Welcome to our “Meet The Brewer” series! Where we interview brewers in Pennsylvania, from breweries small to large. Let us know if you know anyone who should be featured, email us at [email protected].

Logyard Brewing first opened in early 2019 at 20 Wetmore Avenue, in Kane, PA. Located in the PA Wilds, Logyard is a craft brewery committed to its community, sustainability, hyper-local ingredients, and delivering good beer. The 4,000 sq/ft brewery sits on 12 acres at this location. Logyard also has a 2,700 sq/ft taproom located at 103 North Fraley Street.

Sean Gorzynski is the head brewer at Logyard Brewing. Read more to find out his introduction to craft beer, where he sees the craft beer industry heading, and more!

What was your introduction to craft beer?

Going through the refrigerator at my parents’ one day, I found a bottle of Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot. I had no idea what craft beer was but the label was pretty cool so I asked my stepdad if I could try it. He laughed and said sure, go ahead. I opened it and took a sip and nearly spit it back out. I really didn’t care for the beer at all but was extremely intrigued by a beer having so many different and interesting flavors. I do enjoy Blithering Idiot now, though.

How did you get started as a brewer?

I got started in brewing at Berwick Brewing in Berwick, PA. I had zero brewing experience, be it professional or homebrewing. I helped Tom Clark with a project over the summer of 2011 and a few months later he said “Do you want to start brewing here?” I was pretty miserable working as a manager at a big box home improvement store so I said hell yeah, sounds a lot better than what I’m doing now. And I’ll say it again, thanks Tom for getting me going on this wild ride.

What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?

I think any style of beer allows me to be creative, really. IPAs can range from fruited, soured, West Coast, hazy, etc. You can pretty much do whatever you want to a Saison and still call it a Saison. German-style beers are where I draw the line though. You can’t put oats or American hops into a beer and still call it a German-style Pils, Helles, or Kolsch.

What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?

I don’t recall the exact beer at this point but it was definitely a decocted German-style beer at Berwick Brewing. I learned that while decoction brewing can be a pain in the ass, the effort is worth the reward.

Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?

I think we’ll start seeing a lot of new flavor and aroma profiles coming out, and possibly more consistent beers that rely less on variable ingredients like hops and more on yeast profile. There are a lot of interesting new yeasts coming out that are bioengineered and create some wild new profiles. I can see less need to add fruit to beers to get certain flavors, things like that. There are even strains out now that have been bioengineered to be diacetyl-free and also no longer diastatic, so cleaner beer and possibly more styles that brewers have stayed away from due to fears of diastaticus strains of yeast. Maybe someday we’ll even have yeast that can ferment a stout and create pastry-type flavors?

Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.

Pretty much the same as it was brewing in Maine or California. It is pretty cool though having the history of Lager brewing in this state and all the breweries that keep brewing amazing Lagers.

What is the inspiration behind your beer names?

Logging and forest sustainability are a huge part of Kane and the surrounding areas, so that’s where the brewery name and a majority of the beer names come from. Royce, one of the brewery owners, is the 4th generation of a logging family and we actually brew in a building that used to store all kinds of logging equipment. We deviate sometimes if we come up with a name that has a good ring to it unrelated to logging but in general, it’s all about the trees.

What is your favorite beer to drink right now?

Bottles of High Life, for sure. On the more local side, Sunshine Pils from Troegs.

What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?

“We’re just brewing beer, we’re not building airplanes.” A wise brewmaster once said that to me and it kind of changed how I looked at brewing. Take the job seriously and do your best but have fun doing it and don’t sweat the small stuff.

Thank you to Sean for talking with us! Make sure you visit Logyard Brewing’s website to see all the latest beers and news. Also, follow Logyard Brewing on Facebook and Instagram.