also claim to be a restaurant but if so, it was a walk up and order your food at a counter (unattended while we were there).  Website: https://rickhousepub.com/.

The Rickhouse Pub is attached to Battle Axes!  Their website asks the question, “Have you ever wanted to experience the feeling of an Axe in one hand and an ice cold beer in the other?  Well, look no further!”  Doesn’t sound too safe to me…why not bourbon at a gun range?  There are many axe throwing 'lanes' in this huge space...

Actually, the axes are really hatchets… You can check out their website at https://battleaxesky.com/.

The Break Room at Pepper was the loudest and most active business that we noted during our late Sunday afternoon visit.  There are firepits, an outdoor covered patio and a stage where live music is often performed.  Food trucks are frequently parked next to this bar as well.  Website: https://www.facebook.com/Break-Room-At-Pepper-756087201135495/.

·       Note: Lexington’s Distillery District has several other businesses/retail operations to offer other than the ones I’ve mentioned.  They include: Middle Fork Restaurant, Crank and Boom Ice Cream Lounge, The Burl Music Venue and Arcade, The Local Wag with doggie day care, Fusion Brewing, Massage Strong, Vibe Fitness Center, William Tarr Distillery, the Manchester Music Hall and the Grand Reserve, an event venue with up to 50,000 square feet of available space.

But then it was time for dinner… I’d done my research and we all enjoy Bar-B-Que.  Red State BBQ is ranked as the 7^th best restaurant in the Lexington area as per Trip Advisor.  They have a rating of 4.5 out of 1,456 reviews. 

Red State BBQ opened in 2010 and it is a busy place, that’s for sure!  We all liked its quirky look…with writing and messages all over the walls and ceiling.  Customers line up to place their orders and then they scramble for a place to sit…or designate members of their party to seize a table. 

It was a fun place…noisy with happy people.  Then we got our food.  It was dry and tasteless, not even close to what any of us would consider to be top notch BBQ.  Sadly, if I were still writing reviews for Trip Advisor, we would have become one of 59 reviews that gave this establishment a Poor or Terrible review.  

I’m hopeful that Red State BBQ was just having a bad day… Check it out for yourself if you’re in the Lexington area.  Their website can be found at https://www.redstatebbq.com/.

That’s it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave