USA, NY: Soul Brewing planned for downtown Pleasantville

A “grain to glass” microbrewery and tasting room is proposed for downtown Pleasantville, The Journal News reported on December 14.

Soul Brewing, planned by village resident Allen Wallace, would go into a 2,000-square-foot space at 41 Wheeler Ave., which formerly housed a flower shop.

Wallace, who has brewed beer for more than 20 years, said it would be a cozy space inspired by what he and his wife saw during travels in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe.

"What we saw when were there was every town had its baker, its butcher and its brewer, and we really sort of liked that model," Wallace said. "So the idea is to essentially do the same thing in Pleasantville — create a brewery that's modeled more on that rather than being a production-type brewery. The idea is to serve the local surrounding area."

Wallace said he would like to open by Memorial Day. Hours and other details are still to be determined.

The brewery/tasting room has received Zoning Board of Appeals approval and is now before the village Planning Commission. It will also depend on things such as getting a liquor license.

Wallace, who's lived in Pleasantville for eight years, said his experience has given him a long list of beer recipes. Among those he plans to make are India Pale Ales (IPAs), a "nice easy-drinking oatmeal stout," and various Belgian ales, including a sweet one that uses local wildflower honey. He plans to incorporate local ingredients when possible for his creations.

"It's a very small-volume brewery, which gives me room to experiment with doing a lot of different things because I'm just making small amounts all the time and it's constantly circulating," he said.

The building, which most recently held Y Design Event Planning, is next to Tzatziki Grill. It is feet from the train station and flanked by restaurants and the The Black Cow coffeehouse that line Wheeler Avenue.

The idea is for Soul Brewing to be a largely open space, with a 1,150 square-foot tasting room and a 750 square-foot brewing area. Wallace envisions it being a community gathering place.

The microbrewery would join a downtown that has the Pleasantville Farmers Market, the Jacob Burns Film Center and apartments under construction on Washington Avenue. Village officials are also exploring whether to create a park, perhaps a half-acre in size, using part of Memorial Plaza.

As for the name, Soul Brewing, Wallace said it's inspired by at least a couple of things.

"I'm a huge fan of American soul music," he said. And there's his focus on yeasts in his beer recipes: "Yeast is thought of as the soul of the beer."

16 December, 2018