Crooked Barn BBQ, HopLore Brewing Co. Merge On Market St.
Crooked Barn BBQ, HopLore Brewing Co. Merge On Market St.
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Crooked Barn BBQ, HopLore Brewing Co. Merge On Market St.Some things just seem to naturally go together: peanut butter and chocolate, peaches and cream and beer and barbecue.
It’s the latter that has brought Crooked Barn Smoke BBQ and HopLore Brewing Co. together at 307 W. Market St., Warsaw.
On Friday, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting for the partnership of the two businesses.
“We’re merging our food with HopLore Brewery,” said Scott Smith, who co-owns Crooked Barn with his husband Shawn Smith. “We started putting our food trailer out front for them as they were doing different food trailers on a rotation, and we started being here more often. And pretty soon it turned into four days a week and we became very like-minded companies.”
By like-minded, he said he meant they’re both customer-service based, believe in offering the highest-quality product and have the same family values.
“Merging the two companies, with brew and barbecue, you couldn’t go wrong, so that’s what we did,” Scott said.
HopLore owner Stefan King said, “I think, first off, beer and barbecue just go hand-in-hand. And, at the same time, during the summer time, we had a lot of food trucks come through. These guys, with Crooked Barn BBQ, really were a great fit personality wise and, also, our theory about how we treat customers, how we put product out, the quality of the product we put out, really was a good fit.”
In getting to know the Smiths, King said they started talking, one thing led to another and they decided a partnership would be beneficial for both parties.
HopLore had the kitchen and the Smiths only had a food trailer. “I was looking for a place to operate year-round, and so tah-dah! The merger was born,” Scott said.
King said they’re still two independent businesses. Crooked Barn is the food partner. “Part of it as well is that we’re a brewery. We’re not a restaurant. Even though we have a restaurant spot in Leesburg, we’re always brewery first, and the more locations that we have, the harder it is for us to maintain brewery first. So, when it comes right down to it, having a quality food partner that can take care of that aspect of the business is very important to the quality of beer that we put out and the quantity of beer that we can put out to the masses, so that’s the other aspect of the partnership,” King said.
HopLore had a limited menu before like basic finger foods and pizzas at their Market Street location. HopLore’s Leesburg restaurant has a full chef and menu, Scott said.
“What we’re bringing (to Market Street) is our barbecue menu with some daily lunch specials, evening specials. (We’re) trying to give the downtown Warsaw area a new option for lunch, because we offer online ordering and it’s quick and efficient so you can place your online order and come down and grab your lunch,” Scott said.
As for the menu, he said it’s smoked barbecue. “So we have pulled pork, brisket and tenderloin, and we take those three items and we make a variety of different selections out of it,” Scott said.
All their foods are homemade and no pre-packaged foods are used. “We like to bring passion and love to our food. You can’t do that if you’re just opening a box,” he said.
There’s the “Barnaritto,” loaded nachos, pulled pork Taco Tuesdays, homemade Spanish rice and more.
King said HopLore is always putting out new beer. “We have a bunch of beer that’s released once a month. We have our staples, so you can come in and get the Son of a Ditch, the West Coast IPA. You can get the Outskirts cream ale all the time. But at the same time, we’re in the process today of bottling Soviet Occupation, which, this year, is a special rendition in support of the people of Ukraine. That all drops tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 5),” King said.
He said HopLore’s beer is constantly rotating and one fun thing HopLore and Crooked Barn will be able to do is play off of each other. As an example, he said the Barnaritto pairs very well with the West Coast IPA being a very strong-flavored beer.
Affordability is another thing Scott said they tried to bring to the establishment. “We want you to get your money’s worth and we want you to enjoy it, but we also want to make sure it’s affordable for you as well,” he said.
Scott said Crooked Barn is a family-based company and so is HopLore.
“We knew that the area didn’t have a lot of options for food as well, so we wanted to bring them brand-new options,” Scott said.
The website to order online is crookedbarnbbq.com. Catering inquiries and other information also can be found on the website.
Crooked Barn is closed Sundays and Mondays. Tuesday through Friday, it opens at 11:30 a.m. with the brewery open until 9 p.m. and the kitchen closing at 8 p.m. On Saturdays, they open at 11:30 a.m. with the kitchen closing at 7 p.m. and the brewery closing at 8 p.m.
“It’s just two like-minded companies in a family group coming together that’s offering fresh, homemade, awesome food at a great price in a beautiful location. We couldn’t be happier,” Scott stated.
