A week after Mike Fegley and his family decided to open a brewery and restaurant called Brew Works in downtown Bethlehem in 1998, another restaurant in the neighborhood closed.
It was a sign of the times, just three years after the Bethlehem Steel plant ceased operations after 140 years of driving the success of the city (and nation). The plant closing, coupled with a dismal historic district and sparse downtown retail, left a localized depression in its wake and little hope for jobs and the overall economic picture there.
The Fegleys, though, remained optimistic. As an entrepreneurial family, the Fegleys were accustomed to driving innovation since the 1980s, when they opened one of the first 50 computer stores in America and stocked the first Apple computer. While their computer software store lasted a few years, the Fegleys wanted to start something new, something more compelling. Mike Fegley, the youngest son of original owners Peg and Dick Fegley, had an idea to open a store where people can rent VHS tapes to take home and return them the next day but the family thought that idea was too crazy and people would not buy into it. This was before the Blockbuster Video era.
After selling the computer store and enjoying many beers made by brother Rich Fegley, a budding home brewer, the parents decided to invest in Brew Works, a full-fledged brewery and restaurant serving locally grown food to the people of Bethlehem in its historic downtown area that has since expanded into Allentown and has become a Lehigh Valley mainstay.
Both Brew Works locations combined to produce more than 3,100 barrels in the last year, ranking in the top 125 in beer sales according to the 2010 Brewpub report compiled by the Brewers Association, and production was up 66 percent between 2009 and 2010.
The beer's pretty innovative, too. In the fall, its Arctic Alchemy brew was a 2011 Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medal Winner in the 82 Old Ale (Strong Ale) category. Brew Works is also a home for local groups like Green Drinks Lehigh Valley and the Beer Run Club and is leading composting and other sustainability efforts among local restaurants.
Keystone Edge (KE): After spending years in the computer business and with downtown businesses closing right and left why take the leap into the restaurant industry?
Mike Fegley (MF): My brother Rich was a home brewer and in 1977 when President Jimmy Carter changed the law about home breweries, signing a bill explicitly allowing home beers and winemaking, Rich "beer and dined" my parents quite often and eventually convinced them to invest everything they had into a brewpub. Rich along with my other brother Jeff knew the town of Bethlehem was pretty ripe but filled with college students who like to eat and drink. My family had always been committed to urban revitalization so we decided that Bethlehem was prime soil for the first Brew Works restaurant and brewery.
KE: How has Bethlehem shaped Brew Works?
MF: With the influence of the steel plant we have taken that essence and vibe into our decorations in the restaurant. Our logo was inspired from the steel plant and our décor within the restaurant maintains a hearty classic restaurant using dark colors and steel and iron for many of the furniture pieces along with murals from the steel plant. Also, many of our beers are named after the steel era, for example, Steelworkers Oatmeal Stout. Bethlehem also has an incredibly blue-collar feel to it tagged with a strong work ethic and we try to incorporate that blue-collar feel to the restaurant, making it a great place to stop by on your way home from work for a locally brewed craft beer.
KE: The Bethlehem Brew Works was such an obvious success, what inspired your family to open another restaurant in Allentown?
MF: We found a really great space in Allentown in 2005 that was a lot bigger than our Bethlehem space and would offer more of a nightlife atmosphere, which was appealing to us. We wanted to be apart of Allentown’s revitalizing downtown so we opened a space on Hamilton Street. The Allentown location offers over 400 seats for customers as well as an outdoor patio. The Allentown Brew Works has been a gathering place for events and has become a great local and "walkable" staple within the downtown to go during the day or night. Since Brew Works Allentown has opened, city planners are working on plans for an 8,000 seat arena nearby, which is very exciting for not just Brew Works but Allentowners too!
KE: Since you pride yourself on being a local restaurant, what is your take on sustainability within the restaurant and brewery?
MF: Being sustainable and having a legitimate concern for the environment is something that our family and Brew Works have always made a top priority. In the late 1990s when my brother Rich moved to Boulder, Colorado and became very in touch with the sustainability movement, Brew Works started looking into ways to become more organic and provide healthy locally grown foods altogether.
Also, my brother David passed away at the age of 20 from Hodgkins disease stemming from clogged heart arteries, which made my whole family think about what were eating and serving? Realizing that we would typically eat two meals a day in the restaurant, we wanted to know what was going into our bodies and where it came from. Once Rich came back from Colorado we went through everything we cooked with and looked at trans fats, oils, everything, and swapped unhealthy ingredients for healthier options.
The best part of our sustainability practices is our up-cycling process. We up-cycle with local farms in Bethlehem Township where the livestock are fed the spent grain from our brewery, adding zero hormones or preservatives, and then we use the beef from their cattle for our burgers. We are not off the grid yet, but we are definitely doing our best at keeping everything recycled and improving each year!
KE: Brew Works started in a year where many people did not have jobs or hopes for a growing economy – what change have you noticed within your customers today verses 20 years ago?
MF: Back when we first opened very few people drank craft beers. People had their one or two beers they chose to drink 99 percent of the time. Now there has been a generational change. Since the early 2000’s a craft beer revival has been underway where young people do not mind going into a bar and getting a beer they have never tried. Bars offer an endless amount of hops and varieties based on the season or the location and people want to taste them, compare them and most importantly enjoy them!
KELLY CLAYTON is a senior at Elizabethtown College who plays field hockey, writes on a variety of subjects for publications and is the Editor of Tru(4)ia Magazine. Send feedback here.
