USA, PA: Forbes Trail Brewing coming soon to Stoystown

Forbes Trail Brewing is coming soon to Stoystown. The new brewery is opening up just a quarter-mile from the entrance of the Flight 93 Memorial, at 6108 Lincoln Highway, and has an estimated opening in Spring 2022, Breweries in PA (BIPA) reported on February 1.

The owner and head brewer Mike Fahy is quite experienced, having formerly been a brewer at both Whitehorse Brewing and Olde Bedford Brewing. Mike has also been behind the “With You Always” beer at Whitehorse, which was made to honor his late wife and raise money for the fight against ovarian cancer. As of 2022, he has raised over $50,000 for the Magee Women’s Research Institute & Foundation. Below is our Q&A with Mike.

BIPA: What’s in the name Forbes Trail Brewing Company?

Mike: In the 1700s, Forbes Trail was built and used to connect the East and West sides of the state. We are located off of RT 30, which is considered the old Forbes Trail. We love the history of this, and want to highlight it! We will do a lot of local things, including a Fort series of beers.

BIPA: What stage are you currently in? Licensing?

Mike: Right now we are TTB approved and are in the PLCB approval stage. This means we have submitted and waiting for pre-approval.

BIPA: Who is all involved in the brewery?

Mike: Currently it’s me, Mike Fahy, and my wife Kaitlin, with the help of some friends! We used to be homebrewers by the name “Bad Moon Brewing”, and I used to brew at both Whitehorse Brewing and Olde Bedford Brewing.

BIPA: What styles of beers will you focus on?

Mike: The main answer is that I want to brew it all. I will try any style of beer, and really enjoy it all. That being said, I want to also brew traditional styles and old-school old-world recipes. A mix of clean, traditional styles and then some “off the wall” styles would be best. We will have some staple beers that are always on, and also some seasonal varieties for people to look forward to.

BIPA: Can you describe the space you are opening?

Mike: We are opening in the former Glades Pike Winery satellite building, which was also Route 30 cafe at one point. Our location is a quarter-mile from the entrance of the Flight 93 Memorial. Also, our neighboring property is putting a privately funded memorial park in called “Patriot Park”. This part will honor every soldier that was lost in the global war on terror.

We are currently mid-construction now and renovating the space. There will be lots of parking, and an outdoor beer garden for fire pits and cornhole. At the bar, we will have 12 taps, with seating for 8–10, and inside seating overall for almost 50. We won’t have food, but snacks for now, and will be looking into food trucks in the future.

For the brewhouse, we have the 3bbl system we got from Fury Brewing with a few 1bbl fermenters. I want to focus on variety and do a little of everything, as I mentioned earlier.

BIPA: Will you release crowlers/cans there as well?

Mike: We will be hand-canning. The plan is to be able to offer fillable on-demand four-packs. This means whatever you see on tap, you can take home with you in a 16oz can. We will still do growler fills as well.

BIPA: Anything else our readers should know about Forbes Trail Brewing?

Mike: Yes, we are currently running a Kickstarter campaign, with a lot of really cool rewards! We already met the goal, but all of the money will go right into the brewery to allow us to get up and operational quickly.

02 February, 2022