Rising Storm update at the Daisy Flour Mill: Can sales coming
Rising Storm update at the Daisy Flour Mill: Can sales coming
The Livonia brewery has started construction at the Penfield landmark, hopes to open in April 2023
Note: This newsletter is supported by Rohrbach Brewing Co., a pioneering craft brewery in the city of Rochester.
Here are two exciting updates from the transformational Rising Storm Brewing expansion/move at the Daisy Flower Mill, 1880 Blossom Road in Penfield:
Can sales coming
While clean up, demolition, and construction pick up, Rising Storm will welcome folks to the expansive site with weekly can drops. The plan is to host the first can release from 4 to 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, and then potentially add more availability as the brewery gets a clearer idea of demand.
Brewery co-founder/co-owner Bill Blake said more details will be forthcoming. (Pay attention to Rising Storm’s social media for more information.) Cryptically, Blake said the first release will feature some all-time favorites, including a sour, a stout, and an IPA.
Cans are for off-site consumption only, since construction is underway and there is no seating available. For those who haven’t yet visited the Livonia location, the can drops will provide an opportunity to obtain Rising Storm beers closer to home. And it’ll give folks a chance to try beers that often don’t make it into stores.
Construction update
Blake said Rising Storm placed an order for its new 15-barrel brewhouse (with four 15-barrel and four 30-barrel fermenters) and it is expected to be delivered in late February/early March. That’ll leave about a month for brewers Jeff Riedl (also a co-founder/co-owner) and Kurt Wielgosz a few weeks to acclimate and get the system dialed in. The system delivery date aligns pretty perfectly with the window to open the business, Blake said.
Optimistically, Rising Storm will open next April, Blake said. The original Livonia location will remain open and the system there will be used for small-batch releases.
On the taproom side, construction has begun. Demolition has wrapped up, Blake said, and they are waiting to install new flooring. They will also install a new bar. But most of the work, including new lighting, on that side is cosmetic.
The banquet hall portion of the expansive space will be home to the new brewhouse. Demolition has wrapped up there, too, Blake said. Floor drains will be installed in the next three weeks. Blake said the goal is for the brewhouse space to be completely finished by the time the new system is delivered.
The kitchen area, outside of some major cleaning, is in good shape, Blake said.
Rising Storm has already expanded production capacity twice in Livonia and is pretty much maxed out down there. The brewery utilized a contract brewing agreement to produce some bigger batches. But this new location will move all production back in house.
“Every time I’m in there and walk around the property, I get more pumped about it,” Blake said.
Farmhouse Brewery closes
A Tioga County brewery with a satellite location in Ontario County is closing both of its locations. The Farmhouse Brewery, which opened in Owego in 2014, closed this past weekend. The Victor taproom, 3 High St. Extension, will open for the last time on Nov. 12, the brewery posted on social media. The Victor location opened in mid-2019. It is right across the street from the palatial New York Beer Project and is part of the same commercial development.
Led by owner/brewer Marty Mattrazzo, Farmhouse developed a well-earned reputation for off-kilter and original beers utilizing ingredients from New York state. In a 2019 interview with me for the D&C, Mattrazzo said he produced “estate-driven beer.”
“I think we do something different than everybody else,” Mattrazzo said.
“As someone who owned a farm and then became a brewer, we make tomato beer, we make cucumber beer, we make pea beer,” he added. “We use all kinds of veggies in our beer. We are wacky and fun and not at all what anybody else is doing.”
I’m always sad to see a brewery close up shop, especially when it had such a unique mission and vision. I am wishing all the best to Marty moving forward.
Victor is now home to three breweries (NYBP, Stumblin’ Monkey, and Twin Elder), one brewery taproom (No BS), and one production/storage space (Other Half). Stay tuned for more information about more coming to Victor. There are credible rumblings of another brewery coming to that area.
Title sponsor: Rohrbach Brewing Co.
This work is made possible through support from Rohrbach Brewing Co. Rohrbach features two locations — its Beer Hall at 97 Railroad St. in the city of Rochester and its brewpub at 3859 Buffalo Road in the town of Ogden. Since 1991, Rohrbach has been producing classics and influencing the Rochester beer scene, including its iconic Scotch Ale.
The brewery’s support allows this work to remain free for this audience. So make sure to get out to Rohrbach and support one of the best establishments in our area.
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More in Victor you say?