Two years after a fire ripped a hole in the heart of South Glens Falls, Common Roots Brewery is back.
The state-of-the-art brewery at 58 Saratoga Avenue, with an expanded menu, indoor pub space and spacious outdoor beer garden, opened quietly on May 3rd, but it didn’t take long for the faithful following to return. (Word on the street is the fried chicken sandwich, available in three levels of spicy hotness, is delicious!).
“It’s been really spectacular, honestly,” Bert Weber told Glens Falls Living. “The reception has been everything we had hoped for…nice crowds of people, they love the beer and the space and the food.”
Co-owner Christian Weber, Bert’s son, said, “The outdoor space has been great. It’s still kind of different…before you could get a beer and walk around and talk to each other.”
Owners Bert and Christian Weber also announced the creation of the Common Roots Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit to give back to the community that was so supportive in the aftermath of the fire.
Co-owners Bert Weber and Christian Weber
“The foundation actually took over Gears and Beers, and it’s an event they are going to help us organize,” Christian said. “It grew so much — in mid-summer, we’ll see 80 to 100 riders come out for it — so we wanted to make sure we were a little more buttoned up.
“And on Wednesday nights, a dollar from every pint of beer sold goes to the foundation. It is a little different because of COVID still. The requirements are you have to be seated, and can’t walk around. That is a particular event where people aren’t necessarily seated. You got your beer after the bike and you socialized, you walked around. So we’re still adapting. We’re still figuring it out.”
Christian said most of the existing staff has been vaccinated or is in the process of being vaccinated, and Common Roots is still looking to hire more people.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” he said. “We have a really great staff. We have the original group plus we added a few more so we could run this properly. We now have close to 40 employees and we’re still hiring. We’re very fortunate with the group that we have. We’re always so humbled by the co-workers who come out to work with us.”
And now the foundation is up and running, further strengthening the bond with the community.
“From the moment we opened the original brewery in 2014, we always knew what a close-knit community SGF was,” Christian said, “but I don’t think we really knew until we came here. We are really humbled being here.”
The foundation has a nine-person board, an executive director — Christian’s longtime friend Alex (Matthews) Kochon — and seeks members, sponsors and partners to expand its reach.
“We seeded the foundation with some initial startup money,” Christian said, “but we need more money so we can do more. And the membership drive is not only to get money for the foundation but to create stakeholders.” [For more information on the foundation, click here.]
Common Roots is open seven days a week. Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
“We are hoping to eventually do a brunch on Sundays and open a little earlier,” Bert said.
