USA, NY: Prison City Pub & Brewery to open larger production facility in Auburn

One of Upstate New York's most renowned - but small - craft brewers has settled on the proposed location for its long-awaited expansion, Syracuse.com reported on November 27.

Prison City Pub & Brewery plans to open a larger production brewing facility, with a tap room and kitchen, at 197-199 North St., Auburn. The 4-year-old brewpub, a restaurant with a small brewhouse on site, will remain open at 28 State St downtown.

The expansion could allow Prison City to make 10 times as much beer as it does now.

The new location, a vacant lot that formerly held a car wash, still needs city planning board approval, owner Dawn Schulz said. But if all goes well she and her husband, Marc, plan to break ground in the spring and open by the fall. They will build from ground up.

The Prison City brewpub opened in December 2014, and almost immediately began winning notice for the beers produced by head brewer Ben Maeso.

It won a medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Fest less than a year after it opened, and last year made the finals of the first Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge.

Its Mass Riot, a version of a hazy, juicy New England-style IPA, ranked first in a national taste test of IPAs by Paste magazine in 2016. Now, fans routinely line up outside for limited can releases of Mass Riot and other beers.

The Schulzs have been searching for a place to locate an expanded brewery for several years. At one point, it was scheduled to be part of the public-private partnership called Riverside Regional Public Market, but those plans never materialized.

As Prison City's reputation has grown, it's biggest problem has been trying to keep the supply of beer up with the demand. It expanded its production to about 1,000 barrels a year by taking space in the basement at 28 State St a few years ago. (A barrel is 31 gallons).

Eventually, the expanded brewery could produce about 10,000 barrels a year -- though it will likely take time to ramp up to that volume, Dawn Schulz said.

28 November, 2018