Sunset Hill Brewing Company is coming soon to Gilbertsville, PA. The new brewery is opening on the former 35-acre Sulomans Dairy Farm, at 2782 Leidy Road and is sure to be a destination visit for any beer traveler.
We recently spent time with owners and brothers Josh and Brett Firely, to see what beer fans can expect from the newest brewery coming to the area. See below for our Q&A with them!
BIPA: What stage are you currently in? Licensing?
Josh & Brett: We are all licensed and in the middle of construction on the building. Our equipment is in production as well!
BIPA: How did you become initially interested in craft beer? Who is all involved in the brewery?
Josh & Brett: So we are truly a family-run brewery, everyone is pitching in! Brett will mainly be doing the brewing and will be looking for an assistant brewer, and Josh will be doing all front-of-house things, taking care of everything for the taproom.
Brett’s wife Brooke will be doing all the graphic design work for cans, and Josh’s wife Steph is the accountant for the business, handling business operations and social media. Our dad John is also involved and will be helping out everywhere he can across the business.
We got into homebrewing, and have been very passionate about it the last few years. Josh lives up against the farm property, and it was one that we always wanted to buy.
BIPA: What styles of beers will you focus on?
Josh & Brett: We want to be able to do all styles, but our main focus will be on lots of hazy IPAs, pilsners/lagers, and some porters and stouts. We are excited to start with hazy and west coast IPAs, as well as a few different types of lagers. Also, we’ll be making seasonal beers, think shandy, pumpkin beers, etc.
BIPA: Can you describe the space you are opening?
Josh & Brett: We are opening at the former 35-acre Sulomans Dairy Farm. The 3,000 sq/ft building we are renovating was built in 1971 and previously housed all of the milk production was. We purchased the entire farm, and it’s split by the road. The one side with the brewery was the storefront for the dairy farm, and the other side across the street has most of the property and has a barn and house on it.
Our taproom will be about 1,100 sq/ft with a 10 tap L-shaped bar, seating about 15. The entire taproom will seat around 35 to start. We are having a 7 BBL Deutsche brewhouse built and will have eight 7 BBL fermenters, three 15 BBL fermenters, and four 7 BBL Brite tanks.
Outside we will be growing hops in the field on the one side, and have an outdoor beer garden on the other. A big patio will be built with fire pits and lots of outdoor activities. There is also a pond on the one side and you can feed the ducks. We are planning on having a farm setting with different seasonal outdoor activities such as a fall pumpkin patch, corn maze, etc.
Another fun history note, Washington and his troops camped out on the property in the creekbottom. The previous owner found lots of arrowheads on the property.
BIPA: Will you release crowlers/cans there as well?
Josh & Brett: We want to do as many crowlers as we can, and are open to canning right as we open. Hoping to offer both right away.
BIPA: Will there be food offered?
Josh & Brett: There will be no kitchen, but food trucks will be on the property on the days that we are open.
Follow Sunset Hill Brewing on Facebook and Instagram, and make sure to keep up with Josh and Brett Firely and the progress with the brewery coming to Gilbertsville!
