Salt Lake City’s Fisher Brewery could double in size, if expansion plans are approved

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Expansion plans are in the works for the Fisher Brewing Company.

The owners of the popular Salt Lake City brewery recently purchased the vacant building east of its tap room to increase beer production and canning, expanded customer seating and create an area for special events.

The brewery is in the process of applying for a conditional use permit from the city — a requirement for all alcohol production facilities in Utah, said co-owner Tim Dwyer. Once the permit is approved — which is likely — the building renovation will begin.

When the upgrades are complete — possibly by August of 2022 — it will more than double the size of the brewery.

Since opening in 2017, Fisher fans have flocked to its tap room, 320 W. 800 South, to enjoy its beers on draft.

In the early days of the pandemic, when the bar was closed, the brewery survived by selling beer to-go in sealed 24-ounce crowlers and 64-ounce growlers, Dwyer said. It also started making beer that was more than 5% alcohol by volume.

With added production and canning capabilities Fisher will be able produce those higher-alcohol brews on a more regular basis, he said.

Under state law, beer that is above 5% ABV must be sold in sealed containers.

It’s positive step for the Utah brand that dates back to 1884, when Albert Fisher, a German immigrant, opened A. Fisher Brewing Co. on the banks of the Jordan River just north of 200 South.

The brewery survived Prohibition and flourished, eventually becoming one of the largest breweries in the West. But in 1960, after a series of acquisitions by larger breweries, it closed.

Fifty-seven years later, Tom Fisher Riemondy, the great-great-grandson of founder Albert Fisher, and his three partners — Dwyer, Colby Frazier and Steven Brown — resurrected the business in Salt Lake City’s Granary District.