E-Malt.com News article: USA, NY: Druthers Brewing Co. to start brewing at its second facility in Albany this spring

Druthers Brewing Co. will soon be brewing between 30 and 60 barrels of beer in Albany to serve multiple locations and sell the craft beer off-premise, Albany Business Review reported on January 16.

Druthers is moving into a second location in Albany's warehouse district this spring, while also renovating the kitchen at McGregor Links County Club in Wilton and expanding the brewery's original location in Saratoga Springs.

"It's a hectic time for us, that's for sure," said George de Piro, one of four owners of the brewery.
de Piro, who oversees the brewing operations, is one of four owners, along with Chris Martell, Victor Sosnowski and Ric Martell.

He said the Albany location could open in mid- to late-March, but no exact date is set. The brewing equipment will ship next week.

The owners have been talking about the second location for Druthers since October 2012, two months after the Saratoga location opened on Broadway. It took three years and $2.5 million to get the Saratoga location up and running, so the owners started discussing the second location for Druthers early. It will take about the same amount of money to open the Albany location.

Druthers' Albany location will be significantly larger than the space in Saratoga. In Albany, Druthers will be able to make 30 barrels (or 60 kegs of beer) in a batch. At the Saratoga location, capacity is for 10 barrels per batch. That increase will allow the craft brewing company to supply all of its location with beer, especially during the busy summer months in Saratoga. The increased brewing capacity will also help the company grow its off-premise sales.

Druthers' beer is available at a limited number of bars, but deTiro wants to bring the beer into bars across Hudson Valley and in New York City.

"Once Albany opens, then we're going to aggressively seek more and more accounts," he says. "We will have the capacity that we'll be in all the bars worth being in Albany."

Druthers location in Saratoga, which opened in 2012, is also getting some renovations. Druthers will add more kitchen space, double the bar area and bring some of its outdoor patio indoors to keep up with winter demand.


21 January, 2015