The Whole Foods and Mission Creek Brewing facility. (MissionCreekBrewingco.com)
At the end of 2014, Whole Foods made extravagant leaps into the whole of craft beer - not by selling more products, but brewing. Yes, you heard me, brewing. The company launched its first on-site microbrewery and taproom dubbed, 'Mission Creek Brewing Company', though most locals might refer to it as the 'Whole Foods store with the awesome taproom'.
The two-story, 5,600 sq-ft outbuilding, where all the brewing is actually taking place, is separate from the main store itself. It's led by brewmaster Guy Cameron, formerly of Russian River Brewing Company, plays with a 7 barrel system to experiment with fresh and innovative new brews.
Brewmaster, Guy Cameron at Mission Creek Brewing Co. (MissionCreekBrewingco.com)
The space itself is quite natural to the Whole Foods style. Cozy and lighted decor amongst wooden furnishings that make you feel at home. The ground floor, a coffee/ juice house with lots of options and seating. The second floor, access to a seemingly rooftop styled veranda with a lovely birds-eye view of the street (Edit: there's also a retractable ceiling so it can be open year-round!). A total of 22 taps for beer, wine, and sparkling water are available from mostly local options.
Wesley Miller, who manages the Northern Calif. beer program, sees this as the perfect opportunity to help grow the local beer scene and foster relationships between consumers and industry folks.
““It was kind of a natural progression. We have these beer bars in our stores highlighting craft beer and so we have a lot of relationships with craft brewers,” said Miller, “San Jose has an emerging brewery scene, lots of craft beer bars and a history of brewing. So it’s just kind of bringing it back and making something cool here.” (LiquidBreadMag)”
Second floor rooftop seating overlooking the streets. (MissionCreekBrewingco.com)
Seats 75 folks. Plenty of room for those cool beer/cheese and 'meet the brewers' events. (yelp.com)
Ground floor - Coffee/juice bars. (MissionCreekBrewingco.com)
Brewing back room. Very small system to focus on experimentation. (yelp.com)
