Little Fish Brewing Company will expand its building to include room for more production space and a kitchen.
Little Fish co-founder Jimmy Stockwell said the expansion will occur on the east and west sides of the building at 8675 Armitage Road.
The renovation will include the addition of an approximately 600-square-foot kitchen and a 60-by-40 foot addition to the production space.
“We're very excited about this next step at the brewery, and we can't wait to share new food and beers with the community,” Stockwell said.
Stockwell expects the renovation to be complete sometime in late spring.
“We have to have building permits from the State of Ohio that ensure our current expansion meets current building codes,” Stockwell said in an email.
The City of Athens has already reviewed the plans to ensure they meet city code requirements.
Stockwell said the kitchen will definitely use local ingredients because the company likes knowing where ingredients come from and how they are grown.
"This (contributes) to freshness variety, and sustainability," he said in an email. "In addition, we at Little Fish feel very strongly about (contributing) to our local economy."
Quinn Schaller, owner of Big Mammas Burritos and the attached beer market, said it is exciting to see local breweries such as Little Fish expand.
“It’ll expand their selection and help them to be able to grow into different markets and things like that,” Schaller said.
Schaller said the beer market has about five to seven beers available from Little Fish on their shelves.
Mountain Smith, a "burrito roller" at Big Mamas Burritos and the attached beer market, said she hopes the brewery's expansion will be good for business.
“I think that there’s a big community in Athens for, like, breweries and that maybe adding a kitchen will help get some more people out to where Little Fish is,” Smith, a junior studying cellular and molecular biology and plant biology at Ohio University, said.
