Westtown Brew Works conceived in the mind of a beer-lover on a wine trip

By Molly Colgan and Nina Verissimo
WESTTOWN — It all started in Rich Coleman’s college apartment at SUNY Plattsburgh.
His buddies at a neighboring university were brewing their own beer — and to Coleman’s surprise, it was really good. He got back to Plattsburgh, bought some big stock pots and started experimenting.
“I started out doing 15 gallon batches,” Coleman said. “When I graduated from my first apartment, I started brewing on a larger scale, actually kegging it, and bringing it to parties — it was pretty well received,” he said with a laugh.
He put his hospitality degree to work after college, and one day on vacation in Sonoma, inspiration hit. He was sitting in a vineyard, drinking wine from the very grapes that surrounded him.
“There was no experience like that for a beer lover,” Coleman said. “Once I found out you can grow hops in New York State, I was like: ‘Perfect, I can bring this all together.’”
In 2012, he began his journey by planting hops. Two years later, he opened Westtown Brew Works, a true farm-to-table brewery in the heart of the Black Dirt region.
When beer-lovers pull into the lot during peak season, they are greeted with 16-foot walls of hops plants. It’s Coleman’s mission to have everything else in his beer harvested within a five-mile radius.
Malt?
Two miles away.
Maple?
One town over.
Honey?
A local Westtown beekeeper supplies the brewery with 70-pound increments every two weeks.
The brews are full of personality and many have a story behind them, such as Scout’s Recipe, named after the owner’s dog who ate one of the ingredients.
There’s always a variety on tap to appease any palate from light and wheat beers to IPAs and porters.
On June 9, get a flight of Westtown’s farm-to-table brews — and tastings from four other local breweries — during Dirt’s Brew Hop: www.dirtbrewhop.com.