Southridge Brewing is Now Open

Jen Purkey, Brad Heys, and Alex Rhinehart

Southridge Brewing, located at 1030 S. South Street in Wilmington, officially opened on June 20, 2025, after a six month renovation by founders and owners, Alex Rhinehart, Jen Purkey, and Brad Heys. "For us, the mission... has always been to create a community space for people to hang out, and to have a good experience from food and beer," stated Alex, Head Brewmaster.

Alex grew up in Wilmington and graduated from both Wilmington High School and Wilmington College. He later moved to Hawaii to earn his Masters degree, then moved to northern Ohio to teach at Mount Union University, while also starting his Doctorate degree at the University of Idaho. Upon seeing a job opening at Wilmington College (WC), his alma mater, he applied and moved back to Wilmington to teach there. A few years into his career, he developed some personal issues with the healthcare system and higher education, and decided a career as an athletic trainer and sports medicine educator wasn't for him. He left to work at the General Denver with Jen and Brad for a while, then four years later became a brewer at Warped Wing and later, Fibonacci Brewing.

After years of discussing opening a brewery together, Alex, Jen, and Brad decided to buy the old Brausch Brewery building. It wasn't their first choice, but when the deal changed in December, the three decided to act. According to Alex, "Brad, Jen, and I... have our areas of expertise... it's a unique set of three people that came together." Their hope was to provide a light, family-friendly feel by creating "regions," including, a lounge area, dining area, and game area for children.

In addition to Jen's "upscale American pub food," Alex's beer menu ranges from American Stouts to Brown Ales, or "drinking beer" as he says. All of the beers have name connections to the Southridge area, the people involved, or their place of origin.

Listen to Southridge Brewing's full story on episode 74 of the Real Change Wilmington podcast or visit southridgebrewing.com.