New York Beer Project, Big Ditch Brewing, the Lock Tender…the craft beer family in Lockport will grow this fall when Shuffle City Brewing opens its doors at 13 West Main Street, formerly Kendzies Bowling Alley.

The new brewery will feature head brewer Colin Herzog, who is leaving Flying Bison Brewing to make beer (and more) up in Lock City.

Herzog, the longtime Flying Bison master brewer and son of Buffalo craft beer godfather Tim Herzog, announced on social media his plan to leave the brewery his father helped build and where he ushered in the local craft beer movement, in early August.

“My father and a group of investors incorporated The Bison in 1995, and ever since I’ve had the great fortune of being part of the vanguard of a craft beer explosion while surrounded by family and friends,” he said on Facebook. “I have the deepest of gratitude for all I’ve experienced and the hard-working crew I worked alongside and learned from.”

“I’m super excited to be a part of Shuffle City Brewing in Lockport and have so much I can’t wait to share with everyone! We are hoping to be producing beverages by fall with bar, restaurant and shuffle court not far behind.”

Herzog explains that the decision to join Shuffle City has given him new inspiration to hit the brew deck running. He says he is also excited to dive deep into the non-alcoholic side of things.

“I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt that I look forward to bringing to this new venture,” he said. “That experience and a thirst for something new have given me a lot of inspiration. I look forward to pulling out my recipe books and having a lot of fun, not only with the beer, but with the non-alcoholic side like craft sodas, teas, seltzers, and really looking to the Niagara region to provide the produce for that.”

Shuffle City says they plan to offer a unique taproom experience for every visitor who walks through their doors.

“We are going with a lot of bright white, open space, lots of windows,” Samantha Rae Hughes, marketing director at Shuffle City, said. “When you walk in, we want you to feel like you are on vacation, a place where you can enjoy and relax a little bit.”

The new venture also features partner Matthew Martin, who, along with his brother, purchased the building five years ago and decided to open a brewery. He says that a restaurant consultant helped them come up with the name of the brewery – Shuffle City.

“My brother and I were both born and raised in Lockport. When this building became available in 2020, we purchased it and tried to figure out what to do with it to give back to the community. We had some different ideas, and one of them was a brewery and it kind of took off from there. We didn’t want to be a traditional brewery; we wanted to add an entertainment element and give people something to do when they come in and drink our beers.”

Herzog says that he is looking forward to brewing in Lockport and embracing all of the things the city has to offer.

“We want to push the limits and the boundaries of what beer styles are,” Herzog said. “We want to maybe create some new categories along the way. One of the beautiful things about being in Lockport along the Niagara Escarpment is all of the farmers we have up there and all of the farms growing beautiful produce. We want to incorporate that into what we do to speak to the area and really give Lockport more identity.”   

“Lockport is such a special place,” Herzog said. “I’m looking forward to getting started and I’m looking forward to creating. I’m looking forward to working with the community, hosting events, bringing more people up to Lockport and I’m really looking forward to creating consumable art.”

Stay tuned to https://www.shufflecitybrewing.com/ for more information. You can also follow along with any updates on their Facebook page.

Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).