PORTLAND

New brewery opens Friday in Portland with craft beer, 'creative' menu

Rachel Greco
Lansing State Journal

PORTLAND - Kiley and Jim Hilligan spent more than a year working to open the doors of their own craft beer brewery.

Jim and Kiley Hilligan of ConfluxCity Brewing Company in Portland, pictured May 23, 2018. The new business is set to open its doors Friday, June 8, 2018.

The couple invested just over $400,000 to transform a former auto repair garage and used car dealership at the corner of West Grand River Avenue and North Water Street into Confluxcity Brewing Company.

The business name is a play on the word “conflux,” which means a flowing together of two rivers or a coming together of people.

It honors Jim Hilligan's hometown of Portland, “the city of two rivers,” but it also speaks to the couple’s shared dream of starting a business where people come together.

The brewery's creation took shape in the midst of big life events. In December, the couple's second son, Connor, now 5 months, was born. The older son, Hunter, is now 2. In January, Jim Hilligan's mother died.

"It's kind of been one of those sobering, life-doesn't-stop times," he said. "Good stuff happened. Bad stuff happened, and all the while we were working here."

Confluxcity Brewing Company's doors will open to customers Friday, June 8.

For the Hilligans, it's been worth the wait. 

"This is exactly what we had envisioned," Kiley Hilligan said.

'Rustic industrial'

Jim Hilligan calls the brewery's look and feel "rustic industrial."

Owners Jim and Kiley Hilligan describe the interior of ConfluxCity Brewing Company in Portland, Michigan as "rustic industrial."

"But it's more welcoming than industrial, I feel like," Kiley Hilligan said on a Friday in late May from the brewery's front bar. "I don't feel like it's cold, straight lines. It's more homey than that."

When the Hilligans started working on the 1,200-square-foot dining room over a year ago, Kiley Hilligan said it was empty and missing drywall, with exposed insulation for walls.

"The ceiling wasn't even fully insulated," Jim Hilligan said. 

The new enclosed outdoor seating area at ConfluxCity Brewing Company in Portland, Michigan offers high pine ceilings and 1,200 square feet of space.

Today, the brewery's decor is a mix of barn wood that came from their 100-acre family farm in Portland and from farms their relatives own. It's been repurposed at the new business, lining the walls throughout the dining area.

"Our bar top is a cherry bar top that we cut off of our own property," Jim Hilligan said. "It has totally changed the look and feel of this place. As soon as it went in, it was like, 'Okay. Here we are.'"

The Hilligans are brewing their beer in the lower level of the building. Once an auto garage in late May, the concrete floor now holds brewing equipment. 

"That's kind of the fun down there," said Jim Hilligan. "It's all fun, but that's my fun."

A television set near the bar offers a live feed of the lower-level brewing area. The Hilligans said they'll eventually offer tours of the lower level.

The Hilligans started brewing their beer in January while renovations in the dining area were ongoing. 

ConfluxCity Brewery Company in Portland, Michigan will offer 12 craft beers on tap that are brewed on site.

The newly renovated property includes a 1,200-square-foot covered, open-air seating area that's been added to the front of the building. Underneath its high pine ceilings are hanging ceiling fans, standing tables and picnic benches. A wooden ramp leads up to the brewery's front door.

The Hilligans plan to use the space, which can accommodate 80 people, year round. They'll enclose it in the winter, Jim Hilligan said, adding propane heaters for warmth and using plastic roll-down awnings over the windows and plastic slates over the entrance.

They'll host live music there, he said, and eventually hope to replace the plastic at the front entrance with glass garage doors. Until they add them, he said, they plan to have fun with what's in place.

"I'm going to put a little sign out front that says, 'The meat locker,' so you'll walk in and come into the meat locker," Jim Hilligan said.

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Craft beer, and a 'crafty' food menu

When its doors open 11 a.m. Friday, the brewery will offer seven craft beers made on-site.

ConfluxCity Brewing Company in Portland, Michigan opens its doors Friday, June 8.

The lineup will include a Red Rye IPA; an Opening Day IPA; a Cream Ale; a Coffee Stout made with Courageous Coffee, a Portland coffee roaster; and a Hundred-Acre Honey Wheat made with honey from their neighbor's bee operation.

Jim Hilligan said their Red Rye IPA is strong, and one of his favorites.

"It's for IPA lovers," he said. "And people who like a little bit of a kick. It's got some roasted malt in it, too."

The Hilligans plan to add five more selections in the coming months, including a blackberry sour beer that Jim Hilligan called "a collaboration" with staff at Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company in Charlevoix. They'll offer soda and water as well.

The Hilligans will offer popcorn at nuts at the brewery, and they are partnering with Peppermint Twist Cafe, a restaurant owned by family and located just across the street from the brewery, to offer a new menu of shareable items and sandwiches.

Highlights include a ham and jalapeno sandwich made with black forest ham, pepper jack cheese, fried onions and jalapenos and a raspberry jalapeno jelly on grilled Asiago bread. Customers can order food at their table and their items will be delivered to the brewery.

Owners Jim and Kiley Hilligan describe the interior of ConfluxCity Brewing Company in Portland, Michigan as "rustic industrial."

Kiley Hilligan said the menu is "crafty" and "creative, just like what we're doing here. It's delicious, so good."

Jim Hilligan said local residents and craft beer lovers alike are excited and curious about the new business. The couple admits they've refrained from sharing too many photos of the building's finished interior because they want it to be a surprise.

"When people do get a look in here, there are just smiles," Jim Hilligan said. "It's fun to see that. This is very personal."

"It makes me a little teary-eyed," Kiley Hilligan said.

Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.