Windy Brew in Strykersville is changing hands.
Owners and founders Michelle and Bill Snyder are selling the brewery, including the taproom, brewhouse, land, recipes, and trademarks, to Mark and Tracy Schork, who are new to the industry.
In the interim, Bill will stay on to assist in the transition.
The official closing date for the sale is Dec. 19, but the new owners will be introduced this weekend during Windy Brew’s Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.
“Tracy and Mark are very happy and excited for their new adventure and I couldn’t be happier to be passing it along to them,” Michelle said. “The best part of this business has been the people and friends we have made along the way, and I will always treasure that.”
Michelle says she is confident in the new owners because when she and Bill started Windy Brew years ago, they didn’t have any experience operating a small business, let alone running a brewery.
“While Bill and I didn’t know a thing about owning, let alone operating a small business, we did pretty well for almost nine years of operations (March 5, 2026, would have marked our ninth year). When we opened, there were 243 breweries in New York State, and now there are over 500. To see the growth and be a part of something that great, words just can’t describe it. Our motto has always been – while people come in happy, they should leave happier! And I think we have accomplished that.”
Michelle looks back at her time running the brewery with reverence, proud of what they were able to accomplish over the past near decade and even prouder of the friends they’ve made and fan base they’ve fostered and curated along the way.
“Starting this business as the first and only custom brew center in New York was a great success for us,” she said. “People loved that they could come in and brew with the brewer and then come back and take it home after a few weeks and share with friends and family. It was fun for them and us. People brewed for themselves, as well as for wedding favors for their guests, which we always thought was a pretty neat idea.”
“We were able to share with the community, as well as educating them on craft beer, with being in the small town of Sheldon, where there are more cows than people, was a feat as well, but was accepted, and I’d like to think they really like and appreciate craft beer now a bit more,” she said.
Every business, especially breweries, is going to have its ups and downs, and, as Michelle explains, Windy Brew surely had their fair share throughout the years. From navigating the COVID pandemic and shutdown to a failed taproom in Batavia, the Snyders have taken their lumps, but they were able to pick themselves up off the mat time and time again.
“While it hasn’t all been good, with the COVID years (which ended the Brew Your Own Beer program), and then opening another branch office in Batavia, which was out of our control with a building that had to be condemned, the good definitely outweighs those times.”
As for what’s next for them, Michelle says they are off to Florida to officially become snowbirds. And if you don’t know what that is, a snowbird is someone who moves from Western New York to Florida during the winter months and comes back to town when the snow clears out.
“We will definitely miss the craft beer scene here and all of the people we have grown to know and love, but it is time for us to spend more time with our granddaughter in Florida,” Michelle said. “We will be snowbirds. We will be back in the summer months to visit family and friends, along with having time to visit some great Western New York breweries we haven’t had the time to get to.”
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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).
