For Sarah Hesse, one of the owners of Salt Point Brewing Co. in Lansing, it goes without saying that customers experience the brewery for themselves.
“It’s like in your living room,” said Hesse. “Everyone gets what they need instead of waiting for a busy server to bring you a glass of water. You can take your beer and pizza with you and sit outside or stay inside and watch the pizza makers. ”
The response from the public was overwhelmingly positive as customers regularly fill the new location at 6 Louise Bement Lane across from the Lansing Recreation ball fields.
“The brewery is a wonderful and delicious meeting place here in Lansing,” said local resident Sue Ruoff. “Taco Tuesday has become our regular weekly get-together with friends.”
The brewery offers eight in-house taps with standard and rotating beers, including IPA, pale ale, stout, pilsner and bitters. It also has a few cocktails, cider, wine, and non-alcoholic offerings.
The employees bake pizzas at the new Salt Point Brewery location.
The previous, smaller location next to Rogues, which opened in 2018 and closed in late 2020, included a limited menu. The new location offers a wood-fired pizza oven and a menu with six gourmet cakes based on a sourdough crust. It also offers snacks, salads, and desserts, as well as a special taco plate that is only served on Tuesdays.
“I enjoy the vegan pizza with its unique combination of sweet potatoes, cashews and curry,” says Ruoff. “My husband Steve’s favorite beer is Hefeweizen.”
The brewery employs around eight people, mostly full-time. “We were fortunate to hire a fantastic chef, Andrew Schneeberger, who had a background in pizza,” said Hesse. Andrew and his wife, Mackenzie, who heads the frontline operation, moved to the area from Rochester. “They are a power couple,” she says.
Hesse’s interest in sourdough came from a baking course with Stefan Senders from the Wide Awake bakery in Trumansburg. “He inspired me to cook with wood and use sourdough, which can be difficult to work with,” she said. For many of the ingredients in their food and beers, Salt Point Brewery endeavors to buy locally, including from Farmer Ground Flour in Trumansburg and grain and hops from NY State growers.
The focus is on the regional and affordable. “We don’t want to be a posh farm shop that is less accessible with high prices,” explains Hesse.
In addition to Sarah Hesse, the owners include her husband Chris Hesse and Camilo Bohorquez, who takes care of the brewing. Chris and Camilo had brewed their own for several years before starting the brewery. Sarah grew up in Rockland County, New York and is experienced in dining, including managing and serving tables.
Covid urged them to think more about their food options besides beer. “In March 2020, just as the pandemic started, I was standing in front of the smoker filled with breast pieces and worried about how to sell all of this,” said Hesse. “We had to turn quickly to get takeaway food and beer.”
All brewery employees are vaccinated and adhere to health protocols and recommendations. “We follow local trends and think about what is best for our customers and employees,” says Hesse.
The new 4,200 square meter brewery is located on more than five hectares of land and offers owners plenty of space for future projects. There are plans to cover the outside deck to provide shaded seating and add more tables, Adirondack chairs, and a bandstand on the lawn. It is planned to bring the music into the house for the coming winter season. “We just bought a number of sound-absorbing panels to improve the room acoustics,” said Hesse.
Hesse announced that the vision of the owners was an integrative, communal meeting place where people from all walks of life could come together regardless of their origin. “Now I look outside and see families with young children, couples with dogs, elderly people in wheelchairs, all sitting together and enjoying the social time,” she said. “Our vision is being fulfilled.”
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