Bartender Abraham Bussa pours craft beer available at Beer Church in New Buffalo.
A brew pub inside a former church built in 1861 in New Buffalo has put the lakefront tourist destination even more on the map.
Customers enjoy lunch at Beer Church, known for its craft beer and artwork inside a former church.
A wood-fired stove from Italy is used to cook pizza at Beer Church in New Buffalo.
Bartender Abraham Bussa, 24, fills an order for craft beer at Beer Church in New Buffalo.
Dustin Falzoni prepares to put lamb inside the wood-fired oven at Beer Church in New Buffalo
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. — A Northwest Indiana native has put New Buffalo even more on the map by giving people the unique opportunity to have a craft beer along with pizza baked in a wood-fired oven inside a former church built in 1861.
Beer Church has been such a draw there are plans to double the amount of outdoor seating.
John Lustina, a 1987 graduate of Andrean High School, said he’s not surprised by the amount of people coming from as far away as Chicago, South Bend and Indianapolis.
“This is what we hoped would happen, and the fact that it’s turning out that way even in the midst of a pandemic is pretty great. What more could we ask for?” he said.
Lustina lived in Valparaiso before moving to New Buffalo when the brew pub opened in 2016.
He and partner Jane Simon remodeled the former Water’s Edge United Methodist Church on Whittaker Street, close to U.S 12 in the downtown.
Lustina and Simon already had a business model for a brew pub they wanted to start, but didn’t know where it should go until they discovered the empty white church building for sale during a trip to New Buffalo.
The church had just recently moved to a new structure about a mile to the south.
Right away, they were captivated by the atmosphere they believed could be created in the landmark building with pine floors.
They also liked the structure’s visible location and steady amount of foot traffic, mostly of tourists during the summer.
From the very beginning, Beer Church served over a dozen craft beers on tap, with names like Crooked Cross, brewed in the basement.
About 60 socially distanced outdoor seats were created last year because of limits on indoor seating brought on by COVID-19.
Construction is expected to begin soon on a permanent open-air, two-story structure containing 120 seats.
Lustina said there will be 60 seats on each floor. The upper level will also feature a bar and a small roof customers can use for shelter during inclement weather.
Lustina said a second wood-fired stove from Italy will also be installed in the new structure to handle the additional pizza orders anticipated.
He hopes most, if not, all of the construction will be finished before the first week in July.
During the winter, Lustina said seating will be provided in heated igloos on both levels of the structure.
“We wanted to make sure this was extremely unique and I think we accomplished that. I also think the upper level is going to make it even more unique,” he said.
Lustina said outdoor seating likely would have been added even if the pandemic didn’t happened, because of customers having to wait for a table inside.
Currently, indoor dining in Michigan is restricted to 50% capacity. Once the pandemic is over and capacity limits are lifted, Lustina said he’ll have room for 300 seated customers inside and outside.
There will probably be room for another 200 standing customers.
“We’re very eager to get to that point,” he said.
Lustina said serving customers inside a historic church is not only fun but definitely separates his brew pub from similar operations throughout the entire area.
“It’s amazing to see how many people take pictures in front of the place or any of the art we have inside. Even when you drive by it looks like a church in a movie, so we've got a lot going for us,” he said.
April 02, 2021 at 09:37PM
https://ift.tt/3sLiOVX
Expansion on tap at Beer Church in New Buffalo - nwitimes.com
https://ift.tt/2NyjRFM
Beer
No comments:
Post a Comment