What’s happening: A new brewery and restaurant has opened in downtown Three Rivers, replacing the shuttered brewery that came before it.
Useless Creatures Brewing Co. celebrated their opening earlier this month, setting up shop in the old Kelsey Block Brewing Co. space on Main Street. Useless Creatures serves their take on craft beers, wine, and ciders, and features a menu with unique twists on pub fare favorites, like their kimchi grilled cheese sandwich.
What’s in a name: “The name of the brewery, Useless Creatures, it's a tongue-in-cheek kind of reference,” says owner and brewer Evan Monroe. “The yeast and bacteria — things that literally float in the air around us that most people don't really think about — they are really the workhorses of what we do. I make the sugar water, and then all these quote-unquote, useless creatures, do all the actual work by making it into the beer that everybody loves so much.”
Family tradition: If the Monroe family name sounds familiar to those that know downtown Three Rivers, it’s because Evan’s parents own and operate the
Riviera Theatre, which is located across the street from Useless Creatures. It’s there where Evan learned about the service and beverage industries, leading him to eventually take brewing classes at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
On downtown Three Rivers: “There's a lot of hard-working people that have been dedicated to turning downtown into what it is, and for decades now. A lot of my friends and neighbors have put a lot of hard work into beautifying the indoor and outdoor spaces here,” Evan says. “We have a really great Downtown Development Authority that does a lot of work creating these really neat little areas for the community to enjoy. There's a couple of walkthroughs filled with art that a lot of people enjoy, seating spaces — they just put in an outdoor ping pong table. And with the social district now, you can walk all over downtown and enjoy a beer. There’s all these cool little areas that people have put a lot of work into.”
Useless Creatures Brewing Co. is located at 41 N. Main St. in downtown Three Rivers.
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