(WXYZ) — Atwater Brewery is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend with a block party at its historic Rivertown location. Detroit's largest craft brewer was founded in 1997 as Atwater Block Brewery.
Originally, Atwater had a focus to bring back the Bohemian-style beer produced by Stroh's in the mid 1800s, with Atwater's plans to make German-style lagers.
Mark Rieth, an MSU graduate, purchased the brewery outright in 2005, and it has grown since with locations now in Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park and Grand Rapids.
In 2020, the brewery was sold to Molson Coors' U.S. craft beer division. In March of this year, Katy McBrady, a metro Detroi tnative, took over as the new president of Atwater. She said they have even bigger plans for the future and for the anniversary.
"This 25th anniversary is a celebration of all things Detroit, and a big thank you to the consumers who have supported us for the last 25 years. We are Detroit's beer," McBrady said this week. "We want to use this as an opportunity to plant a flag in the ground and let people know we're going to be here for the next 25 years."
According to McBrady, the anniversary part will be a chance to show off all of the new improvements they've been making. She said the brewery has invested more than $1 million in capital improvements to the back of the house, and they also brought in a new director of operations, who was formerly a professor of fermentation sciences at Central Michigan University with an extensive brewing background.
"We're confident in year 25 that we're going to be producing the best beer Detroit has ever made," McBrady said.
The brewery is known for its beers like Dirty Blonde and Vanilla Java Porter. McBrady said Dirty Blonde is turning 16 this year, and the plan for 2023 is to have a Dirty Blonde variety pack that will include strawberry, tropical and peach flavors.
"You're going to see us taking what consumers know and love and adding an exciting twist to it as a way to say thank you," McBrady said.
The main focus for Atwater in 2023 will be on the city of Detroit. In addition to some partnerships they're working on, they want to have a big focus on philanthropy. At the anniversary party, 25 cents from every beer sold will go to support The Heidelberg Project.
"In 2023, we really want to get focused back on Detroit. We've expanded and moved around into other states, but I think what we really want to do is reinforce that we are Detroit's beer. We want to be the No. 1 beer in Detroit but do it in a really authentic way," McBrady said.
Atwater's 25th-anniversary celebration is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10 from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. at their location at 237 Joseph Campau St. There will be live music, food trucks, a stein holding competition and more.
