An icon of St Joseph history is slated to return to downtown St. Joe next year.

Restaurateurs Erik Borger and Dustin Smith have bought the former Goetz barrel factory and hope to reintroduce Goetz’s German-style beer to a whole new generation.

According to the lifestyle magazine “Feast,” the pair announced purchase of the building at 601 N. 4th St. The pair plan to remodel and reopen the 12,000 square foot facility “…as a working brewery, taproom, restaurant, event space and beer garden.”

Borger and Smith reportedly received permission from Pabst Brewing Co. for the rights to brew under the Goetz brand name and for use of the original logo, label art and branding. They’ve worked out a royalty and distribution agreement, with Pabst asking for the opportunity to review the future head brewer for Goetz Brewing Co. to ensure he or she meets their expectations for a leading beer company.

“Although, it is 100 percent my decision as to who I hire as my head brewer at Goetz, I agreed to allow Pabst the opportunity to review my choice to ensure that person meets their professional standards – which should, hopefully, be no different than my standards,” Borger tells the magazine.

Borger explains that the new brewery will be large enough to distribute regionally, but ready to scale as needed. Goetz Brewing Co. will open with a 30-barrel system with the capacity to add fermenters as needed to ramp up production based on demand. The pair anticipates a lot of pent-up demand for this much-loved local brew.