SoDel Concepts' coming brewpub will be known as Thompson Island Brewing Company

SoDel Concepts, one of southern Delaware’s most successful restaurant groups, has plans for expansion that includes a new brewpub in Rehoboth Beach.

The new enterprise, its first microbrewery, will be located on Coastal Highway property recently acquired by the company and will be called Thomson Island Brewing Company.

The site is adjacent to one of its existing restaurants — Bluecoast Seafood Grill Rehoboth.

SoDel currently operates 11 restaurants and a catering business in Sussex County. The company recently acquired Crust & Craft, a pizza restaurant in Rehoboth Beach.

Many of the company’s existing restaurants specialize in seafood, with the exception of Lupo Italian Kitchen in Rehoboth and Papa Grande’s, a Mexican restaurant in Fenwick Island.

SoDel also runs the Clubhouse at Baywood in Millsboro.

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Plans for SoDel Concepts brewpub with Troegs Brewing

SoDel’s new brewpub concept will include a restaurant and brewery, which will receive a boost from the well-known Troegs Brewing Co. of Hershey, Pennsylvania, a brewery consultant on the new endeavor.

SoDel has had a long relationship with Troegs, one that began with the company’s late founder, Matt Haley.

Troegs is one of Pennsylvania’s oldest and most successful microbreweries. The company, in business since 1997, now employs 175 people at its brewery in Hershey.

Jeff Herb, Troegs marketing and communications coordinator, acknowledged negotiations with SoDel regarding the new brewpub.

Herb also emphasized that it will take some time to finalize details.

“This project is still in the early stages,” he said.

Though SoDel has acquired the land, the company has not obtained the necessary permits — either from Sussex County or the Delaware Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

“We still have a lot of regulation to work out,” said SoDel President Scott Kammerer.

When will the Brewpub open?

Though Kammerer declined to speculate about a timetable, several SoDel employees said they were told that construction could begin soon, with completion by the end of 2019.

Kammerer declined to confirm a timetable for construction of SoDel’s new microbrewery.

The new SoDel/Troegs operation would be near another restaurant group brewpub — Iron Hill Brewery. Iron Hill operates 16 restaurants in four states and last year opened a Rehoboth Beach microbrewery that is across from the SoDel project on Route 1.

The plan would be for SoDel to run the operation, including the restaurant, while Troegs would assist with an on-site brewery.

Prior this new project, SoDel’s sole foray into beer production was a joint venture with Revelation Craft Brewing of Rehoboth Beach. The collaborative effort produced SoDel SMASH pale ale, which appears on the menu of several of their restaurants.

Kammerer and Matt Patton, SoDel director of operations, said the company plans a formal announcement soon.