Pub on tap inside market
Shoppers will get the opportunity to sip a craft beer inside Sprankle's Neighborhood Market in Saxonburg.
Doug Sprankle, the grocery store's owner, said he will partner with Lee and Erin Layton, owners of Conny Creek Brewing in Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County, to complete the first grocery store-brew pub combination in Pennsylvania.
The brew pub will be placed in a 750-square-foot area that housed the greeting card section at the former Friedman's Freshmarket on West Water Street, which closed two years ago and is being renovated to become Sprankle's market.
Evans City native Lee Layton said, like his pub in Lower Burrell, the Sprankle's location will offer a variety of brews plus fresh, locally sourced foods.
Layton will feature six to eight Conny Creek brews on tap as well as pizza, sandwiches, salads, soups, specials and seasonal dishes.
The open feel of the pub, which can only be accessed through the market, will allow patrons to see into the small kitchen and the grocery store.
While the pub section of the market will not open until later in the summer, Layton said he will be at Sprankle's grand opening July 4 to sell glasses of beer as well as packaged beer.
“I just want to be a part of it,” Layton said.
Layton and Sprankle said neither they nor their attorneys are aware of any other grocery store in the state that leases space to a brew pub.
Layton said he met Sprankle a few years ago when he provided beer for an event at the Sprankle's Neighborhood Market in Leechburg, Armstrong County.
“I've done events with him and we made a connection there,” Layton said.
He and his wife, Erin, are excited to open a location in Butler County, especially one that involves Sprankle's Market.
“It's a great opportunity for us,” Layton said. “(Doug) has got a lot of great visions.”
Sprankle said a bakery in Saxonburg will also provide items for the pub, which will seat less than 30 people.
“It's a good partnership to have that inclusive spirit within the store itself,” Sprankle said. “It allows for lots of opportunities.”
Sprankle looks forward to his patrons' experience with Conny Creek's seasonal brews.
“Lee and Erin are strong in the seasonal department and try to incorporate local farms with their beer and food items,” he said.
He said the Laytons will also participate in the Oktoberfest that's tentatively planned at the store.
Layton, who grew up along the Connoquenessing Creek in Forward Township and is a 2007 Seneca Valley High School graduate, said the pub inside Sprankle's will be open from noon until the store closes at 10 p.m., six days per week.
In addition to beer, the pub will offer mead and cider. The beer selections will vary from light lagers to IPAs to dessert beers.
“There's always something new and something for everyone,” Layton said.
