Faircraft Brauhaus embraces tradition and community

Fairport brewpub offers German-style beer, food, art, and live music in a welcoming environment

Note: This is a sponsored partnership between Faircraft Brauhaus and the Cleveland Prost.

Faircraft Brauhaus was always supposed to be different. It was designed to showcase four main areas — food, art, music, and beer.

And all of this was to be experienced through the lens and influence of the German tradition of beer, food, and community. The 8,500-square-foot brewpub in the historic America Can Company complex at 25 Parce Ave. in the village of Fairport is intended to be a place where patrons can enjoy pints of traditional German-style beers accompanied by traditional German food.

Imagine drinking a fresh Pilsner with house-made schnitzel, surrounded by the work of a local artist and the sounds of a jazz trio. But the atmosphere is still moderately quiet as it encourages and welcomes conversation.

As brewery co-founder Matthias West put it, it’s really about fostering a meeting of the minds.

“We’re still investing in our future,” West said. “When the outdoor season is over, we have a lot more space than a lot of breweries on the inside. Like most places, we’ve really been hit hard by the pandemic.”

By staying focused on the mission, West said they’re hopeful they’ll continue to connect with the community and win over more people with its devotion to authenticity.

“We’ve got to get the word out that there are more things to discover,” West said. “I want this to be a place where you can feel comfortable and exchange ideas.”

The beer

Brewery co-founder/head brewer Steve Landgren homebrewed for 23 years prior to turning pro. He gained invaluable experience through part-time gigs with the former Custom Brewcrafters and also the Genesee Brew House. But once he retired as a teacher, he was determined to remain active, especially after he spent so much of his free time brewing, researching, and reading about beer.

“I just love the whole world of beer,” Landgren said. “The whole world of beer has such great variety. That’s one of the things that got me charged up when I started homebrewing, it’s not all just light-colored, bland beer. There are so many flavors. It became a real exciting exploration for me.”

He also reveled in the friendships formed because of the beer community. The draft list is built on the premises of camaraderie, tradition, and variety.

“We like having a couple beers that you might not normally find anywhere else, like the 70 schilling Scottish ale or the English golden ale, both of which we’ve released a few times,” Landgren said. “We have a variety here, hopefully a beer for anybody who is looking for a beer. My goal is to have different colors, different flavors, different styles on (draft) at any one time.”

But that’s not to say the draft list won’t include an India pale ale or two. Faced with the reality of the craft beer scene, you almost have to, Landgren said. Faircraft, however, will do it a bit differently. Currently the brewery has a West Coast-style IPA on draft, as well as a hazy single IPA.

Along with the emphasis on German styles, West said the brewery highlights other “other world styles” from England, Scotland, and Belgium. Faircraft is also one of the few local spots to find a rauchbier, a German-style lager made with smoked malt.

Faircraft offers a traditional cask ale each Friday afternoon, too. Cask ales are conditioned in a firkin, often with some sort of priming sugar, and then served through gravity without the use of carbon dioxide for carbonation. It’s certainly not something you’ll encounter with any frequency in and around Rochester.

The food and the atmosphere

As the brewery has learned more about the community and hired more staff, the menu has expanded, West said. Faircraft has gone from just offering light bites to a spot where you can enjoy a full meal.

The menu features French-German flatbreads called Flammkuchen. West said it is similar to a white pizza. It’s available as a vegetarian option also. Since opening, patrons could enjoy the obatzda plate, a Bavarian cheese delicacy made with soft aged Camembert cheese, cream cheese, butter, onions, roasted garlic, paprika, and black lager. It’s a spreadable delight. There are also rotating soups such as a beef stew or a ginger carrot soup.

And as expected, there is an assortment of sausages, schnitzel, and spätzle. There are meals with two sides, including a flipped and grilled potato salad and a different potato salad with a slightly sourish tinge. I dare you to find a better pretzel in Rochester. The Faircraft team wants the food to be as traditional and satisfying as the beers. And with the expanded menu and more live music, the hope is that people will stick around longer.

The art and the music

Faircraft can feel like an art gallery at times. That’s because of the rotating assortment of art displayed on its walls. For stretches at a time, it’ll feature the work of an assortment of local artists, providing an outlet and platform for these artists while also encouraging patrons to enjoy it.

There are frequent gallery-like events where artists can meet the public and perhaps sell some work. Like West noted, that’s all by design. It’s all meant to welcome in the community.

The music is another aspect of that grand plan. Brewery co-founder Jeff Reimer is a professional piano technician and tuner, often working for some of the biggest touring acts in this region, while Landgren is a retired middle school band director and music teacher.

So there was no way Faircraft wasn’t going to provide a platform for local and touring musicians. “This is a place you can sit and talk,” Landgren said, noting that the taproom and patio are both family friendly. “The music is at a nice level, where you can have a conversation.”

The taproom is equipped with sound panels and other features designed to heighten acoustics, too. The brewery features live music at least three nights per week.

On Monday nights, patrons can enjoy loop guitar performances. Wednesday nights are devoted to jazz. On Thursdays, Faircraft now serves as an outlet for bluegrass. Friday and Saturday nights are for “something more upbeat,” West said, whether it be blues or rock.

An international collaboration

Faircraft is participating in one of the coolest collaborations we’ve ever seen in this area. At 3:59 p.m. Friday, the brewery will tap its Yuleøl lager. The brewery teamed with Denmark-based Caleidoskope Brewing after a local patron put the breweries in touch. Via Facebook Messenger, the breweries, separated by an ocean and multiple time zones, plotted together and determined how they could work together. Caleidoskope will tap its beer at the exact same time.

They landed on a festive and seasonally appropriate yule beer that will be tapped at the exact same time in each location. It plays on the tradition of Scandinavian breweries releasing a spiced beer around the holiday season (or a yule beer). For their collaboration, Faircraft and Caleidoskope will release a spiced bock (lager) based on Faircraft’s base beer recipe and a spice profile devised by brewers in Denmark.

Landgren said it is the brewery’s second collaboration. The first came with brewer Paul Guarracini at Sager Beer Works in Rochester. He’s hoping to collaborate with even more breweries, both local and international, in the coming months.

If you visit

Visit FairCraft at 25 Parce Ave. in the village of Fairport. It is right off Main Street and located just behind the Fairport Village Inn.

It is open from 4 to 9 p.m Monday and then closed Tuesday for regular draft line cleaning. Faircraft is also open Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. and then 3 to 10 p.m. Friday and 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday. Finally, the brewery is open 12:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Note: This brewery profile is a paid sponsorship between Faircraft Brauhaus and the Cleveland Prost.