USA, NY: Farmcraft Brewery opens its doors in Sheldon, NY

Let's take 10 acres, have a building built that measures 11,000 square feet, and make it a brewery, tap house and events center.

That's what Farmcraft Brewery, LLC, started doing about a year ago. While some of the inside is still a work in progress, Farmcraft celebrated the brewery's opening with a ribbon-cutting on Friday, November 8, The Daily News reported.

The brewery is owned by husband and wife, Darryl Howe and Ashley Meyer Howe.

"The first walls didn't go up until November of last year," she said Friday evening. "It's taken about 11 months to put the building up and open it up. The building is 11,000 square feet. It has a mezzanine area that's 2,000 square foot. We have a 3,000-square foot patio, an outdoor space ... The property sits on 10 acres of land, so on the front part, we have a flower farm - an agricultural tie-in piece."

The kitchen serves appetizers, pizzas, mac and cheese bowls, salads, and sweet treats. The brewery currently sells food and New York-crafted beer, wine, THC seltzer and cocktail. The state-of-the-art 15-barrel brewhouse will launch this spring.

Meyer Howe said her parents, Joe and Amy Meyer, still own about 320 acres of land right around the brewery. Jason Meyers did the sitework for the brewery. The general contractor was Thompson Builds. Both of them did a great job, she said.

"The finishing work, Darryl and I had done ourselves. Darryl built the bar," she said. The couple did the painting and added all the final touches.

"We're just excited to be open and to host events here," she said. Meyer Howe said the brewery can seat about 300 people in the bar and indoor dining area.

"The outdoor patio is endless. There's 3,000 square feet out there. We have picnic tables and we have about 20 Adirondack chairs," she said. "The outdoor space is open and we have a gas fire pit out there. We welcome all the snowmobiliers and all the hearty Western New Yorkers are welcome to sit out on the patio."

Customers can watch a number of sports - Bills and Sabres games, baseball, college football, etc. on two 98-inch TVs.

"We plan on updating and changing our menu seasonally and adding new items, adding new drinks and cocktails as we move on," Meyer Howe said.

Darryl Howe said the ceiling in the tap room is about 32 feet to the peak. on the inside.

"We wanted kind of a grand experience when you walk in," he said.

The main plan for the mezzanine is for overflow seating, Howe said.

"The front's going to be a tap room. The back's going to be more like a game lounge - couches and games, activities for kids - bubble hockey and some fun stuff back there, but also be able to rent it out to private events," he said.

The hours of operation are from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Wyoming County Industrial Development Agency (WCIDA) approved a resolution for construction of a tourism destination brewing facility, taproom and event center. Farmcraft Brewery anticipates that three full-time jobs and nine part-time jobs will be created as a result of the project at the end of three years of operation.

The WCIDA granted incentives for the project, including a property tax exemption of $179,574, a $54,960 exemption on sales and use taxes for building materials and machinery, equipment, fixtures and furnishings; and a mortgage recording tax exemption of $8,750.

"When you folks first came to us at the IDA, it fit in perfectly with the types of businesses we're trying to recruit and attract in Wyoming County - recreation tourism, hospitality," WCIDA Executive Director James Pierce said. "We just think we're a growing industry in that sector and you guys fed right into that perfectly. All the resources we could manage, we brought to the table to help you guys make this become a reality."

12 November, 2024