LITTLE VALLEY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Tucked away in the scenic hills of Cattaraugus County is a new craft beer destination that is bringing big energy to the Village of Little Valley.
Ellicottville Brewing Company has opened an incredible new restaurant and craft pub at 202 2nd Street in Little Valley, marking EBC's fifth location.
"It's an extension of what we are already doing just in a completely different setting," says Peter Kreinheder, Founder of Ellicottville Brewing Company, "It's the idea of creating a family friendly place. It's not a place to come and just drink."
Sitting just 10 minutes outside the company's original location in Ellicottville, this new brewing campus is the latest chapter in EBC's success story— which began in 1995. The idea is to give visitors to the are another go-to destination while bringing a new energy to Little Valley.
"This is wonderful for the area, it's amazing" says Brian McFadden, Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, "It's also amazing to start attracting folks over here for residency. We are really short on housing in Ellicottville."
"It definitely does bring a sense of pride," says Elizabeth Harvey, Chief Operating Officer of Ellicottville Brewing Company, "when I was younger living here there wasn't a lot to do. If you wanted to go and do anything you really had to go to Ellicottville to get this kind of atmosphere."
That is no longer the case.
Visitors to the new restaurant and craft pub will enjoy charming views of Little Valley in a modern well designed space. The creative menu is highlighted by scratch made pizza.
"Our style here is very authentic Neapolitan", says Joshua McDowell, Executive Chef for EBC, "The 'Bianco Pizza' is one of our best sellers. It has a garlic base and all of our white cheeses."
Of course nothing goes better with pizza than beer.
Ellicottville Brewing now does all of its beer production right on site in a new 75,000 square foot production facility that can pump out 10,000 bottles of beer an hour.
"Throughout the year we probably do 20 different beers," says Dan Minner, Director of Brewing Operations, "We really like to give people a good variety of styles so when they come down here no matter what your beer choices are we are going to have something for you."
"It's really an opportunity to let me express my creativity," says Stephen Boucher, Lead Brewer at Ellicottville Brewing Company, "I also love to cook, so playing with flavors, playing with raw ingredients, trying something new."
The production facility is adjacent to the new draft pub and occupies the former Salamanca Beverage building which was acquired by EBC in 2017 and has been completely renovated.
Ellicottville Brewing now produces 15,000 barrels of beer a year which is distributed to five states including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland.
The freshest of beer, in an amazing new space, with Ellicottville Brewing Company hoping to bring big things for the Little Valley community.
"We really wanted to be hyper focused on this location and help this area develop as a community," says Harvey.
"All I knew is that I wanted to build a company that would have good paying jobs, I could get into manufacturing, and we could entertain and provide hospitality. That is still the core today," said Krienheder. "All of our visitors from the west have to come through Little Valley to get to Ellicottville. From Christmas week to April 1st there are like 600,000 cars that pass by here. We just have to get a small portion to come and visit, buy a case of beer, and grab a pizza."
The plan in Little Valley is to have the campus turn into a "Beer Park" which will include event space and entertainment year round.
Along with the Little Valley craft pub Ellicottville Brewing Company also has a location in Fredonia, Bemus Point and two locations in Ellicottville.
