Listeners of 105.3 The Fan's Ben and Skin Show know they can often find its namesake hosts, Ben Rogers and Jeff "Skin" Wade, at breweries around Dallas-Fort Worth. In 2018, their passion for beer spawned an event series called the Brew Crew Tour, which invites hardcore fans known as TOLOs ("turn on, leave on") to meet them for a pint at different taprooms in the area.
Soon the duo will have a permanent home where they can keep the party going. Rogers and Wade are co-owners and the self-proclaimed “ambassadors of fun” for Rollertown Beerworks in Celina, which is expected to open in 2020.
Considering Rogers and Wade have always been a package deal — the Richardson natives met at age 12 during a game of pickup basketball and have been on the radio together since 2001 — it’s unsurprising they did this venture together, along with several partners.
“Like a lot of things that we do, we tend to balance each other out in positive ways,” Wade says. “This is just kind of a natural extension of what we do on the radio show, which is bring people together with like interests and like minds.”
Coming soon.... 👀 pic.twitter.com/IjROOPRgQD
— @ROLLERTOWN (@rollertown) September 18, 2019
Rollertown's name is inspired not by skating or sports, but by the town where it resides. According to the book Reminiscence of Celina, published by the town's heritage museum, Celina residents moved many prominent buildings and homes closer to a newly built railroad in 1902 by literally putting them on wheels and rolling them to a site that was then developed as its modern day Main Street.
“Skin and I, our path has been like that,” says Rogers, who lives in Celina. “This is a cool metaphor for everybody. You have to be willing to be mobile to chase your opportunity. Opportunity isn't going to come knock on your door.”
The brewery plans to open in a temporary location first, while building out its permanent facility. Plans for the 7,000-square-foot warehouse space due in 2020 include a taproom and 7-barrel brew house, where brewer Tommy Miller, formerly of Noble Rey Brewing Co., will churn out a variety of lagers and small-batch experimental recipes.
“Interacting with the TOLOs, they really want lagers,” Miller says, adding there will also be "a lot of crazy stuff” and “tons of collaborations” available in the taproom. (TOLOs might also be delighted by a New England-style IPA called The Hazy Gon’ Set It Off.)
Rollertown's long-term home, which is expected to open in 2021, includes space for a new location of popular local barbecue restaurant Tender Smokehouse.
Sports will also be embedded in the fabric of Rollertown Beerworks. TVs will be set up throughout the space for game-day watching, and Rogers and Wade hope to do some remote radio broadcasts from onsite.
“We want people to come watch games with us on Saturday and Sunday,” Wade says.
Rogers agrees. “We want to be loud and proud about being in Celina,” he says.
