Guild Member Spotlight: Brü Daddy’s Brewing Company
If you haven’t been to Downtown Allentown lately, where the heck have you been!?
Over the past several years, Downtown Allentown has been under constant development, especially around the Allentown Center Square. In 2014, the Square saw the completion of the PPL Center, which brought Minor League Hockey and a swell of large shows and events to the Lehigh Valley. Between then and now, crowds of people have been moving into the new Apartment complexes surrounding the City Square, and we saw the development of the Allentown ArtsWalk and the Downtown Allentown Market. These spaces, along with all the other current businesses, are what give Downtown Allentown its current and exciting vibe.
One such business opened its doors in 2019, and by 2022, has established itself as a crowd favorite. For this LV Brewers Guild Spotlight, we had the pleasure to sit down with, father and son, Richard and Kevin Ryan of Bru Daddy’s Brewing Company.
Since their first operation opened in 2019, the Bru Daddy’s brand has been on an upward trajectory. To those who go to Downtown Allentown regularly, you may have noticed that you can get Bru Daddy’s beer on three of the four corners of the Allentown Center Square. Depending on the night, you could get pizza and beer at the Bru Daddy’s Brewery, cross the street, and get another beer at their PPL Center Taproom during Center events, and cross the street once more and enjoy a night of eating and drinking at Blended by Bru Daddy’s. Its not a far stretch to say that Bru Daddy’s has become more than a brewery, but a brand of Allentown. Speaking with both Rich and Kevin, this is all by design through planning and execution. After getting to know Rich and Kevin more, it comes as no surprise that they have been able to grow such a successful brand.
Rich brings to the table almost 25 years of brand management experience, working for fortune 500 companies. After doing this successfully for so long, he wanted to start building his own brand which was initially a home developer business. Kevin comes from a marketing background, which took him to California, where he also had a successful career for AT&T, but had similar aspirations to build something personal.
Their first venture together originated when Rich was visiting Kevin in California and came across a frozen yogurt place, they both loved. While most would have stopped there and enjoyed some yogurt, this father and son duo brought that frozen yogurt chain to the Lehigh Valley. There are currently two Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt locations in the Valley, and we can thank the Ryans for that!
Initially, Rich and Kevin had the idea of opening a restaurant in Allentown. However, after a trip to Ashville, North Carolina, they got inspiration for a brewery of their own. Kevin’s background in homebrewing and their experience of running Menchie’s gave them a solid footing on making a brewery a reality. In addition, they understood Allentown had large development plans in the works and therefore Allentown was the correct place to build their dream.
As every recent story goes…. 2020 arrived! The recent pandemic made all of us reevaluate something in our lives. Breweries were no different. Bru Daddy’s reevaluated how they wanted to expand their business. They narrowed their focus to Allentown and expanded within the city rather than seeking to expand across the Valley. Part of this expansion, that we now have seen come to fruition, includes opening Blended by Bru Daddy’s, opening the taproom in the PPL Center, and having multiple draft lines at Coca-Cola Park.
Another great step in the growth of Bru Daddy’s was their hiring of their current brewer, Todd Reinhardt. Todd is a very meticulous brewer, coming from a science focused career before brewing full time. He spent time at Two Rivers Brewing and Free Will Brewing Co. before making his way to Bru Daddy’s. Todd made an impact straight away with his exceptional brewing abilities and his passion to bring his favorite styles to their tap list. In the 2020 US Open Beer Competition, representing Bru Daddy’s, his Black Sheep Schwarzbier beer medaled. Everyone agrees having Todd as part of the Bru Daddy’s team has elevated the brand.
Announced in late 2021, Bru Daddy’s will be opening an Allentown production facility to expand their brewing capabilities. The new system will be a 15-barrel system, but the facility has room for expansion if needed. The goal of this facility is to be able to produce enough beer to meet their current needs and to be able to better distribute to the rest of the Lehigh Valley. Todd informed us that this production facility will allow the company to make more pilsners, which we, like Todd, are excited about!
There hasn’t been a better time to go to Allentown and grab some beer and pizza. In the mood for something else, Bru Daddy’s also has a great variety of other food items and cocktails at both the brewery and Blended. Also, make sure to check them out at all home games for the Phantoms and the Iron Pigs!
Cheers!
Current Bru Daddy’s Weekly events: Trivia every Tuesday @ 7:30PM; Pizza N’ Beer Night; Happy Hour Thursday @ 4–6PM; Sunday Brunch @ 11AM-8PM
Website links below for hours, menus, and all other info!
Research by: Leila Kaczmarek and Jerry Collins
Written by: Jerry Collins
Photography by: Jerry Collins
