The Lansing Star Online, Lansing, NY - Business Profile: Scale House Brew Pub

May 02 2008

Business Profile: Scale House Brew Pub

Dan Veaner

Friday, 02 May 2008

Unique Local Beer, Straight From the Tank

"Some new stuff, some old stuff, some recycled stuff." That's how the Scale House Brew pub owner Steve Fazzary describes the latest addition to his business in the Village of Lansing's Small Mall. Fazzary opened Northeast Pizza and Beer Company in 2006 when he bought Rogan's Pizza and opened a laundromat two doors down. But he always envisioned a brew pub in the middle. In mid-February his liquor license finally arrived. Fazzary brewed his first batch of beers, and was open for business.

"The idea was to have something a little different from what everybody else is doing in town," Fazzary says. "This is a small micro-brew pub. We've got the same menu as the pizzeria, so you can come in and sit down and have pizza, wings, appetizers, salads, and subs. One day everybody's drinking pilsners, and the next day they're drinking all red ales, or bock dark -- it just varies. Or they'll come in and try one and the next thing you know they're drinking all of them."

The brew pub as seen from the pizzaria

What makes the establishment unique is that the beer is brewed in three 150 gallon tanks behind the bar. It takes a week to brew, five days to ferment, and two more to carbonate the beer and cool it to 30 degrees. On the eighth day it is ready to serve. A tap on the bar is hooked directly to the same tanks the beer was brewed in and served until they are empty. Then the process begins all over again.

Fazzary is brewing three beers, an American Pilsner, a Red Ale and a Bock Dark. He will also mix the Pilsner with the Bock Dark to make a 'Black and Tan.' Customers can get samples in five ounce glasses while they are deciding which variety they like the best. Most of the beer is sold in pints, though Fazzary says that half pints are available, and he will fill two liter growlers, which he also sells at the pub. "We've had a great reception on all the beers," he says. "Everybody loves them. We've had a lot of repeat business."

Fazzary built the pub himself with help from his friends. They started work last summer and finished the space in October. But it was another six months before the liquor license came through. He and his girlfriend Jan Ruzicka drove a rental truck to a restaurant in Pennsylvania on the Allegheny River that didn't want to brew beer any more. When they got home the tanks were so big that they had to rip part of the front of the storefront off to get them in. Friends helped do that and hook them up.

The decor is a celebration of local history. Ruzicka used wine and sailing magazines, newspaper articles, plus old pictures of downtown Ithaca and local places in Lansing and the Ithaca area to decoupage the walls. As you enter you see the large scale that gives the pub its name. It was originally used at the Tully Railroad Station to weigh freight. The bar is unique, made of barrels from King Ferry Winery, and a brass foot rail made from a handrail taken from an apartment building Fazzary used to own in Cortland. It is topped with part of a bowling lane originally in the Ithaca Bowl-O-Drome. A 1915 brass-cased cash register, actually used for bar sales, adorns the bar.

Wines and other drinks are local as well. The pub carries wines from Hazlett, Doctor Frank's, and King Ferry Wineries, as well as a local hard cider. The tanks behind the bar can hold five barrels of beer each. That's equal to 155 gallons or 1240 pints per tank. When they run out of beer a tank is down for a week, while it is used to brew a new batch. "We ran into that problem already," Fazzary says. "We used up two tanks at the same time. We thought one would go and we'd just substitute with some little We brought in some Ithaca Beer Pilsner and some Rooster Fish Firehouse Blonde, which is a nice light ale. We served those until or other beers came online and we were back in business. We keep it local until our beers come back on."

The pub features recorded oldies, blues, jazz during the week, and live entertainment on Saturdays from eight to ten pm. "It's something different every week," Fazzary says. "We've had blues, bluegrass, folk guitar, blues/jazz... everybody's enjoying the entertainment."

Fazzary says the brew pub has already caught on, with people from 21 to 85 coming to taste the beers. His laundromat customers joke that it is a little less painful now to do their laundry, because they can get pizza and a beer while they are waiting. Many of his customers come from the local apartments, the business park at the airport, and around the local area. He notes that his pizza business has also increased since the pub has opened, with customers ordering a beer with lunch, or dinner in the pub.

Even so, he hasn't had to add more staff. Everyone chips in on the pizza side or the beer side, depending on which side is busier at any given time. "It's good to have them all three here together," he says. "I can keep an eye on things. We're getting a lot of regulars now coming back and repeat business. Saturday nights with the music are working our really well."

Steve Fazzary

The Scale House Brew Pub is the only micro brew pub in Tompkins County. Fazzary hopes that distinction will bring beer aficionados for some time to come. With a family friendly atmosphere steeped in local history, that features nothing but local beers and wines, he wants to provide a unique place for adults to come to.

Fazzary likes offering something unique, but says that his favorite part of the business is the people. "The people come in to taste the beer," he says. "They want to taste the beer and ask questions. They let you know how good it is or how bad it is. They come back and find one of the three that they like, or all three. We have more people coming in to sit down and have a pizza, enjoy a couple of pints of beer. They bring their family and kids. Everybody's welcome."

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