USA, TN: Bad Idea Brewing Company opens its doors in Columbia
Bad Idea Brewing Company opened the doors to its new bar and brew works inside the Columbia Arts Building this past weekend, offering a selection of creative brews at the first brick and mortar location from the team of longtime home brewers, The Daily Herald reported on September 8.
In the middle of the Bad Idea’s opening weekend on September 7, the taproom was filled with visitors eager to have a taste of the new local flavor. No bar stool was left unoccupied and the owners were busy meeting their customers, both brand new and dedicated fans alike.
“As a home brewer, it has always been the goal to have your own place,” said co-owner Zac Fox. “Seeing what is going on in the arts district. It seemed like a natural fit. It is just the right place, the right time for us. We are starting small so that we can grow organically, do fun stuff and flourish with everyone else who wants to be creative.”
Owned and operated by Fox, his wife Kassi, business partner Todd Rode and his wife, Karen, Bad Idea Brewing is the latest addition to the Columbia Arts Building, adopting the space that was previously home to the CAB Cafe, which has since moved to another corner of the historic building.
“This is about community and building relationships with people,” Fox said.
Bad Idea will distribute some of its products, including downtown Columbia’s Taps Off Main, but the majority will be sold out of their new home in the Columbia Arts Building.
“We really want to support the people who supported us and support the beer scene in Columbia,” Fox said. “Our opening day has been fantastic. It has been nice getting to see new faces and meet people that we have not seen in the building before.”
Before signing a lease for the trendy space in Columbia, the two business partners shared their home brews with hundreds across the state at festivals and community gatherings where they collected feedback from the public.
“We set ourselves up, and people would give us really good feedback,” Fox said. “It was a really good way to interact with the community and start building up that organic base. It has allowed us to zero in on what people drink and realize that we could actually do this.”
The discovery led the two entrepreneurs to the realization that their most creative and uncommon recipes were the most celebrated.
“I used to brew boring beers, and boring beers lead to a boring life,” Fox said.
The outstanding feedback, including the 2016
Tennessee Home Brew Exhibition People’s Choice Award, gave them the confidence they needed to self-fund their own operation.
About four years after first launching the effort, it was Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder who bought the first pint from Bad Idea Brewing during their opening celebration.
“This is a dream,” Rode said. “We could not be any happier right now. The support from this community has been amazing. People are just cheering us on. That is what has gotten us here. Every single person who is here has been cheering us on and with us along the way.”
Bad Idea Brewing, named after the very first words their wives said after originally proposing the business, operates with the mission to provide high-quality craft beer to southern middle Tennessee.
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