ALTOONA, Pa (WJAC) – An Indiana, Pa. brewing company is opening a new location in a local downtown area experiencing a rebirth.
Levity Brewing Company opened its first brewpub about five years ago.
The business was so successful that last year the owners started looking to expand, bringing them to Altoona.
“The buzz that we hear is, ‘Oh yeah, Downtown Altoona is coming back,’” said Luke McKelvy, co-owner of Levity Brewing Company. “There’s a lot of cool stuff going on down there.”
Hoping to find a location for a new brewpub, McKelvy said they soon realized downtown Altoona would be a good fit.
“The people we met here, the energy for this idea, it sucked us right in,” he said. “This became the obvious choice.”
What wasn't so obvious at the time, just how much would change in 2020.
The pandemic put the project in jeopardy.
“First, it put everything on hold,” McKelvy said. “We thought, ‘maybe someday we will get that started again.’”
Then came an idea born of necessity.
“Why don’t we consider doing a to-go beer option,” he said. “We kicked that around and real quickly we realized we could do something quickly, a small space, and do something that way.”
Construction on an 11th Ave. storefront is well underway ahead of an expected January opening.
Customers will be able try beers on tap or take home 16 oz. cans.
The company started packaging and selling cans when virus restrictions took effect in the spring.
“That’s a great outlet for us and a good way to connect with people in Altoona and start making plans for the rest of the buildout and the restaurant,” McKelvy said.
The brewery will focus on to-go sales as the construction on the full brewpub continues.
When it's ready, the back wall of the storefront will be torn down and reveal an atmosphere McKelvy hopes will bring people together.
“It’s been a long time in the making and feels like the energy of when we were first opening our place in Indiana,” he said. “I guess now we have to start lugging some beer down here and meeting people.”
Levity Brewing will have 8 to 10 different beers available for purchase when the storefront opens sometime in January, including their Coronavirus-themed IPA "End of Haze."
McKelvy expects the full brewpub to open in late-summer or fall of 2021.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfo7K4ecGrnLCdoq56qbHAnZydZaSkeqW71qerqK%2BeYq6twM6opZo%3D