By Lance Gaither

lance.gaither@bluegrassnewsmedia.com

Morley’s Backyard officially opened for business in 2022 and has become a popular hangout in Danville. With the success of the business, the establishment at 234 E. Walnut St. is planning to expand in 2024 to include a full kitchen, lounge and micro-brewery.

“We are not trying to be a huge brewery. We just want to have a few of our own beers on tap,” said co-owner Josh Will. “We are waiting for construction to begin on the kitchen. We hope to have it open by the end of February but maybe the end of March.”

The first beer planned to be brewed in house is a red ale with more complex beers to follow.

“You don’t need as many sophisticated supplies for a red ale,” Will said. “With lagers you have to keep it a certain temperature and need special machinery. We want to brew something that people like and then add another. We don’t plan to have more than two. We aren’t trying to be West Sixth or any of those.”

The idea to add a kitchen to Morley’s started when Will met Tyler Greene and Casey Maupin, who operate Sunwatch Homestead and their food truck The Farmer’s Kitchen.

“I came in for a beer after they had been open for about a month,” Maupin said. “We ordered a couple appetizers but you can tell it wasn’t a food place. We told Joshua we had a food truck, so we set up the next day and killed it and then as they say the rest is history.”   

Will saw the success of the food truck and wanted to form a permanent partnership. Maupin is now the general manager of Morley’s

“They have a customer base that just loves their food and I’m one of them. It is the best burger in town,” Will said. “We just started talking and the relationship grew. The plan was to do something with the space we had so it made sense to combine our efforts.”   

Will is thankful for the support from the community and hopes to make Morley’s Backyard an iconic name.

“This is one that we want to become many,” Will said. “We will never be able to recreate this location because the land and the building. We want to be Danville to be proud of this.”

Public events such as tastings and corn hole tournaments are held regularly. The next boozy book fair will be held Feb. 8. For more information, check out the Morley’s Backyard Facebook page or go to morleysky.com.