Downtown’s First Beer Hall to Open on Congress Street
Ten55 Brewing & Sausage House will open to the public on August 11
Downtown Tucson, AZ — After years of dreaming and planning, Ten55 Brewing Company co-owners Chris Squires and John Paul Vyborny will open downtown Tucson’s first traditional beer hall on August 11. Ten55 Brewing & Sausage House will serve Ten55’s full line of craft beers alongside locally-made sausages, salads, and a rotating list of rare German-style brews.
A familiar name to those acquainted with the Tucson craft beer scene, Ten55 opened their original brewery in February 2013 on 44th Street — but their dream was always downtown. “We started brewing beer right when downtown began revitalizing, and we knew we wanted to be a part of it,” said co-owner Squires, who, along with partner Vyborny, selected 110 East Congress Street as the brewery’s next chapter and their leap into downtown Tucson.
The pair found support for their new location by being the first brewery in the state to utilize an innovative equity fundraising law in 2016 to attract investors. “Through this process we connected with new partners — people we had never even met before,” said Vyborny. “They were already fans of the beer, and wanted to become more involved. We’re opening the new location with new allies, new mentors. It really feels like we are bringing the community on this journey with us.”
With beer production already in the works, the pair enlisted Executive Chef Ivor Cryderman and local craft butcher Ben Forbes of Forbes Meat Company to create a full menu with 15 custom sausages. The menu includes traditional sausages like bratwurst and polish styles, as well as rabbit and venison options, and three vegetarian sausages. The Polish Leap sausage uses Cryderman’s great-great-great grandmother’s Polish sausage recipe along with Ten55’s Leap Pale Ale. “The recipe has been in my family for generations,” said Cryderman. “It’s pretty exciting to be able to share it with Tucson.”
For the dessert menu, the team has enlisted Ema Peterson of Beer Geek Bakery to provide beer-centric baked goods.
Squires and Vyborny have intentionally incorporated the history of the building into the design of their new space. Alongside FORS Architecture + Interiors, they worked hard to restore features like the original brick walls and wood beam ceilings. “We also found nearly a hundred years-worth of print ads from past tenants of the building,” said Squires, who worked with Saywells Design to integrate them into their own ads, menus and other design pieces.
The restaurant and brewery will be open for both lunch and dinner, providing a new fast-casual option for downtown. “We want this to be a meeting place,” says Vyborny. “A place where anyone can relax and grab a delicious meal and a cold beer with friends, family, and coworkers.”
The Grand Opening will take place on Saturday, August 11. In the tradition of Bavarian beer halls, Mayor Rothschild will be in attendance to ceremoniously tap the first keg.
The festivities will continue on Sunday, August 12 with Ten55’s own fruhschoppen. Fruhschoppen is a traditional Sunday meet up in Bavarian beer halls, and essentially means ‘an alcoholic drink before midday in company’.
For more information, visit 1055brewing.com and facebook.com/1055Brewing/.
Press Release via Storyteller PR. Please direct Ten55 related questions to Lauren Bays.