Stoneyard and Sager form partnership, open dual-brewery taproom

Brockport-based Stoneyard Brewery and Rochester's Sager Beer Works will launch the Sager-Stoneyard Pub in Rochester

An unexpected partnership could be the start of a beautiful (and inventive) new relationship — at least that’s what two Rochester beer veterans are hoping for.

Rochester-based Sager Beer Works and Brockport’s Stoneyard Brewing are forming an unlikely partnership and opening what they are calling a dual-brewery taproom, the Sager-Stoneyard Pub, inside the Sager location at 46 Sager Dr. Suite E in Rochester.

It means the breweries will each maintain their own identities — Stoneyard will continue to pump out IPAs and other culinary-influenced beers at its 30-barrel production facility in Brockport, while Sager will maintain its smaller-scale 5-barrel brewhouse at its current location. It just means Stoneyard beers will now be available on draft and in cans inside the re-branded taproom. Sager has already installed six new draft lines and has quietly been featuring Stoneyard beers for about a month.

“Realistically, Stoneyard has been missing that face since COVID,” Stoneyard head brewer/owner Jeffrey “Oz” Osborne said. “We’ve had quite a few changes internally and it’s kept my hands tied as far as how much I can get out into the public. I am excited to be a face again, show people what is going on. I’m gonna really enjoy meeting people and seeing everyone again.”

Photo: Stoneyard owner/head brewer Jeffrey ‘Oz’ Osborne, left, and Sager co-owner/head brewer Paul Guarracini.

Most importantly, it will give Stoneyard the retail/taproom space it has lacked since closing its Brockport restaurant earlier in the pandemic. Married to the large 30-barrel batches he produces every time to send into distribution, this will also give Osborne the chance to creatively craft smaller, more experimental beers at Sager. As a longtime lover of Oz’s weird and wacky creations, this allows him to approach things like he did when he was making beers in an elevator shaft 2.5 barrels at a time at Stoneyard’s original Brockport location.

“When you Google ‘Stoneyard,’ it will send you here now,” said Osborne, who is becoming the third partner in Sager, along with head brewer Paul Guarracini and chef Don Tumminelli, while maintaining his ownership of Stoneyard.

Patrons won’t notice much of a difference at Sager. The food menu will remain largely unchanged, but the partners are hoping to expand kitchen hours. There will also be some minor cosmetic changes such as new signage and the availability of Stoneyard merchandise. Osborne even plans to pick up a few bartending shifts at Sager, something he last did years ago at Stoneyard’s second location on Empire Boulevard in Penfield. Outside of potential can sales, Stoneyard’s Brockport production facility will remain closed to the public.

In a tightening marketplace where craft beer sales have slowed, the partnership represents a new manner through which to attack the market and reach new consumers. Other breweries, albeit at a regional effort, have combined forces. Southern Tier and Victory, two legacy craft brands, teamed to form Artisanal Brewing Ventures in 2016. Others have followed, but mainly at the regional level and through distribution agreements. I really love the idea of two local breweries seeking to strengthen each other through a partnership.

The Stoneyard-Sager marriage is a new arrangement for this region. (And it’s already in motion as the breweries are jointly announcing the partnership Thursday morning. As Guarracini noted, the breweries remain separate legal entities, too.)

Each brewery is known among its core fans for very specific things. Sager has built a reputation for its casual, inviting pub-like atmosphere where patrons can enjoy classic beer styles brewed exceedingly well. They can pair that with some of the best elevated pub grub in town.

Stoneyard, originally opened in 2008, at first featured beers produced through a contract agreement with the shuttered Custom Brewcrafters in Honeoye Falls. In April 2014, Stoneyard graduated to a brewpub with a small brewing system in an old elevator shaft at its Main Street location.

It attracted folks from throughout the region with Oz’s vibrant IPAs and creatively crafted concoctions like the Stu’d Russian imperial stout and the wacky Double Dry Hammed Imperial Maple HAMber Ale, a collaboration with McCann’s Local Meats that featured maple syrup, smoked ham, and ham stock. (Don’t expect the HAMber to reappear, but it could happen under this new agreement.)

Guarracini and Osborne said it is a good partnership, because each brewery has a distinct identity and is known for doing certain things well. That won’t change.

“Our staff will be able to speak Stoneyard and be able to speak Sager,” Guarracini joked.

Guarracini, who is also a former co-owner/head brewer at Fairport Brewing, began conversations about joining forces with Osborne during monthly meetings of the 585 Brewers Collective, an informal group of local brewery owners and brewers. And like most great ideas, this one was hatched while enjoying a few beers. Since closing its Brockport restaurant, Osborne said he has been looking for taproom space preferably in the city of Rochester, noting that Rochester is really the epicenter of beer culture in this region.

While it’s increasingly difficult (or impossible) to compete for shelf space in stores, taproom sales continue to be the best way to make money and drive growth.

“Things aren’t getting easier in beer,” Guarracini said. “So you’ve got to start thinking differently. We had to figure out what was next. Oz brings a recognizable brand that is really complementary to what we do.”

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