Saucony Creek Brewing Company’s sleek, welcoming pub in Kutztown is home to a thoughtful variety of food and beer. By sourcing food ingredients, malt and hops locally, Saucony Creek shows a devotion to Pennsylvania and an eye to keeping balance and drinkability in mind. We chatted with Vice President of Brewery Operations Kirby Powell about the commitment to keeping things local and some of his favorite beers.
What inspired you to pursue brewing as a career?
I am one of five partners at Saucony Creek Brewing Company, which was founded in 2013 by Matt Lindenmuth. I’ve been a homebrewer since 1992, which is considered ancient in the homebrewing world. I’ve also worked as an engineer in the dairy processing industry professionally since 1993.
An engineer friend, Rob Kline, and I helped Matt solve a number of startup problems when the brewery brewed its first batch. Roughly three months later, Matt asked us to become business partners. Matt is still a business partner, but is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations. My role includes overseeing brand management, production and distribution sales. Our head brewer, Nick Micio, handles all of the brewing.
Tell us about the beer! What beers do you like to produce and why?
We’re all about offering a wide range of styles, but those styles all have one thing in common: balance. We don’t brew a 150 IBU IPA or a pucker-your-mouth sour or use bizarre ingredients like lobster and seaweed. All of the adjuncts in a particular beer blend and balance nicely together.
A great example is our 2015 GABF Gold Medal xRéserve Peach & Ginger Saison. Neither adjunct is dominant; the two flavors meld together into a refreshing beer. If we have a type of beer we really like to produce, I would say it’s probably the Belgians. There are so many great yeasts that provide an incredible range of styles and flavors, and they tend to blend nicely with fruit adjuncts.
To geek out a bit: We’re brewing on a 15 bbl system. We have 200 bbl of fermentation capacity. We keg our beer, bottle with our in-house, four-head Meheen filler and use Iron Heart for mobile canning.
Why do people love to come to your pub?
Our pub is a casual, relaxed atmosphere with a slightly industrial feel thanks to metal and rough-cut wood in the inside decor. We’re family-friendly and welcome kids — our outdoor patio area is complete with a grass play area and gym/playhouse for the kids, plus hammock rope chairs for the adults.
We are a PA-Preferred brewery and restaurant, another nod to our commitment to using Pennsylvania products. Our pub food is contemporary and creative with a focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The menu changes about once every two months to coincide with seasonally available foods. You might find hop-brined pickles, Mom-Mom’s deviled eggs, quinoa taco bowls, “hot mess” cheeseburgers and chocolate peanut butter brownies on our menu.
We buy from more than 20 local farms and vendors, including locally raised meats, cheeses, produce and mushrooms. We always have 14 of our own beers on tap, and our servers are coached on which beers complement the various food offerings.
How does Saucony Creek tie into the community?
In addition to locally sourced food ingredients, we brew batches using Pennsylvania malt from Double Eagle Malt House and local hops. Earlier this year, we brewed a collaboration beer at Saucony Creek with Chatty Monks, Oakbrook, Schaylor and Broken Chair breweries to raise funds to rebuild the foundation of the Frederick Lauer monument in Reading’s City Park.
Each year we sponsor a noncompetitive bicycle fun ride called “Brake the Cycle of Poverty” in conjunction with a local food bank to raise funds for needy families. Saucony Creek is also the beer sponsor of Reading Radsport Festival, a competitive pro-class bicycle race that raises funds for recreational programs for inner-city youths.
What are your top three desert island beers?
Transmitter Brewing’s W3 Hibiscus Orange Wit for hot days, Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat’s Maredsous 8 Brune for cool nights and Schloss Eggenberg’s Samichlaus Classic for special occasions and holidays.
What else do we need to know about Saucony Creek?
We’re opening a second pub location in a few months in downtown Reading, in a 1930s restored train station.
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: Saucony Creek Brewing Company
