E-Malt.com News article: USA, NY: Three Heads Brewing to construct $4 million facility

On one of his first visits to the future location of his brewery, Three Heads Brewing co-founder Geoff Dale could be seen in front of the just-started foundation that runs parallel to Atlantic Avenue in Rochester's Neighbourhood of the Arts in Honeoye Falls, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported on July 8.

For the past four-plus years, Three Heads Brewing has contract brewed its beer at Honeoye Falls' CB Craft Brewers. Three Heads Brewing comes up with the recipes, while Craft Brewers produces and packages the beer.

Partnering with FSI General Contractors, Three Heads Brewing is building its own brewery.

According to Three Heads Brewing’s co-founder Dan Nothnagle, the 19,500-square facility will cost around $4 million. FSI General Contractors is building the brewery and Three Heads Brewing will then lease back the space.

But before the new brewery opens, the men behind Three Heads Brewing have already established a loyal and thirsty local base of customers. Through the power of social media and good-old-fashioned pounding the pavement, Three Heads Brewing has built a recognizable brand.

"We're building a brewery based on the success of our brand," said Dan Nothnagle, Three Heads Brewing’s co-founder. "Three Heads Brewing isn't about one person or one idea, it's a real collaboration."

Paul Leone, executive director of the New York State Brewers Association, said Three Heads Brewing will be unique among the breweries in this area. From the size of the space to the neighbourhood in which it will reside, Leone envisions Three Heads Brewing spurring economic development.

"The one thing that breweries do, no matter where they open up, is that they become destinations," said Leone. "Other businesses open up around those breweries. Whether its restaurants or stores of some sort, breweries certainly bring business to any area. Three Heads Brewing is opening where there is already an established scene and it's only going to get better and help it grow."

For the first three years of the business, Three Heads Brewing distributed all its own beer. Then, in December 2013, Three Heads Brewing signed a distribution agreement with Henrietta's Lake Beverage.

"The brand that we had spent three years building, they took it and ran," Dale said. "Our production numbers started to sky rocket and it just got to a point where it started crossing certain thresholds that we had in the back of our heads."

That shift in distribution necessitated that Three Heads Brewing begin to explore opening its own facility and moving away from the contract-brewing model.

In 2013, 65 percent of Three Heads Brewing’s sales were outside of New York state. Since signing up with Lake Beverage, 70 percent of sales are just in the Rochester area.

"We've transitioned into a regional brewery that is really selling a lot of beer in a small area," Nothnagle said.

Three Heads Brewing produced about 3,400 barrels last year through CB Craft Brewers. Nothnagle said they will produce a little more this year. "We've reached capacity there," he added. In the new space, Three Heads Brewing could quintuple that number in the first year.

Once the decision was made to build, Three Heads Brewing investigated spaces throughout the city.

Ultimately, the ability to design and construct their own space from scratch was one that they couldn't pass up.

"Everything just came together. It always sort of has with us. Every time a step is supposed to happen, it just seems to fall right into place for us. I think Dan has about seven four-leaf clovers in his pocket," Dale said.

“The lot at the corner of Atlantic and Anderson Avenues is right behind Gleason Works and near Village Gate, Rochester. The Neighbourhood of the Arts, Honeoye Falls, is an ideal spot for a destination brewery,” Dale said.

It's an emerging neighbourhood where property values are rising and people, especially young professionals, are moving into the area.

"I think their decision is certainly going to buoy our continued revitalization," NOTA Neighbourhood Association’s chairman Evan Lowenstein said. "I think they're going to be very successful in that spot. In some ways, that's still considered a no-man's land in this neighbourhood, but I think they will change that. This is shaping up to be a transformative project in our neighbourhood."

The building will include a 2,000-square foot tasting room and retail space.

The rest of the building will include 15,000 square feet of brewing space and a 1,500-square-foot walk-in cooler. There will be space for a barrel-aging room, a laboratory, and 1,400-square-feet of office space.

When it opens, the new Three Heads Brewery will be the second largest in Monroe County. It will be much smaller than the Genesee Brewery on St. Paul Street, Rochester, but larger than the pilot system in the Genesee Brew House.

There will be a 30-barrel system. It will have five 90-barrel fermenters, one 30-barrel fermenter, and two 90-barrel Brite tanks. The initial capacity will be around 15,000 barrels.

"Every decision we make goes with the philosophy of putting the beer first," Dale said. "It's who we are, it's what we are, and it’s what we do. We might do all these other fun events, so we might be seen as something else. But it all comes down to the beer. In the end, that's all that matters."

"Beer isn't like selling life insurance or annuities," Nothnagle added. "We want to have a good time with what we do. I think that's expressed in our label art, expressed in the events that we do. We're here to have fun, celebrate life, and celebrate each other. That's where beer comes in."


10 July, 2015