YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The craft beer industry has taken off in recent years. Since their first batch of beer in 2018, Penguin City Beer has made a name for itself in the Valley.

The brewery is growing. They had to find a new home right here in Youngstown.

The Republic warehouse has been home to many things over the years, a wagon shop, blacksmith’s shop, lumber yard, and candy store.

Come summer 2021, it will be the new home of Penguin City Taproom and Brewery. But with the bare bones of the warehouse, there is a lot of work ahead.

“A whole lot. It is an incredible amount of work that has to happen,” said co-owner Richard Bernacki.

In phase one of their opening, there will be a taproom and brewery and eventually a restaurant and event center.

“The first level is going to be dedicated to our taproom, and in phase two, we will have the restaurant and kitchen,” Bernacki said.

Right now, working out of the B&O Station and Paladin, Penguin City is brewing around 1,000 barrels a year. With the new space of more than 30,000 feet, they’ll be able to brew around 5,000 barrels, and that could mean some new flavors.

“I’ll be able to do some test batches and have a live audience for it. We can put it on tap and see what people think,” Bernacki said.

They want to build a patio on the outside, turn the large garage door into a glass door and somehow utilize the extra office space.

“As soon as we walked in the lightbulb just went off, and it was like this is where we needed to be.” said co-owner Aspasia Bernacki

One thing they don’t want to lose is the history of what the property has been.

“If we can come up with pictures, we can incorporate that into the taproom. I think that would be fun for people to see what this property was and just the history of it,” Richard Bernacki said. “I’m really excited to be in this nice community, a family hub where we can catch up and reminisce with people we’ve lost touch with.”

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