3 Disciples moving to Santa Rosa Plaza, opening taproom and beer garden in former Two Tread space

Downtown brewery 3 Disciples is moving out of its Mendocino Avenue taproom and into the former Two Tread space in Santa Rosa Plaza.

The brewery has been in the Two Tread space for about a year, owner James Claus said, but it had only been operating as the brewery and distribution space for 3 Disciples beer.

The new space is expected to open in the spring.

“The answer was pretty clear to us that it was time to have everything under one roof,” Claus said. “It’s everything we always wanted, and we just had to take the right steps to get to this point.”

Claus and his team have been in talks about moving everything under one roof for a while. He said it’s difficult to brew in one location, transport the beer and still be able to connect with customers at another.

The new space will allow him and his staff to do that in one place.

“The only reason I got into this was to do something I love and be able to share it with people for them to enjoy,” Claus said. “So to be able to get back to that, I feel like we’ve finally achieved the goal we’ve always been working toward.”

The Santa Rosa Plaza location will have a full kitchen, taproom and beer garden with a mobile stage for live music either inside or outside.

The new taproom will have 32 beers on draft with half being 3 Disciples brews and the other half being guest brews from in and around Sonoma County.

“I have a background in the wine industry, and I would also love to have some nice local wines on the menu,” Claus said. “We don’t make cider so bringing in some local ciders is something we’d be interested in doing as well.”

The kitchen and food menu hasn’t been decided yet, but Claus said the menu will be “beer-centric” and complemented by drinks on tap. Until the kitchen is ready to launch, Claus will bring in local food trucks.

Dec. 31 was the last day for people to visit the old 501 Mendocino Ave. taproom. It will now close for a few months while operations are officially moved to the Santa Rosa Plaza location.

As a final hurrah, 3 Disciples threw a New Year’s Eve party at its former taproom with live music from The Voodoo Vultures and BasesRL. Claus said the brewery will only brew, can and distribute beer to local vendors and grocery stores until the new space opens.

“If there’s a time to do it, it’s during the winter,” he said. “We want people to know that 3 Disciples didn’t go out of business. We’re just pressing pause on the taproom so we can have a smooth transition that is done properly.

“We want to do it right.”

Sara Edwards is the small business and consumer reporter for The Press Democrat. You can reach her at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat.com. Follow her on Twitter @sedwards380.