While you will have to wait a little bit longer to visit Britesmith Brewing’s brewery and taproom in Williamsville, you do not have to wait any longer to try their beer. The brewery, which will be located in a former 1800’s blacksmith shop, will debut their first ever beer tonight at Moor Pat (4pm). Village Livin’, a collaboration with Belt Line Brewery, is a 6.1% SoCal-style IPA brewed with Simcoe, Centennial and Columbus hops. Village Livin’ will also be tapped at Creekview Restaurant.

Britesmith and Belt Line had been engaged in discussions about a potential collaboration for some time, and, according to Belt Line Head Brewer Erik Greiner, he knows what it is like to hurry up and wait when it comes to trying to get a new brewery project off of the ground. And, after having gone through the experience himself, he wanted to offer his help the best way he knows how – by brewing beer.

“We were talking about doing a collab with Britesmith for a bit and as they get closer to opening it will help get their name out there with the beer being on draft at bars around town,” Greiner says. “Being in limbo while building out a brewery and wanting to just get brewing is tough because it is a lot of hurry up and wait. We were happy to help out and are looking forward to everyone trying the beer! It should be a fun time.”

For Britesmith, working with Belt Line was a no brainer. Director of Operations Nate Root says that the Britesmith team have been a big fan of the beer that Belt Line has been producing, so when it came time to find a willing collab partner, teaming with them was an easy decision.

“We had the idea of doing a collaboration with a smaller non-distributed brewery, much like ourselves,” he says. “Greg Baker and I have been friends for awhile and I really liked a lot of the beers that Erik was making for Belt Line. So, I had asked Greg if he was interested in doing a collaboration. He thought it was a great idea, especially with the owners of our breweries having restaurants across the street from each other (The Creekview and The Moor Pat), and our brewery being located in the Village of Williamsville. Once our partners signed off on it we were good to go.”

With the leg work in the rear view, it was time to decide on exactly what style of beer they were going to brew, and they mutually settled on a West Coast IPA, a sort of breath of fresh air according to the breweries.

“Erik and our head brewer, Devin Erdmann, got together and came up with the idea of doing a West Coast IPA. A style that we all loved and that you don’t really see too many of any more with the rise of New England IPAs and Fruited Sours. Together, they came up with the recipe for Village Livin’ IPA,” Root adds. “The name came later from the Belt Line team. Village Livin’ is an homage to going out and having a good time in the village, opposed to the city. We loved the name, we love the beer, and we can’t wait for Buffalo to get a taste.”

Greiner adds that “we decided to brew this style because it peaked our interest, kind of like the NE Style IPA has taken over and its just nice to brew a classic every once in a while.”

You can grab a pint of Village Livin’ tonight at either the Moor Pat or the neighboring Creekview Restaurant. For more information on either brewery, please visit https://www.facebook.com/britesmithbrewing/ and https://www.facebook.com/Belt-Line-Brewery-Kitchen-567693100271154/.

Brian Campbell is a co-founder/Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column for Step Out Buffalo. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague) and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).