Irvington-based brewery planning restaurant, bar in Zionsville

Indianapolis-based Black Acre Brewing Co. is headed for the suburbs.

The Irvington taproom and brewery plans to open a second location, now taking shape at 98 S. Main St. in Zionsville. Originally a bank, the red-brick building was constructed in 1926.

The first Black Acre taproom opened in 2012 at 5632 E. Washington St., later followed by a dedicated brewing facility nearby at 5529 Bonna Ave. The 2,700-square-foot Zionsville location is expected to open in September or October with the moniker Corvus-Black Acre Rotisserie, Taproom and Bourbon Bar.

“We didn’t want to just rubber stamp a second location,” Black Acre co-founder Justin Miller said. “Here’s a clone of our current location, up here somewhere else. If we’re going to do another concept, it should be unique to that area to feel like its own separate thing and not just a reprint of what we had before.”

Among the innovations for the Zionsville location will be family-friendly seating and an expanded menu that includes Amish Indiana rotisserie chicken.

Corvus-Black Acre is leasing the restaurant space. It will have 83 seats, with half set aside for families and under-21 patrons and the other half in the bar. It will have 15 to 20 employees.

The building formerly housed a taproom for Richmond-based Noble order Brewing Co., so Black Acre hasn’t needed to start from scratch in the space, Miller said. The goal for renovations is to keep the cost below $200,000.

About 40% of the costs will be related to the new kitchen, with the rest going to design and furnishings. A few demolition projects not requiring construction permits are under way. Miller said he’s waiting on permits to clear for other elements of the rehab.

Black Acre plans to keep an old bank safe that’s still in the building and turn it into a cold room.

Black Acre acquired a three-way liquor license for the location, which will allow it to serve hard liquor from its new Wilderland Distillery brand and craft cocktails. It also will feature 15 taps of Black Acre beer, as well as cider, mead and wine.

Since its founding, Black Acre has branched into distribution. Its beers now can be found throughout Indiana and in Kentucky, Ohio and Europe. But the company’s founders are still enthused about maintaining brick-and-mortar watering holes.

“We got to a position where we had enough available barrels at our production facility that could support another location,” Miller said. “Our goal was never to be a nation-wide distribution brewery. While we do the distribution stuff, our main focus is being able to interact with people face to face.”

Miller said the new location is in a place that could pull from a different demographic and is far away enough from the one on Washington St. to justify another Black Acre taproom.