Teachers plan to revitalize Ossining waterfront with brewery

Two science teachers and homebrewers are planning the transformation of the century-old Westerly Marina waterfront warehouse into a restaurant and brewery with the help of a team of locals.

A smaller pilot brewery ”” nicknamed the speakeasy ”” could open sooner.

Scott Ryan, an Ossining resident and science teacher, said he believes in the theory that everyone is interconnected, which is how he came to meet his team. The name of the brewery, 6 Degrees of Separation, speaks to how the project is being developed and what Ryan hopes it will bring to the community.

Glenn Sayers, Scott Ryan and Ron McKechnie serve their beers at a Yorktown Rotary Club fundraiser.

“We all got together by one connection leading to another to another,” he said. “People just want to be part of this and that”™s what”™s so exciting about it.”

The group ended its second Kickstarter fundraising campaign on St. Patrick”™s Day. Ryan said the “luck of the Irish” helped the team exceed its goal of $9,000 by about $2,000.

Ryan said he and his business partner have both invested in the project, which he expects will cost about $4 million. They have not yet signed a lease on the space but are working with the owners of the marina, which remains in use as a storage facility.

Ryan said the brewpub is a community effort.

“The whole idea of this project is, it”™s going to take a village to raise a brewery,” Ryan said.

Ryan has lived in Ossining for 17 years and has been homebrewing since 1991. He connected with Ron McKechnie, a science teacher. McKechnie has commercial experience opening breweries across the country. The two teachers had the idea to start the brewpub together, and have been working on the idea for about three years.

For the past several years, they have been promoting their beer at festivals and fairs and donating it to private fundraisers and organizations. Ryan said McKechnie is teaching him more about brewing, especially about the chemistry side. Ryan is more specialized in biology.

“That”™s really what brewing is ”” bio and chem,” Ryan said. “Combined, it”™s biochem.”

Along the way, Ryan and McKechnie”™s team has grown to include another brewer, an architect, project manager, contractor and video producer.

“There”™s no way I could do this alone,” Ryan said. “Everyone has their niche and it”™s really working.”

The full 6 Degrees of Separation effort will feature a restaurant, brewery and a “good-sized” indoor stage for live entertainment in the nearly 12,000-square-foot warehouse. The space has 12-foot ceilings and windows overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, Ryan said. “Water comes right up to the space.”

There are some relics that retain the history of the warehouse, which was built in 1901, like iron bars on the windows installed after a theft.

Ryan already sees the potential for the brewpub as a showcase for national and local bands, as a space to host private functions, parties, meetings, fundraisers, tastings and happy hours and as a destination for craft beer enthusiasts. Phase 2 of the project will be to create a beer garden on the roof, Ryan said.

The brewery will help revitalize the area, he said, where AvalonBay recently opened a luxury apartment and another apartment, Harbor Square, is under construction. Ossining residents Dennis Kirby and Wayne Spector plan to use funding raised from the community to restore a commercial building to the Olive Opera House in downtown.

The Westerly Marina warehouse on the waterfront, built in 1901.

“We feel that Ossining”™s really the next town that”™s up and coming,” Ryan said.

Ryan said the craft beer movement is also growing, with about 14 percent of the $100 billion spent on beer going toward craft beer. Other Hudson Valley breweries include Yonkers Brewing Co., Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. in Elmsford, Peekskill Brewery, Newburgh Brewing Co. and 2 Way Brewing Co. in Beacon.

At 6 Degrees, visitors can tour the brewery, where Ryan, McKechnie and other brewers will create brews including light and dark beers, a smoked porter and ales.

“That”™s part of the show ”” people want to go down there and see the beer that they”™re drinking,” Ryan said. McKechnie is considering using the space to give lectures about brewing, Ryan said.

While plans for the “big house” ”” the marina ”” are still underway, the 6 Degree team wants to open a small pilot brewery, which they refer to as “the speakeasy.” There they can start to bring in some income and test out their beers.

The brewpub”™s motto is “think globally and drink locally.” Ryan said their goal is to work with local and New York state vendors and businesses. He said they could incorporate local cheese and state wines into their menu. Ryan said Chocolate Chalet in Briar Cliff suggested making chocolate mugs for a beer tasting.

The team still needs some investment to make the project the happen. Ryan said they are working on getting documentation that would allow them to bring in bigger investors and are open to doing another Kickstarter campaign.

Ryan said he hopes 6 Degrees will open in a year and a half.

“The industry is growing quickly and we want to get on board,” Ryan said. “We all want to get brewing and get going and make an impact on the community.”

This article has been updated to reflect that 6 Degrees of Separation does not sell its beer at public events. It promotes at public events and donates its beer for private fundraisers.