After less than a year at its new location on Route 5 in West Glenville, the Wolf Hollow Brewing Co. is constructing an outdoor addition to accommodate more customers.
WHBC is a microbrewery open Thursday through Saturday that offers local craft beer brewed in-house. Quick-service smokehouse Buzzard’s Bay BBQ is located inside and serves takeout as well as customers in the local business.
Wolf Hollow, which is co-owned by Peter Bednarek, Jordan White and Bill Kenneally, is slated to have a 60-by-20-foot partially enclosed outdoor patio with a fire pit and pergola built in time for guests to use this summer. The work will be done in conjunction with DKB Construction and Stone Age Concrete.
White said the patio will be located off the north side, or back, of the building.
“The space will look out at the side of the valley,” White said Wednesday. “Ever since we started work on the property, we’ve been looking for ways to take advantage of the natural beauty that’s around there and allow our customers to come and enjoy that as well.”
The patio will have a low fence with outdoor heaters, fire pit and a rustic, decorative pergola, which is an archway with wild, climbing plants.
“The heaters and other features will allow us to extend the outdoor season a little bit,” White explained. “The pergola will also provide some shade and shelter, but there are plenty of trees out there for natural shade.
“It will be a great atmosphere to sit in and enjoy a beer.”
Bednarek said the outdoor expansion will complement the microbrewery’s already laid-back ambience, as the Wolf Hollow Brewing Co. has no wait staff.
“It’s not like the typical restaurant; people grab their beverages and food at the window and then take it back to their seat to relax and enjoy it as long as they like,” he said.
The addition’s site plan was approved by the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission last week, and includes a proposal to reconfigure the internal access road and parking lot to the back of the property. The owners also requested that outdoor consumption of alcohol be allowed onsite.
Bednarek said the addition is expected to accommodate as many as 40 more guests and construction should begin in April.
“When we opened last July, Jordan and I thought our floor space was big, but it has seemed a lot less spacious the last few months because Fridays and Saturdays are always busy with people waiting for a table,” Bednarek explained. “People are always asking when we’re going to expand, and this allows people to enjoy the outside.”
Bednarek said he and the other owners have worked hard to create a unique experience.
“Our brewery is a big community-oriented, family-friendly kind of place where you can bring your kids,” Bednarek said. “I just want to see this enhance the experience that will follow because people have been so gracious and excited about the uniqueness that Wolf Hollow brings. I think this is a great way to enhance that even more.”
“Our whole mission has always been to be more than just a brewery or business,” White said. “We want to make really good beer, but at the same time, we want to be at a place where communities, friends and neighbors can gather – where the space we create for people can be comfortable, welcoming and inviting so that human beings can form relationships with one another.
“We wanted to provide a space where people can come and meet with old friends and make new ones,” he added. “We’re hoping this [addition] allows us the opportunity to do that even more.”
For Wolf Hollow Brewing Company’s latest updates, visit www.wolfhollowbrewing.com or follow the Wolf Hollow Brewing Co. on Facebook.
