Another Brewery for Lancaster County!

The Bar Fly Monthly reported that the SPRING HOUSE BREWING COMPANY is now open for business @ 2519 Main Street, Conestoga, PA and TIM MEKEEL, Staff writer, Lancaster New Era wrote the following article:

Spring House Brewing Co., in a renovated tobacco barn on his 2519 Main St. property, will begin by making his proprietary Seven Gates Pale Ale."It's been a rollercoaster, I'll tell you," said Keasey, 35, who left the security of a job at Lancaster Laboratories to be an entrepreneur. Keasey and several investors were going to open a brew-pub in downtown Lancaster, but that deal fell through. So Keasey and different investors decided to drop the restaurant component and develop just a micro-brewery. That's what will debut shortly, the culmination of a $350,000 investment. Keasey will be the only full-time employee initially, though his brother Greg, a Baltimore businessman, will help with sales. At first, Spring House Brewing will target restaurants, taverns and distributors in Lancaster County and parts of York County. Gradually, it hopes to expand its reach to the rest of southcentral Pennsylvania, then beyond. Next summer, it will begin selling cases and kegs to the public from its Main Street location. The tobacco barn is next to the farmhouse home of Keasey and his wife, Nicole, who is completing her doctorate in biochemistry at Penn State University. Both structures were built in 1794. Using the barn as a shell, Keasey built a two-level micro-brewery inside that totals 2,200 square feet and will produce 1,200 barrels a year, while retaining the structure's rustic charm."It's 100 times different now...," he said. "It's an incredible transformation."Keystone Restorations of Manchester, owned by Keasey's brother-in-law, Greg Hess, was the project's general contractor. The first product to be made at Spring House Brewing will be a pale ale that's less bitter and has a stronger hops flavor than the typical ale, said Keasey. Eventually, Spring House Brewing will have three or four brands of bottled beer and up to 12 brands of beer sold in kegs.

Keasey's passion for making beer began six years ago when he started home-brewing. As he perfected his recipes, he entered the National Homebrew Competition "to get an outside opinion," and won honors twice. He further honed his skills by working at Appalachian Brewing in Harrisburg for two years, while he also was a pharmaceutical chemist at Lancaster Laboratories. Keasey, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in biology after studying graphic design at Bradley Academy, finds that brewing beer is a way for him to pursue both of those interests. "What's great about it is there's a scientific aspect of brewing beer and an artistic, creative aspect," he said. Not to mention a hard-work aspect. Keasey said he's been working 12 to 18 hours a day to get his new business running. He's not complaining, though. With craft-brewing being a growth industry, Keasey is perfectly willing to put in the time needed to get involved." A lot of people told me that the only way a micro-brewery can fail is if people don't work hard at it," said Keasey. "I was told that if you work hard, it will take off."

Check out their web site: http://www.springhousebeer.com/index.htm