Friendship Brewery to offer bed and breakfast, unique menus, and hopes to open by summer

HANNIBAL, Mo. — As construction is well underway on the Friendship Brewery, the founders of the brewery hope to open the doors by the upcoming tourist season.

The Friendship Brewery will be located at 422 N. Main in Hannibal, which previously housed the Mark Twain Brewing Company. Friendship Brewery took ownership of the building last May after the Mark Twain Brewery closed.

The owners’ primary location is Friendship Brewing Company in Wentzville, Mo.

Brian Nolan, one of the founders of the Friendship Brewery said timing is hard to predict and he can’t give a hard date yet. Although renovations are going well, there are always factors with materials and supply chain issues, and other hiccups along the way.

“We are pushing pretty hard to be ready for this tourist season and we will keep working on the building even after that,”  Nolan said. “Our goal is to be open by the beginning of summer so that we can be active with the many festivals and the cruise ships that are coming in now and just the tourism.”

Nolan and his partner David Brewer, are currently focusing on the front of the building in order to open up, which is where the entrance will be rather than the around the side of the building where it once was. They will also be creating a beer garden area for outdoor dining near Main Street.

A new feature for the property will be two bed and breakfast rooms for overnight guests.

The menu is still under construction and Nolan said that not every location will be the same.

“There will be beer styles available every location but also every location will also have beer styles that are unique to that property,” he said. “We are going to treat every property differently in regards to the menu.  We don’t want to be corporate with the same menu everywhere you go; we want it to reflect that location. “ 

The Hannibal location wasn’t a planned expendature but when it came up for auction, Nolan said he and Brewer liked the downtown location and saw a lot of potential in the building so they took a leap. They hired Bleigh Construction of Hannibal, and Nolan said they are happy with the work.

Nolan and Brewer are looking forward to doing business in downtown Hannibal and said they have received a warm welcome from residents and other business owners in the area.