Later this month, East 55th Street will return to its roots with the opening of Goldhorn Brewery, 1365 E. 55th St.
While Ohio City usually comes to mind when thinking about local craft breweries, Goldhorn owner Rick Semersky says the St. Clair Superior neighborhood actually was Cleveland’s brewing hub at the turn of the twentieth century..
“East 55th used to be home to a lot of breweries and had one of the first neighborhood beer gardens in the city,” says Semersky, who also owns Sterle’s Country House next door and is developing the 42,000-square-foot Hub 55 complex. "Fifty-fifth Street has a long tradition of brewing business in the city of Cleveland.”
The Goldhorn Brewery lends its name from the Slovenian mythical goldhorn goat. Brewer Joel Warger, formerly the pub brewer for Great Lakes Brewing Company, has been busy since April at the 15,000-square-foot brewery, brewing Goldhorn’s signature beers including pilsner, stout, English pale ale and bock. The beers are brewed in nine fermentation tanks and nine brite tanks in the 10-barrel brew house on premises.
The beers will be tapped later this month. “The plan is to always have at least nine beers at all times,” says Semersky. Goldhorn Brewery will share a kitchen with Café 55, which serves breakfast and lunch. Semersky plans to serve “sharable plates. We’ll be sandwich heavy – more casual food.”
The Goldhorn tap room will seat between 125 and 150 people. Epoxy floors shine in the natural light, as do the bar and fixtures. “The bar and walls are made of reclaimed barn wood and the bar top is copper,” he adds.
The idea for Hub 55 first came about when Semersky’s construction company, VIP Restoration, outgrew the former Leiden Cabinet Company building. VIP is now located in two buildings down E. 55th.
With the building right next door to Sterles, Semersky decided to create a center for food, drink and business to the neighborhood.
“The Hub will bring jobs, education and access to fresh healthy food for not just our community but the city as well,” Semersky says. “A Hub, by definition, is a ‘center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate.’ Our goal is to bring a focus and attention to the St. Clair neighborhood, bringing new business to the neighborhood and at the same time promote the rich tradition and history of the people and business that are already here.”
In addition to Goldhorn Brewery and Café 55, Hub 55 will also soon host a farmers market of some kind. The St. Clair Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) is in the final stages of a feasibility study for the remaining space in Hub 55, according to Semersky.
“Our goal is to have final plans soon so we can move forward,” he says. “In the meantime, SCSDC plans to hold pop-up farmers markets on the weekends here at the Hub until the permanent market is completed.”