Buffalo Brewing Company has acquired the former Schreiber Brewing Company bottling works, located at 662 Fillmore Ave., on the cities east side. In 2019, Buffalo Brewing was awarded $516,000 through Empire State Development. This award was funded as part of the Buffalo Billion II.
The redevelopment of the severely dilapidated and neglected property is expected to take three years to complete. Once completed, the complex will house the brewery’s production facility, tasting room and restaurant, the Buffalo Brewseum in the old Schreiber offices, and warehousing for Domres’ other business, a local brewing tank importer, Ideal Brew Systems, Inc.
Buffalo Brewing Company’s current location at 314 Myrtle Ave. in the city’s hydraulic district, is set to reopen in mid-June for full retail operations. They have a newly remodeled tasting room along with an expanded beer garden. The plan is to cease operations at the Myrtle Ave. facility and move entirely to the Schreiber property once it is ready to welcome customers.
Photo courtesy of Poloniatrail.com
“This was the second site we eyed for Buffalo Brewing Company back in 2010 and we were unfortunately unable to put all the pieces together for acquisition at the time. The passion for this property and its’ history is significant to myself and my wife as we’ve revisited its’ story many times throughout the years, growing an appreciation for Anthony Schreiber himself and all that he had done for the neighborhood.” stated John Domres, Jr., president of Buffalo Brewing Company. “One of my main goals when opening a brewery, was to relocate to one of Buffalo’s few remaining historic breweries, the very places where a hundred and twenty-two years ago our ancestors were doing the very same things that we do today, from wort production, kegging/bottling, and milling grain.”
“These spaces truly help connect us back to Buffalo’s first golden age, when the city was considered one of the great brewing centers of this nation. It saddens me to see the condition of the property devolve so drastically in the subsequent years since I first laid eyes on it. Watching it be stripped of key historical items including its’ historical murals is one of the hardest things to come to terms with although I know that if they hadn’t been removed, they would’ve ultimately been destroyed during the building’s deterioration. It is my hope that they will someday be returned to their original home where they belong, so the people of Buffalo can once again enjoy them in the intended way, in the intended space and understand that drinking locally brewed beer is not a new trend at all,” Domres continued.
“This project will restore the property back to a brewery in Broadway – Fillmore. The Schreiber Brewery is a historic building that will now be a contributing structure to the neighborhood.” stated Mitch Nowakowski, Fillmore Common Council Member. “I know that this partnership and new beginning will bring jobs, sustainability and energy to the Fillmore District.”
“Buffalo Brewing Company and the historic restoration of the former Schreiber Brewery is a match made in neighborhood revitalization heaven.” Said Stephen Karnath, Executive Director of Broadway-Fillmore NHS. “We found the right buyer for the right property with a great vision for both the building and the surrounding neighborhood.”
For more information, visit https://www.buffalo-brewing-company.com.
