from “le détroit” · the strait
More than eighty years after the last brewery left Hamtramck, a five-person ownership group opened Florian East on Joseph Campau with a taproom built around the city's many cultures.
Hamtramck went more than eighty years without a working brewery. The last one in the city, Auto City Brewing Company, shut down in the early 1940s after strikes and layoffs in the auto industry hollowed out its business. On August 29, 2024, that stretch ended when Florian East opened its doors at 9350 Joseph Campau Ave.
The brewery announces itself before you walk in. Its name is mounted near the entry in seven languages, including English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Chaldean, Polish, and Ukrainian, a nod to the communities that have shaped one of the most diverse two square miles in the country. In the founders' own words, there are few places where you can "try ten different cuisines or hear twenty different languages in a two-square-mile radius," per Florian East's account on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation site.
The ownership group is five people. Will Mundel, a former educator, is the co-owner and head brewer. The four partners who joined him, John Abbo, Christopher Burtley, Shang Kong, and Milo Madole, came out of the legal world rather than the beer world. They took on a downtown Joseph Campau building that had sat empty for at least fifteen years and restored it instead of gutting it, keeping the historical character of the space intact.
That restoration leaned on public help. Florian East credits the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Build MI Community Grant for making the project viable. "Without MEDC's support, this building, which had been vacant for at least 15 years, would likely still be empty," the founders said in the agency's account of the project. They added that "the willingness of MEDC to buy into and invest in our vision is what made Florian East a reality."
The taproom is built to be open to people who do not drink. Alongside its lagers and ales, made with regional ingredients, the menu carries low and non-alcoholic options, and weekend mornings are given over to a coffee and soccer program rather than beer service. The founders frame that choice as a deliberate one. "Inclusivity is critical and non-negotiable for us," they said. "Even if some hours aren't profitable, we see it as our mission and responsibility to the community."
Florian East is open Wednesday through Sunday at 9350 Joseph Campau Ave. in Hamtramck, with hours posted on its website at florianeasthamtramck.com.
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