Craft brew district could help Zelienople grow as a tourist destination
If you want to spend time in Zelienople and make a day of it, you are the target customer of the Zelie Pour Tour, according to Joe Talarico, one of the owners of Papa Joe’s Wine Cellar.
The Pour Tour in concept is a brewery trail in the works that will comprise of three breweries, two wineries and one distillery. The trail will be designed to take day trippers through the historic borough’s Main Street while offering a variety of drinks and food.
The joint project, which is in its early stages of development, is spearheaded by Talarico and Papa Joe’s, along with five other participating venues: Burghers Brewing, Lolev Beer, ShuBrew, Urban Vine and Wicked Rabbit. Each of the sites is within walking distance of one another.
“All six of the businesses are within three or four blocks of each other, which really gives us a unique advantage,” Talarico said.
The idea is that visitors, while not assisted by a guide, will be provided with a passport that has a map of downtown Zelienople and a page for each of the six spots. Pages will be marked with a stamp by the businesses after visitors have stopped by. Visitors will also get a souvenir at the end of the tour. The work to put together the passport is in progress, Talarico said.
Contracting bus or limousine companies to include transportation for out-of-town visitors has been considered, though it's too early to decide anything, Talarico said.
He added that he can see the tour attracting visitors even from Erie, though he expects most of the traffic to come from the Pittsburgh region, Butler County, Mercer County and Washington County.
“We haven't come up with the specifics yet,” Talarico said. There’s much work to be done, he added, but he is hoping to have a more concrete plan realized by late fall this year.
Erika Shumaker, co-owner of ShuBrew, said she is hopeful that the pour tour can be launched in time for the holiday season. Unlike summer months, colder weather can stifle customer traffic, but Shumaker said the tour could give people a reason to come out and explore Main Street during holiday season.
Talarico compared the basic premise of the Pour Tour with the Bourbon Trail in Louisville, Kentucky, a tourism experience that entails following a series of bourbon distilleries.
“Basically, you go to all different places and you sample bourbon. What it does is it makes them a destination,” Talarico said. “And so I thought, let's do that here.”
The breweries and wineries included in the pour tour are the forefront of Zelienople's charm, said Joel Grobe, president of the Zelienople Area Business Association.
“That's a really cool thing to have for a small town of 4,000 people,” said Grobe. “We're excited to showcase that and proud to have that in our community.”
Although Papa Joe’s Zelienople location opened just two years ago, his family, which owns and operates the winery, has lived in Jackson Township for many years. Papa Joe’s previous location that opened in 2017 was in Lawrenceville in Allegheny County.
“At the time, Zelienople was the last place in the world that I would have put this Italian restaurant,” Talarico said. “It was a nice little town, but there wasn't really a whole of a lot going on, and the businesses that were here kind of struggled for a few years.”
He said he credits businesses that took a chance early on the town and helped develop its economy. Lately, the borough has taken major strides, and there’s room for continued growth, Talarico said.
“We have a unique town here,” he said. “This is a diamond in the rough.”
That thought led Talarico to forming the Zelienople Craft Beverage District, which the group of businesses later renamed as the Pour Tour for the sake brevity. Earlier in May, the Facebook page for the initiative was set up.
He said the other five businesses immediately saw the benefit in the project, and did not need further convincing.
“There was really no significant downside,” Talarico said. “There's going to be some cost, but the upfront costs are going to be minimal.”
He added that if the project unfolds as planned, the group may look into applying for tourism grants from Butler County for additional support.
The brew tour, Talarico said, will not only improve collaboration between the borough’s businesses but benefit other businesses in town as well. He noted that while the tour itself is limited to brick and mortar stores that offer craft beverages, it will also draw more customers to the other small businesses in the borough.
“We think that this is going to be an advantage for everybody,” Talarico said. “We think that this is just one more thing that Zelienople can offer.”
