The new Lakewood craft beer spot On Rotation is ready for its close-up. According to owners Lindsay and Jacob Sloan, the brewhouse will be open for business on January 23 with beer on tap, to be followed by the launch of their brewing operation in February.
"The plan is to be in 'soft open' mode throughout the month of January," Jacob says. "We'll likely plan a grand opening later in February, when we'll debut our beers on tap."
Located at the intersection of Garland Road and Grand Avenue, in the same center as next-door neighbor Cane Rosso, On Rotation is a unique concept that merges brewery with tasting room and growler station. The Sloans will be brewing small batches so they can experiment with lots of different flavors such as jalapeño saison and raspberry sour.
Forty taps will include not only their own beer, but also select beers by other brewers. And they'll fill growlers to go.
Their 40 taps will include not only their own beer, but also select beers by other brewers. And they'll fill growlers to go.
Construction began in June and proceeded "pretty close to plan," Jacob says, with the only major mishap being a delayed AC unit.
Lined with white subway tile, the space is clean and minimalist. A large window behind the bar provides a view of the brewing room and its gleaming stainless steel tanks. The bartop is poured gray concrete, while the front is made from broad planks of recycled wood, with multicolored stools lined up in a row. A garage-door entrance offers a bird's-eye view of Cane Rosso's patio and its signature red pig statue.
Opening with beer from other brewers will give the Sloans a chance to get their feet wet. And they'll come out of the gate with a rarity or two, such as Michigan's Atwater Brewery vanilla java porter (a beer with its own Facebook page), that'll make a visit worth the trip.
"Of our 40 taps, half will be local and half from out of state and the United States," Jacob says. "We put together a lot of our favorites and some new stuff, including fruit beers, stouts, browns, some of the hoppier IPAs. We stocked a few sours too."
The list will include Martin House's last two editions in their single-hop IPA series, Cellarman's Reserve; Peticolas' Sit Down or I'll Sit You Down; Lakewood's Manimal red ale; the new Off With Your Red from Rabbit Hole Brewing in Justin; Epic's Big Bad Baptist, an imperial stout with coffee and cocoa nibs; and Epic's Brainless Raspberries, a Belgian-style fruit beer; Ter Dolen's Kriek from Belgium; and Lone Pint Brewery's Zythophile Rakau, an IPA with hops from New Zealand.
Although their own beer won't yet be for sale, there's nothing that says they might not share a few samples. "We have a few kegs of our beer from special events we've brewed previously that we could sample, maybe walk around with a tray of taster cups," he says. "For now, we'll have 40 beers on tap that show our varied beer interests.
"We'll have wine, pints and flights, and growler filling slated to start next week once we have all our growler equipment in the space."
The view from inside On Rotation includes the patio of Cane Rosso.
Dumplings from Dumpling Queen. Photo courtesy of Dumpling Queen 
Breakfast at Joy Cafe. Photo courtesy of Joy Cafe 
Sloan's Ice Cream serves up Instagrammy treats. Photo courtesy of Sloan's