Nimble Hill Brewing Company

Nimble Hill Brewing Company

Nimble Hill Brewing Company believes that quality ingredients make a great tasting beer! Nimble Hill Winery and Vineyard owner Gary Toczko and Brewmaster Mike Simmons hope to make the Endless Mountains a brewing mecca along with other micro-breweries that have sprung up in the valley, as there had been a history of many breweries back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The operation will brew in small batches for now. The brewery will initially market a pale ale, wheat beer, porter and seasonal beers in kegs and 22-ounce bottles, which can be run on the winery’s bottling line. The brewery is contemplating 12-ounce bottles. There won’t be a tasting room, or a brew pub. Initial sales will be to bars and restaurants. “We have a good product, but a main sales proposition is that it is local,” he said. “When we call on a place, we have the winemaker, the brewmaster, and the owner offering local products.” The brewery will grow slowly and judiciously, Toczko said. The brewery will spend its first year or two in Toczko’s garage, just as the winery began in 2006. A brewery building is on the drawing board. The effort is more visible in the vineyards. Visitors inquire about odd-looking grapes, surprised to learn they are hops, which climb on trellises similar to grapevines. The winery and brewery are already complementing each other. Winemaker Kevin Durland and Simmons work closely with each other. Nimble Hill may be the first combined winery-brewery combo among the state’s 130-plus wineries. The state has winery/cideries and winery/distilleries, said Jennifer Eckinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, but so far wineries’ plans to expand from grapes to grain are just that – plans.