Canton, New York, will soon see the opening of a new five-barrel brewpub. Bent Beam Brewery will open in a historically preserved barn just five minutes from the St. Lawrence University campus. The members of its executive board met while playing in a local hockey league and are now turning a passion for craft brews into a business venture.   

St. Lawrence Biology Professor and long-time brewer Joe Erlichman is taking charge of the brewing and has around 22 recipes to rotate through the pub. “We plan on having 12 beers on tap,” says Erlichman. Students in Erlichman’s Science of Brewing class have helped him work through many different recipe kinks and come up with new ones.   

Through his teaching and 30 years of home brewing, Erlichman feels that he has created about 22 pub-worthy brews. “We debugged a lot of recipes,” adds Erlichman about his class at St. Lawrence. Bent Beam’s owners plan on serving the beer aficionados of the community as well as young adults and college students who enjoy craft brews. “We have no interest in doing distribution; we are going to make it and serve it right here,” adds Erlichman.   

Bent Beam is not only a passion project. St. Lawrence Professor and CCO Dave Murphy wants to continue trying to develop the community economically. “I’m part of the team that is advocating for business expansion here,” mentions Murphy.  

According to Murphy, Bent Beam’s purpose is to bring growth to St. Lawrence County and be a place for all community members to spend time.   

Bent Beam’s owners are receiving state grants to help restore the barn and preserve the historical integrity of the structure. “There is a lot of architectural work that needs to be done to try and preserve the structure of the barn while making a facility that we can use for a taproom, brewing, and hopefully down the road, a small restaurant,” says CEO Dave Warner.   

Unlike neighboring counties, St. Lawrence County doesn’t have any local brew pubs. “Hopefully, we can fill a local niche in the community that’s not there today,” adds Warner. Even with some setbacks, Bent Beam Brewery is set to open in the middle of this coming summer, and it will be ready for the next academic year at SLU.