BUFFALO, N.Y. — The business of brewing has come a long way since ground was broken in 1899 for the Schrieber Brewery on Fillmore Avenue. Schreiber was a fixture in the neighborhood, even staying open through prohibition by producing coffee.
It is now having new life blown into the old building. "It's amazing because we can do everything from home here, and I think about the guys that were brewing on this property one hundred years ago" says Buffalo Brewing Company President John Domres Jr.
"Currently we've turned on phase one, which is a 2,600 square foot renovation of a 1973 circa building, to house a 10-barrel production brewery."
Domres is inching closer to his ultimate dream, reactivating the entire facility which shut down in 1950. Two years ago, Buffalo Brewing bought it, and all the lore it holds. The spacious facility features a wide open packaging floor, former offices, even the old tasting room, which was once adorned with beautiful murals depicting the history of brewing.
Domres says this project is about combining his business with his passion. "I am a history junkie, so this is the greatest piece of breweriana you could have is an old brewery. Unfortunately a lot of these (old breweries) got torn down, so to have something like this, with the mural room and the actual murals intact, even though we don't own them, and to have the same address and use the same water lines that the brewery used, it's all kind of like a history junkie's dream honestly."
Domres plans to reinstall copies of the original murals, which are currently on display in his Myrtle Street location. He also wants to put in a production facility, tasting room, restaurant, and even a brewseum. He is also excited to resurrect the Schreiber brand.
"To recreate the artwork and rerelease the beers that made the brewery famous would be the icing on the cake."
Right now, the $750,000 phase one is complete, as a transitional brewing facility is producing and canning beers such as the original Schreiber Manru lager and ale, complete with the original label artwork. Plans are in place for a big brewery in the larger room, which was the old packaging hall, and he plans on turning the current brewing location into the new packaging hall.
"It's incredibly gratifying first of all, I'm very humbled to follow in Anthony Schreiber's footsteps. He was a pillar of the Polish community, a great philanthropist, and a really great man. To follow in his footsteps means the world to me."
Domres says he looks forward to being a part of the rebirth of the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.
"I'm starting to be a little bit of an oracle. I did the same thing on Myrtle Street. Everyone told me that was a terrible location, don't go there. Look what happened there, Larkinville kind of blew up around us there, so maybe lightning does strike twice."
It will likely be another year before the full operation is moved over, but Domres is just excited to have taken that first step, and to being part of what could be a renaissance of Broadway-Fillmore.