Nine Spot Brewing, situated in the heart of Rochester’s nascent Neighborhood of Play, will close its taproom doors and focus on its partnership with Geva Theatre. The brewery announced the closure Friday on its social media pages.
It’ll wrap up taproom operations on Monroe Ave. in the coming week before shifting to Geva. The brewery will still be brewing beer, owners promised. The Geva partnership was originally announced in March and Nine Spot began serving there shortly after, as well as running the kitchen and cafe.
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“We sank our hearts and souls into creating a community gathering space where everyone was welcome to share in our love of New York State. We have memories that will last us a lifetime, and look to add a few more in the next week. BUT…this is not the end for Nine Spot Brewing,” the brewery said in a statement.
Nine Spot promises to expand its food and beer offerings at Geva, while still offering brunch and happy hour. The new partnership will also allow Nine Spot to expand its catering opportunities.
“We’ll still be brewing great Nine Spot beer, we’re just moving the party down the street to Nine Spot at Geva…” According to the statement, you’ll be able to take in a show or just go in and enjoy a Nine Spot beer without a ticket. It promises more details soon.
The Geva kitchen is a “much better equipped setup,” Chris shared in a text. “When we first began there last season, we had the ability to offer a menu that combined 190 Monroe favorites and Geva exclusive dishes. We are very excited to push that menu even further and make the space more than just a spot to grab a bite before a show.”
According to a real estate listing currently online, Nine Spot’s entire space is available for lease. That includes the brewery, which the listing states is in a “completely renovated building with all new store front, facade, and sprinklers featuring a fully built out brewery on the first floor and a mix of retail, creative and beauty users on the second floor.”
Nine Spot, after hosting can sales out of its back door for a few months, officially opened its doors at 190 Monroe Ave. in December 2022. The opening represented the pay-off of a long and arduous process for brewery co-founders Marina and Chris Nothnagle. The couple, along with some good friends, worked on the project for more than five years before crossing the finish line.
The brewery had a uniquely New York state outlook and mission. It is named after the state’s official insect, the nine-spotted ladybug. As a farm brewery, it utilized ingredients grown in New York. And then it offered patrons the chance to enjoy other beers, spirits, wines, and ciders from NYS. Its kitchen also featured favorite regional foods from across the state.
The craft beer industry, especially locally, has slowed a ton in the last two or three years. We’ve already seen a handful of closures, consolidations, and moves. It’s certainly not over. But there is still opportunity, especially for breweries that offer a quality consumer experience, know their market, and offer good beer (with food as a bonus). It is awesome, however, that Nine Spot will continue, just in a different form and in a different venue.
(Teaser: I’ll have more in the coming days about a new brewery coming to the Rochester region.)
It certainly hasn’t be an easy journey for the Nothnagles, who married in 2019, but they powered through it. As they told me numerous times, it was the only option. I greatly admired their determination. Marina boasts more than 20 years in the craft beverage industry, working for some of the best breweries in Rochester and her native Buffalo. Chris has a sales background.
I first interviewed Chris and Marina in July 2021 as we stood in a cavernous, dusty, empty shell of a space. It was pretty remarkable to watch it transformed in the 16 months before the brewery finally opened.
“This is a scrappy effort,” Marina told me in August 2022. “There isn’t a big-money backer here. This is very grassroots. I am very thankful for this team. This core group here has been wonderful.”
We loved how Nine Spot offered a family-friendly environment and was within a few hundred feet of the Strong National Museum of Play. (If you haven’t been yet, make sure you get to the Strong before Labor Day to experience the museum’s wonderful miniature golf exhibit and nine-hole course.)
It also served as a de facto gateway to other wonderful craft beverage options in the neighborhood. Strangebird Brewing is right across the street. Marshall Street Bar and Grill remains one of the best neighborhood bars in Rochester. The Bug Jar is iconic and doesn’t require an introduction. And previously, Roc Brewing was just up Union Street (hopefully more on a new tenant soon) before it closed last year. Plus, Fattey Beer Co., right around the corner, has the best selection of craft cans, drafts, and bottles in the city.
When asked to describe all their emotions during a recent super soft opening event, Marina put it succinctly, “No, I can’t. It’s been a long road. But the last couple of weeks, we’ve had a really amazing group of people come together and we got our brewhouse in and we’re gradually getting the furniture in. Pretty much, every day we’re just jumping forward, when before it seemed like we were crawling.”
“I still remember brewing beer in a buddy’s basement and how far that whole journey has come, Chris added. “Just to have someone on the opposite side of the bar, it’s just weird. It’s gonna take some getting used to.”
Nine Spot occupied 5,000 square feet on the first floor of a building that was originally constructed to house an automobile dealership in 1940. You can still see some of the building’s original touches, including the lift from a freight elevator that now serves as a partition/gate between the brewery and the tasting room. One of the coolest features is the private lounge-like event space in the front corner with a half-garage door that opens onto Monroe Avenue. That perch offered some of the best people-watching potential in Monroe County. It’s unclear what will become of the Nine Spot taproom on Monroe, but Geva, 75 Woodbury Blvd., is just a few hundred feet away.
And now with the closure of their taproom, that neighborhood is a little less vibrant. I am wishing the best for the Nothnagles and their team. I’m sure they’ll find another worthy journey and am excited to see what they brew up at Geva. Look for more details on that partnership via the two social media feeds for the respective businesses.
“Our relationship with Geva Theatre has always been about cross promotion. We were excited to tap into a dedicated and consistent guest base that may not regularly visit a taproom and expose them to New York State craft beer,” Chris told me. “Geva Theatre is interested in introducing exceptional theatre experiences to an audience of craft beer drinkers who may not regularly attend artistic events. We came into Geva last season at the halfway mark, so we are excited to kick off the 2024-25 season with expanded offerings and a full season to really explore this opportunity.”
A final note: It’s pretty wild to think I’ve been working on this independent publication for over two years now. In that time, I’ve published 200 newsletters, highlighted some of my favorite people in the industry, curated two beers festivals (that featured 150 participants and 4,600 attendees), and continued to break all the biggest news in the region (closures, consolidations, openings, etc.).
The Cleveland Prost remains the preeminent source for regional beer news. If you own a brewery, bar, or beer-adjacent business, this is the best place to reach the nerds you wanna be in front of. So I remain open to sponsorships, advertisements, and sponsored content. Feel free to reach out to me at clevelandprost@gmail.com for more. And more than anything, thanks for all the support. None of this would be possible without the devoted (and thirsty) audience.
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