Something’s Brewing in Middletown The craft beer scene is coming on strong in this burgeoning community
DRINK
By Pam George
W
hen Kevin Schatz decided to turn his passion for homebrewing into a profession, he didn’t look far for a brewery site. He and his wife, Dawn, had lived in Middletown for more than a decade. And Dawn, a licensed clinical social worker, had a business on Main Street with a dilapidated two-car garage. With a can-do attitude, Schatz renovated the 500-square-foot space and opened Volunteer Brewing Company during the town’s 2017 Peach Blossom Festival. “We sold out of beer in an hour,” he recalls. Five years later this month, Volunteer Brewing has become part of the MOT (Middletown-Odessa-Townsend) landscape in more ways than one. The brewery now has a taproom next door in the 200-year-old former home that the company purchased and renovated. When Volunteer Brewing opened, it was the only brewery in the Middletown-Townsend-Odessa area. Now there are four, and that’s a plus for local hopheads and tourism. ► Above: Volunteer Brewing Company owners Kevin and Dawn Schatz with their Dead Poets IPA. Photo by Joe Grace AUGUST 2022 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM
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