A dream became a reality in March 2017 when Wallenpaupack Brewing Company broke ground in Hawley. Sibling owners Becky and Christopher Ryman and company started the hard but rewarding work to bring their beers to life in a brand-new, 12,000-square-foot brewery, their new home for a 20-barrel brewhouse, brewpub, outdoor patio and administrative offices.
Wallenpaupack Brewing Company officially opened its doors in September 2017. But that was just the start: Plans are in the works to expand the adjacent property that Wallenpaupack owns by next summer. So what’s it like to create a brewery from the ground up? We sat down with Becky to find out.
Tell us about building and opening the brewery. What were some of the biggest challenges in the months leading up to the opening?
Opening the brewery has been a true dream come true. My cousin owns Marker 48 Brewing in Brooksville, Fla., and he served as an inspiration throughout the entire process. Our building contractors were amazing to work with and finished the project very quickly. I designed the entire interior, and any time I would throw something crazy at them, they would just say, “OK, we can do that.” It would always turn out exactly to my vision.
On the brewing side, our biggest challenge was making sure the original recipes were ready to go. We did not have much time between firing up the brewhouse and opening the taproom, but our brewing staff put in many hours to make sure our first beers out of the gate were clean and delicious. Hard work translated into great brews coming out of our brewhouse right away.
What size system are you working on, and what is fermentation capacity like?
We are working on an oversized, 3-vessel, 20-barrel brewhouse, meaning our system can accommodate high-gravity brewing. It makes imperial stout brew days much easier! We have a little over 3,000 barrels of potential production capacity.
We also have two 10-barrel Slovenian oak foeders that were hand-coopered in Italy. We’ve conditioned both in very different ways: One is pretty funky and the other is more reserved. They’ve allowed us to experiment with both oak fermentations and conditioning beers on oak to achieve different results in otherwise classic styles. We are also up to 34 barrels in our oak barrel program. There’s a Pennsylvania cherrywood smoked lager and an imperial stout in 5-year Maker’s Mark barrels. We’re also working on two variations of a Belgian strong ale: one in dark rum barrels and one in 14-year brandy barrels with peach and apricot. There’s also a farmhouse ale in red wine barrels … the list goes on and on.
What styles do you most hope to delve into in the future?
We hope to continue our success with lagers, IPAs and farmhouse beers. We’ve already brewed five different lagers and celebrated with a lager-themed weekend. We plan to always have two or three lagers on tap. As far as IPAs go, we’ve been enjoying the West Coast-style IPA, which has been well received in the current market of hazy juice bombs. We’re also working on some New England IPA projects, our Lake Haze series and we hope to start canning both styles of IPA before spring.
We’ve also been pumping different Belgian farmhouse styles out of our foeders each month, all with different traits. It allows us to have a lot of creative freedom and to use the resources we have right here in Pennsylvania. Most beers that have been brewed in our foeders are incorporating ingredients sourced from within the state. Most recently, we brewed a Belgian spin on a winter warmer using grains from Deer Creek Malthouse, and collaborated with Bonn Place Brewing Company on a farmhouse beer with 100 percent Pennsylvania ingredients from Sunny Brae Hops and Deer Creek Malthouse.
In your own experience, what else can out-of-towners find to do in Hawley? What’s the community like?
The community is so welcoming and supportive of local businesses. We’ve had so many other local business owners stop in to visit us and show their support. Also, working with the township to get our permitting and approvals for our project went really smoothly, which is something you don’t often hear.
Hawley has wonderful small-town charm and offers a lot of culture, from some of the best fishing and boating on Lake Wallenpaupack to quaint antique shops and art galleries and even train rides. Nearby, there are golf courses, go-kart tracks, state game lands and a ski lodge. There are also many top-rated hotels to enjoy. A performing arts center is also in the works, with plans to open by the summer. Hawley offers activities for all seasons and holds festivals throughout the year, which are curated by the Downtown Hawley Partnership.
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The Brewers of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit trade association that brings together leaders of Pennsylvania-based breweries in order to promote and protect the brewing industry in the state. Established in 2011, the Brewers of Pennsylvania serves the consuming public of Pennsylvania by encouraging brand diversity in the market. We believe in the nobility of brewing and hold dear the great traditions and history of Pennsylvania brewing.
Photos: Wallenpaupack Brewing Company
