Great Escape targets February opening for Republic brewery

Officials with Great Escape Beer Works LLC say its long-awaited brewery in Republic is nearing an opening date.

Construction is essentially wrapped up at the 6021 W. U.S. Highway 60 facility and a certificate of occupancy was received Dec. 26, said Great Escape co-owner Jake Duensing. The application process for licensing has begun with hopes of a February launch, he said.

“We’re just in the process of that and once we get that going, we can pretty much open,” he said, noting a definitive opening date is yet to be determined. “Six to eight weeks is probably what licensing is going to take. Hopefully, it’s closer to that six-week mark.”

Duensing said construction began around late April at the former Burk Bridge Co. property on the north side of Highway 60, south of the James River Freeway interchange. Great Escape purchased the 6.3-acre site, which included a pair of buildings, in 2022. Duensing said earlier this year that the company’s expansion plan would be a two-phase project, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. He and his wife, Jen, opened Great Escape in late 2018 in Galloway Village at 4022 S. Lone Pine Ave.

Phase I involves the site’s 11,000-square-foot building, which has been converted into a taproom, offices and a production facility. Phase II will consist of a larger production facility in a 16,000-square-foot building, which Duensing said this week still has an undetermined construction timeline.

Nesbitt Construction Inc. is general contractor on the project designed by Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective, Duensing said, declining to disclose the company’s investment.

“Michael Nesbitt and his whole team really chipped in. Probably went above and beyond what we were expecting,” he said, adding officials tried to keep as much of the architecture of the original building intact. “They knew we were kind of chomping at the bit to get started.”

The taproom will occupy roughly 5,000 square feet of the building, he said, adding the Republic site will be Great Escape’s brewing facility. He estimated roughly 30 employees will be employed in Republic with close to 10 working out of its Springfield location.

“We’ve actually already decommissioned our brewing operations at Lone Pine, just because they needed to move that equipment over and get it installed,” Duensing said. “All of the brewing will be in Republic.”

Although the brewery will have room for 20 beer taps, Duensing doesn’t expect that many to be in operation upon opening.

“We’ll have to work up to that as we get our feet under us,” he said, adding the new venture also will serve food – a first-time offering from Great Escape.

The menu, which he said is still being developed, will primarily be centered around pizza, although sandwiches and salads also will be sold. Pizzas will be cooked in a stone hearth oven.

“My wife and I are pizza nerds,” Duensing said. “So, over the years, we’ve been saving our favorite recipes, and we make them at home. It’s kind of an easy decision to go with pizza for us.”

Although Great Escape didn’t respond to requests to appear in SBJ’s list of the area’s largest breweries, which published in June, Duensing said this week that the company produced around 750 barrels in 2023. That equates to a roughly 24% drop from 2022’s total. Based on the barrel production number, Great Escape would have ranked No. 5 on the list, which was topped by Mother’s Brewing Co.

While declining to disclose this year’s barrel production number, he said it will be down from 2023, largely attributable to decommissioning the brewhouse in Springfield. However, he expects production to quickly rise in 2025.

“We’re going to have the ability to push out a lot more beer to our distributor, and our taproom will be quite a bit larger,” he said. “We’re going to see that number increase quite a bit in ’25.”