Three Bridges Distillery opening on March 3

It’s been years in the making, but Three Bridges Distillery and Taproom is finally slated to open its doors to the Midland community on Thursday, March 3. After countless setbacks from COVID supply shortages and delayed license applications, the space at 240 E. Main Street will soon start serving made-in-house beer, spirits, small plates, and eventually, wine.

Kevin Thurow is one of five co-owners in total, and says he’s excited to bring the distillery to the downtown Midland area. “We’ve been going at this for almost three years now, since we started working together to get this place open,” he says.
Three Bridges Distillery and Taproom is located at 240 E. Main Street in downtown Midland.
Over the past few months, the staff has been brewing beer and making spirits in the location. “Our plan is to open up with 8-12 beers on draft, as well as seltzer offerings, potentially cocktails, and at opening, we’ll have vodka ready that we make ourselves there,” Thurow says.

The business plans to later feature other spirits like gin, whiskey, bourbon, and wine, but didn’t want to delay the grand opening any longer. They’ll also have a small kitchen, serving small plates, charcuterie boards, a smoker for pulled pork sandwiches, and light food options. “Our plans are to tentatively grow into having a full-size kitchen,” Thurow says.

Some time was also spent restoring the Main Street space itself, formerly Mid-Michigan Music Shop. “We ripped up all the carpet that was there, refinished the hardwood floors, and revealed the original brick wall from the building,” Thurow says. “We kind of took it back to the original aesthetics of the building. We hope to have a kind of somewhat rustic, but inviting atmosphere inside.”
The crew has been working to transform the old music shop space into a taproom.
The distillery will feature couches, a greenery wall, and string lights to make for an inviting cocktail lounge area in the back. The front of the space includes about nine tables, and a long bar with 19 bar stools. In the summer, the garage door on Main Street will open up, making use of The Commons area, and inviting guests to enjoy a more open-air dining experience.

Thurow says he’s grateful for the community support over the years, which inspired the co-owners to find a way to give back. “Without some very charitable people that helped us throughout this three-year process, we wouldn’t have made it,” Thurow says.

“We feel very fortunate to still be able to open. We know a lot of other businesses did not make it through COVID, especially in this industry,” he says. “One thing that we plan to do that we weren’t originally planning to do is give back to the community that’s been very good to us. We’ve had a lot of people come in, donate their time and labor. We want to have one tap every month that will rotate through different charities, and we’ll have $1.00 per drink from that beer tap to give back to a charity in the community.” 

Shelves have been built to display Founders Club mugs.The Founders Club is still available to join as part of the business’ GoFundMe for the next week. Up to 300 members can join, who will receive a Founders Club Mug, discounted drinks, and swag. Members will get to help brainstorm and workshop new drink ideas, and be taste-testers. “We wanted to make it a group where people can be part of the process,” Thurow says. 

Ultimately, Thurow hopes Three Bridges Distillery and Taproom can be a cool place to bring some life to the downtown area year-round. Three Bridges Distillery and Taproom is located at 240 E. Main Street, and has plans to initially be open seven days a week. Their projected hours are Monday through Thursday from 3 to 10 p.m., 3 to 11 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the times are subject to change. They are currently in the process to hire a bar manager and servers. Applications are being accepted online.