USA, PA: Koehler Brewery already open in Elwood City

Koehler Brewery on Wampum Avenue officially opened last month in the former Dom’s Market location, bringing craft beers and a different food truck experience each night to Ellwood City, The Times reported on June 14.

Owner Bruce Koehler of Evans City, who also has a brewery in Grove City, said the bar offers his two bottled beers, Amber Ale, with a more bold flavor, and Premiere Lager, which is lighter in taste. Both are also sold by the case.

Head brewer Adam Crabtree said they have eight different craft beers on tap, and they will find what people like and if it is very popular they will bottle it.

“People are welcome to taste the beers,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to end up with a beer they don’t like.”

Beer by the flask is a very popular option, Crabtree said. Patrons can purchase the flask filled with beer, use it, rinse it out and return it to buy more beer. They also have wines from local wineries.

Koehler said they are having food trucks because he wants to concentrate on their beers and still offer people a different food selection each night, including Mexican, pierogies, lobster and others. In 2012, the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck was featured on the TV series “Shark Tank,” and with the $55,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran, cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis were able to turn their one truck into a nationwide business with a fleet of food trucks.

When the weather isn’t good, the facility has created a unique space where the truck is parked outside, but the window for ordering and receiving food is in the building.

Crabtree, of Zelienople, is an experienced brewer who is skilled in home brewing and management, with a degree in business administration from Slippery Rock University. Brewing is very much a science with some engineering thrown in, and Crabtree said he loves his job.

“Beer makes people happy, and I like being a part of making people happy,” he said.

As soon as Crabtree turned 21, he got a home beer-brewing kit and started brewing and has never stopped.

“It was more complicated than I thought, but I really liked it,” Crabtree said. “I lived in a rural area and I had to drive a long way to get a good beer, so I was making my own.”

He continued to brew, read and studied and went to work for Shubrew in Harmony as a dishwasher, and when Crabtree saw they were running low on beer, he told the owner that he needed Crabtree to brew and got the job doing what he liked to do. Crabtree continued to gain experience in all aspects of brewing, and he designed the layout and beer house for a brewery in Pittsburgh.

Koehler spent time in breweries for a different purpose; in 2016, he did political commercials for Yuengling Brothers beer and met Dick Yuengling. He also did TV commercials for Stoney Beer.

Koehler lived in Pittsburgh as child, but spent a lot of time with his grandparents in Erie near the Koehler Brewery that closed in 1973 and was demolished in 2006.

“I just felt an emotional attachment to it,” he said. “If I am related to the Koehler family it would be far out, but, of course, I liked the name, too.”

The Koehler trademark had been abandoned and it took years of legal work for Koehler to use the name and design, including the distinctive blue label for the lager. Opening a brewery is a long process, a year to get the legal work done and a year to physically build the business and pass all the inspections.

Two years ago, Koehler opened his brewery in Grove City, and it did well enough to expand to Ellwood City, gutting what locals know as the Weller Building and creating a spacious, friendly place where craft beers, wines and a variety of food are available.

“I have friends in Ellwood City and have been visiting frequently for about 25 years,” Koehler said. “I just like the city. I like the main street, and I can imagine what it was like back in the 1800s. It is a great little town with a friendly feel.”

Koehler said Brian Downs, owner of Pete’s Uptown on Lawrence Avenue in the borough, sells his beer and has been very helpful.

In a brewery, everything is measured by barrels, and a barrel is 31 gallons. According to the Brewer’s Association, craft beers are those that annually produce less than 6 million gallons, which is approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales.

Crabtree said there is nothing new about craft beers. Traditionally, women made beer in their kitchens and before Prohibition making home brew was common.

15 June, 2019