KINGMAN – Terry Thomson is proposing to erect a 31-foot-tall grain silo to support his expanding beer brewing operation in downtown Kingman. Thomson and his wife opened the House of Hops on Beale Street in 2015 and expanded it to the Rickety Cricket brewery two years later.
The Thomsons opened tap houses carrying Rickety Cricket beer in Prescott and Flagstaff last year and will open another store in Las Vegas next month. Just up the street from Rickety Cricket, Thomson purchased a warehouse at 532 E. Beale Street that he is converting to produce three times the amount of beer made at Rickety Cricket.
Thomson said the silo he intends to install is ten feet in diameter and can store up to 55,000 pounds of grain.
“It’s the most key ingredient to the beer that we produce to sell to other marketplaces,” Thomson said. He said nearby property owners have told him they object to the silo and his request for a substantial encroachment permit because it will extend a couple of feet beyond his property and onto the Beale Street sidewalk.
“The argument that I am hearing from them is ‘you need to put a grocery store in here for us.’ I’m not a grocer. I’m a brewer. I’m an entrepreneur,” Thomson said. “This silo is a masterpiece. It’s not by any means hideous. It looks nice. It’s painted. It’s being fabricated right now.”
Thomson said he has to have the silo to supply his stores and to distribute his Kingman-brewed beer throughout Arizona and Nevada. He said he’ll have more than 100 employees when the Vegas store opens.
“What most people don’t see is we’re on the map in the brewing industry. People drive from far away to come and see us,” Thomson said. “We’re now a destination point for all of these beer drinkers to come to Kingman, drink Rickety Cricket beer and enjoy our award winning pizza.”
Thomson’s request for the encroachment permit will be heard during the September 3 Kingman City council meeting that starts at 6:00 p.m.
-Dave Hawkins
