Built in 1928, the historic Tioga Hotel in Merced is the largest building in town. It has been converted to apartments, and will soon welcome a Tioga-Sequoia taproom. Photo contributed

After more than 15 years becoming a Fresno institution, Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co. will soon open a second location — a taproom inside the historic Tioga Hotel in Merced.

The hotel-turned-apartments not only had the space needed for the Fresno-based brewery, but also conveniently shares the namesake of the Valley beverage company, creating an instant connection between the two businesses.

 

“They were looking for a tenant,” said Michael Cruz, president of Tioga Sequoia Brewery Co. “They were invested in having a brewery.”

The six-story Tioga Hotel was built in 1928 and is the largest building in Merced. In 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The nearly 100-year-old building offers studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and has helped fuel the revitalization of downtown Merced.

A search for a second Tioga-Sequoia taproom site between Modesto and Visalia had been ongoing since before the pandemic, Cruz said. The brewery jumped on the opportunity in Merced, hoping interest in smaller-market Valley cities rather than larger markets like Los Angeles and the Bay Area would show commitment to their roots — something Cruz said has definitely been the case.

“One of the biggest things that I’ve been extremely excited about and happy about is we still have a lot of interest. The community still reaches out to us consistently on when we’re opening, and they’re still excited,” Cruz said. “We feel they still have the same energy…as when we first announced.”

 

The new taproom hopes to have a grand opening Saturday, April 8.

Cruz said the new location will have more of a taproom-specific feel, featuring natural lighting as well as indoor, soft-seating. While it will lack in Fresno’s “industrial” feel, Cruz hopes it will thrive in its new setting as Merced’s first taproom, taking  influences from its Fresno location (including outdoor seating, eventually) while still embracing the differences between the two locations.

And Cruz said the influence from Tioga-Sequoia’s home brewery and taproom in Fresno won’t end there.

“Part of my meetings coming up with the city [of Merced] are trying to figure out what it would take to do something like ArtHop — like what we’re familiar with in Downtown Fresno,” he said. “Not as often as we do events here…but we definitely want to do some of the similar things that carry over.”

Cruz said that while Merced is in the middle of a downtown revitalization project, it still lacks what Fresno has to offer, with the city only recently lifting its restrictions on outdoor food trucks in the downtown area.

The taproom will also have room for expansion, with the owners still deciding whether to add additional taproom seating or create its own satellite brewery in Merced.

For the time being, however, Cruz said that Tioga-Sequoia is just happy the three-year-old project is finally going to have the opportunity to be appreciated by the public.

Tioga-Sequoia will soon announce a new beer to celebrate the grand opening. Cruz said the brewery is not yet ready to release a name, but the brew will be among many new things that the company hopes will help identify each individual location.

“We do plan to have unique things in both locations that you can only get in either location to give people incentive to go to both spots and also to feel like they have something unique to them,” Cruz added.

He also hopes to have outdoor seating available in a parklet near the corner of The Tioga, offering space for 60 to 70 additional guests.

Cruz said the expansion won’t stop with Merced. Modesto and Visalia are both target locations. The Merced taproom will give Tioga-Sequoia the opportunity to see firsthand what will be needed to open additional taprooms around the Valley.

“We definitely want to invest in growing our brand and growing communities around the Valley,” he said. “We’re looking at more cities throughout the Valley to do something similar in.”