Black Fleet Brewing borrows its name from a fleet of warships operated by a fierce woman known for her prowess on the water. It’s fitting that the Tacoma brewery is just up the hill from the Thea Foss Waterway, named after another fierce woman who once ruled our waters.

As brewery co-founder Kyle Maxwell tells the story, the Lioness of Brittany was Jeanne de Clisson, a privateer who boldly operated her Black Fleet warships on the English Channel. Maxwell took a liking to the wild story about the underdog who ruled through grit and force. It’s a story he aligns with Tacoma’s plucky spirit.

Maxwell, who will run the Tacoma brewery with business-and-life partner Caitlyn Byce, said his 10-barrel Black Fleet brewery won’t open its doors until late 2017 at the earliest.

It’ll be located at 2302 Fawcett Ave., close to where Gig Harbor’s 7 Seas Brewing expanded last year and a few blocks from where Tacoma’s Pacific Brewing and Malting will expand its footprint this year. Yes, that’s also the same neighborhood that once was home to Tacoma’s historic brewery district.

Construction is just about to begin on a two-story, 10,000 square feet building that Maxwell said once housed The Eagle Bottle Works plant. The top floor, for now, will hold offices but later could be space for a brewery expansion.

The downstairs 5,000 square-feet space will hold the 10-barrel system and a kitchen. That kitchen will be led by Byce, who is a Central Washington University graduate and second-generation restaurateur who has worked in restaurants since grade school.

Maxwell is a home brewer and Pacific Lutheran University graduate. Locals might recall Maxwell from his time spent as an on-air intern, with the nickname Hot Kyle, with radio personality BJ Shea on KISW.

Early plans call for about 80 seats and a menu that will feature food with beer as an ingredient. Maxwell said he’s playing with all kinds of styles of ale, including kettle sours, pale ales and, of course, the requisite India pale ale.