Market Street to close for Wilmington's first Brew-Fest

Dan Sheridan swears it's a complete coincidence.

The equipment for his still-under-construction Stitch House Brewery, located in the heart of downtown Wilmington across the street from The Grand, will be delivered this weekend after a previous delivery day fell through.

While cranes on Shipley Street slowly drop five 7 bbl fermenters into the rear of Stitch's new home at 829 N. Market Street on Saturday, the downtown's first-ever major outdoor beer festival will be raging out front.

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Even though the festival boasts more than 100 craft beers on site from more than 40 local and regional breweries and a rare performance by Wilmington pop princes The Spinto Band, there's a good chance that the gathered crowd of beer geeks will spend part of the day looking upward at the future of downtown brewing.

Organizers hope the debut Downtown Brew-Fest will draw people into downtown in August, a traditionally slow time thanks to summer vacations and weekend beach getaways. The fact that the theater season at The Grand, The Queen and The Playhouse on Rodney Square is not in full swing doesn't help business either.

But judging on the response Brew-Fest organizers' Cinco de Mayo street festival on North Market Street received three months ago -- they planned for 500 and it drew 1,200 -- hopes are high.

"The rebuilding of Wilmington happens a brick at a time, but I think the revitalization of Wilmington happens an event at a time," says Joe Van Horn, the Chuck Taylor-wearing co-owner of Chelsea Tavern and Earnest & Scott Taproom and organizer of Downtown Brew-Fest, which is officially sponsored by the City of Wilmington.

Brew-Fest will run from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the 800 block of North Market Street, which will be closed to traffic and lined with beer tents, food trucks, a beer garden and a large stage.

Among the Delaware-based breweries represented at the festival: 3rd Wave, 16 Mile, Bellefonte, Big Oyster, Blue Earl, Crooked Hammock, Dew Point, Dogfish Head, Mispillion River and Twin Lakes.

The recently re-formed Spinto Band, which played a surprise show at Wilmington rock club 1984 in June to prepare for a mini tour, has not played an announced show in Delaware since the act's 2013 New Year's Eve show at the former World Cafe Live at the Queen. In addition to the Spintos, Wilmington jam/funk cover band Groove Brothers Inc. and Newark-based singer/songwriter D. Corridori are also on the bill.

General admission is $35 and VIP is $50, which includes specialty beer samples and a private seated area on the sidewalk near Chelsea Tavern. Designated drivers and ages 12 to 18 cost $10 and ages 12 and under are $5. Organizers hope to draw at least 600 people.

All restaurants on the block will be open for the festival for seated meals to go along with the snacks from food trucks, such as Delaware Provision Company and Kapow. The tasting taps close at 5:30 p.m., but Chelsea Tavern and two outdoor satellite bars will remain open through 7:30 p.m.

The timing of the fest couldn't be better as Market Street prepares to welcome its first brewery in nearly 15 years with a fall opening scheduled.

The new chapter in the city's brewing history, which dates back to the mid-1800s, is being written with Stitch House set to be only the second downtown Wilmington brewery to produce its own beer in the more than six decades since the closure of Diamond State Brewing at Fifth and Adams streets in 1955.

While the craft beer boom has sprouted breweries across the state from Greenville to Delmar over the years, it has largely left downtown Wilmington untouched.

Prior to the opening of the 160-seat Stitch House, which is expected this fall, the only other downtown brewery was the aptly named Downtown Brewing Company, which was at 1210 N. Market St. The spot brewed its own beer during a three-year run that ended in 2003.

(Brandywine Brewing Company at the corner of Ninth and Orange streets, where the new Bull Bay Caribbean Cuisine restaurant is located, was open for a short time in 2000, but did not make its beer on site. It was delivered from its Greenville location.)

"We're hoping to be open in the October range -- no later than November," says Stitch House's Sheridan. "We actually have every piece of brewery equipment coming on Saturday, so we'll be going from having nothing in that space to -- boom! -- everything on one day."

Recently, Sheridan has been consulting with John Medkeff Jr., a Delaware beer historian and author of 2015's "Brewing in Delaware" ($21.99, Arcadia Publishing). Expect to see historical photos of Delaware's brewing history on site when Stitch House opens, along with images of the past tenants of 829 N. Market Street.

In fact, the name Stitch House Brewery is rooted in the building's history, having formerly housed the Linen Mart and the Diamond Ice & Coal Co. ice house in the past.

"We hope to be a part of a brewing resurgence in Wilmington," adds Sheridan, also co-owner of Wilmington's Locale BBQ Post and the Wilmington Pickling Company.

Another alcohol-maker, Wilmington-based Civil Cider, could open as soon as this winter at the corner of North Shipley and West Fifth streets, the former home of the 4W5 Cafe.

Medkeff is the man behind the Restore the King campaign, a drive to raise $100,000 to restore the 11-foot, 1,000-pound zinc King Gambrinus statue that stood at the old Diamond State Brewery.

The 135-year-old statue of the mythical European beer icon broke when it was dropped in 1978 and now Medkeff is pushing for this impressive piece of Delaware history to be fixed and put on display at the Delaware Historical Society, right next door to The Queen.

After Diamond State was demolished to make way for I-95, the statue stood in front of the old Cohen Brothers Furniture on Madison Street. Later, it found a home in front of The King's Inn (now Harry's Savoy Grill) in Brandywine Hundred from 1963 until the early '70s. And in a neat twist, Brew-Fest performer D. Corridori is the son of the late Fran Corridori, former owner of The King's Inn.

Van Horn reached out to Medkeff after learning about Restore the King and decided that a portion of Brew-Fest's proceeds will go to the restoration campaign.

"We already restored The Queen and now it's time to restore The King," Medkeff says. "We joke that we want The King next to The Queen."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: Downtown Brew-Fest

When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Where: 800 block of North Market Street, Wilmington

Music: The Spinto Band (5:40 p.m.), Groove Brothers Inc. (3:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.) and D. Corridori (2 p.m.)

Cost: General admission ($35) and VIP ($50). Designated drivers and ages 12 to 18 ($10) and ages 12 and under ($5)

Tickets: beerfests.com/events/downtown-wilmington-brew-fest

Information: facebook.com/ChelseaTavern