Strange Roots Experimental Ales is having their soft opening in Gibsonia Sat 4/7 from 2-10 pm and Sun 4/8 from 1-7 pm. We had a chance to talk with owner Dennis Hock to learn more about the new brewing company. (Formerly known as Draai Laag)

In addition to their location in Millvale, Strange Roots will open a taproom at the production brewery at 4399 Gibsonia Road, Gibsonia PA 15044. This 20 barrel brewhouse is located in a 10,000 square foot factory building, which will also have an outdoor beer garden.

Below is our conversation with Dennis.

BIPA: What was the reason behind you changing your name and creating Strange Roots Experimental Ales? Where did the name come from?

DH: It was more of a creative change. We have made sour beer for so long, but we wanted to get creative in other areas and styles. Continuing to use the Draai Laag brand wouldn’t make sense us if we wanted to get creative. 80% of the beers we will release will still be wild/sour beer. Originally we thought about trying to move forward with 2 brands, but this ended up being a better direction for us.

The name Strange Roots Experimental Ales came from us putting scientific thought into our beers “Experimental ales” and “Strange Roots” comes from their interesting background of making different beer styles.

BIPA: What other styles will you be brewing, or is it going to be a mix of everything?

DH: We will not be heavy on IPA’s but there will be a few. We plan on trying a variety of styles including: pale ales, sour IPA’s, dark ales, barrel aged stouts, Belgian whits, and Hefeweizens to name a few. We won’t have your basic styles such as an amber or red ale.

BIPA: We know a lot of your beers have made it to the west coast in the past, will you still be distributing?

DH: More than likely yes we will drill be distributing. But moving forward we want to really concentrate on our local market. We will have smaller batches, beers that require longer aging and maturation periods, and small batch releases.

BIPA: Will you also be canning or bottles only?

DH: We will always use bottles for unpasteurized bottle conditioning, and release them in the past. We have considered cans and will most likely use them for future releases that aren’t wild fermentation beers.