USA, NY: Auburn’s Prison City Brewing opens second location

Auburn’s Prison City Brewing, which has won local acclaim and national recognition since it opened its downtown brewpub in December 2014, has opened a second location, Syracuse.com reported on December 9.

This new spot at 251 North St. has a 14,000-square-foot brewhouse and taproom, located on a 5-acre former farm. The brewhouse has a 20-barrel per batch system, four times the 5-barrel system at the brewpub downtown.

The brewpub, at 28 State St., remains open as a full-service bar and restaurant, with the small-batch “pilot” brewhouse.

“Right now, this is all about increasing production,” said Marc Schulz, who owns Prison City with his wife, Dawn. “We can make and sell more beer.”

That would include Mass Riot, a hazy New England-style IPA that has earned Prison City awards and medals from national publications and beer festivals.

“We sell 14 (packs of Mass Riot) for one of everything else,” Schulz said.

But there are plenty of others: The North Street taproom beer list this week had 16 beers, including at least five New England IPAs, plus offerings of lager, pilsners, pale ale, sour, stout and more. They’re available for on-premises drinking (under current restrictions), draft to-go in growlers or 4-pack cans — and there is curbside pick-up.

A batch of Wham Whams, a sweet Imperial Stout made with toasted coconut and vanilla, was in production this week. It won the Governor’s Cup as best beer in New York state in 2019.

Though there’s a kitchen, food is limited to small plates in the new taproom.

The current brewpub has made about 1,000 barrels of beer a year, both draft and in cans. The new brewhouse will likely produce 3,000 barrels in its first year, and could double up to 6,000 within a few more years, Schulz said.

The Prison City expansion has been in the works for several years, and several other locations in the city were considered. The coronavirus pandemic has changed some plans.

An old barn on the property, for example, was to become an event space. Instead, Marc Schulz said, it will now be turned into space for barrel-aged beers, sours and others that will require longer aging.

In its first few weeks, the new brewhouse has only produced “the favorites” from the brewpub, but an expanded lineup will be coming, Schulz said.

Head brewer Ben Maeso will use the smaller brewhouse on State Street to experiment with new beers. They will be served on tap at the brewpub and the more popular ones can then be “scaled up” for production at the bigger brewhouse.

All the beers are sold on tap or in cans at the two locations. Prison City may move into distribution in stores or other bars at a later point, Schulz said, “but let’s get this running and get past (the pandemic) first.”

Prison City employs about 40 people at the brewpub, and 10 or so at the new brewery taproom. One of the new hires is Sam Sadovnic, who is the new director of brewing operations.

One side issue of the expansion is the name: The original location has always been Prison City Pub & Brewery, while the new place officially is Prison City Farm & Brewery. Both fall under the umbrella name Prison City Brewing.

But to make it clearer in house, the staff has been referring to them as “State Street” for the original pub and “North Street” for the new brewhouse.

“It’s been a confusing time, with the pandemic, so I guess this fits,” Schulz said.

Hours for the new brewery taproom are noon to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The location is north of Standart Avenue (and Auburn Memorial Hospital).

This is the second brewery expansion in Cayuga County in recent months. In early November, Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing Co. in Weedsport moved into a larger space across the street from the spot it occupied since its opening in 2014.

The new location is a former Key Bank building at 8931 N. Seneca St. in Weedsport. Lunkenheimer also has a tasting room on Sodus Bay.

Lunkenheimer is also an award-winning brewery. It took home the most medals in the 2020 New York State Craft Beer competition.

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