Although brewery openings around Dallas are becoming increasingly common, one new venture stands out, thanks to its unique and historical location in a vintage building in McKinney. Tupps Brewery will open in the Cotton Mill complex, a former denim factory that closed in 1969 and has been renovated into an event space popular for weddings and parties.
Tupps founders Keith Lewis and Tupper Patnode are former techies with a passion for brewing beer who decided to throw their hats in. They signed on with Terry Casey, Cotton Mill owner, to take a warehouse space for the brewery, which will mark its ribbon-cutting at the end of January, says spokesman Ryan Whisenhunt.
Their opening will mark the second brewery in McKinney, joining Franconia which opened in 2008.
"Tupps has a sense of place," Whisenhutt says. "We want to be a public-run brewery that supports the scene in McKinney. And Keith and Tupper really want to be advocates for craft beer."
Their brew lineup includes five beers: pale ale, golden pale ale, specialty pale ale, black ale and an orange wheat.
As is the custom at breweries, Tupps will host weekly tours with barbecue and a family-oriented atmosphere. Their approach is very hands-on. The barbecue comes from Whisenhunt's own company, Red Beard BBQ, and much of the metal work on the premises is being done by Lewis himself.
"Keith is a copper welder and all of the metal work is his art," Whisenhunt says. "All the materials they're using to design and build out the space come from the Cotton Mill. They had a bunch of remnant 12-by-12 pieces of wood, and they've created all the furniture from that."
Cotton Mill owner Casey is vigilant on keeping things in the complex as close as possible to the original architecture. "We're pushing to have that old nostalgic feel," Whisenhunt says.
