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Date: 1/25/2023
LONGMEADOW – One Way Brewing owners Jason Tsitso and Zach Schwartz hosted a celebration on Jan. 22 commemorating their one year anniversary since opening its taproom at 807 Maple Rd.
“It’s hard to believe the taproom has been open for a year,” said Tsitso. “Our goal was to give the community a place to come and enjoy fresh local beer that we make. All of that rings true to today. Things are progressing well and we’re happy with how things are going.”
He went on to say, “Being residents of Longmeadow, Zach and I saw this as a gap in what the town has. There wasn’t a place where you could go for breweries and have fresh beer made right there. We thought this was a good opportunity for us to come and brew beer in a town we live in. It’s been a good experience for us as people who live in town to be accepted by the town as a business and we’re happy that we made this decision.”
On the special occasion, One Way Brewing partnered with Fletcher’s BBQ Shop and Steakhouse serving ribs, wings, pit-smoked beans, and coleslaw. Tons of guests came to the brewery, ordered food to eat on-site, drinking One Way’s signature beers like the Spilled Milk Mango while listening to live music. In addition, One Way released a special can of their anniversary beer, ON-2-YR-2, a New England style IPA.
Schwartz recalled, “During our homebrewing years, we perfected many recipes and took calculated risks leading to delicious products. Jason who’s the head brewer, built this recipe from the ground up. Anyone who brews knows that minor tweaks to a recipe can change everything.”
He continued, “Everything is different, and when he shared the recipe for this special event, it felt risky bringing us back to our home brewing days. And this is what makes craft brewing creative and fun. Jason nailed it and ON-2-YR-2 is delicious with hints of peach, stone fruit, and citrus. No risk, no reward.”
Tsitso and Schwartz crossed paths many times, but it wasn’t until their daughters were in the same class in fourth grade that they started hanging out, that lead them to brewing beer together. The two began competing in home brew competitions. Everywhere they went, people liked their beer. They really enjoyed doing it, so they thought they would try to take it to the next level. Tsitso and Schwartz were looking for a design and a name that would resonate with their audience. When they were talking about beer and tasting beer, they would say there’s only one way to drink beer and there’s one way to make a good beer. On Memorial Day weekend of 2021, One Way Brewing officially opened for business.
Tsitso and Schwartz work full-time and have their careers, but then they have One Way Brewing as their passion project. One of the passions for them is always trying to bring new beers and exciting concepts to their patrons which has led to over two dozen new beers. Tsitso and Schwartz have a lot of plans for this second year but are taking things one day at a time. They’re hoping to open an outdoor patio in the spring and are working right now with the Planning Board and then the Select Board to get that approved. Tsitso responded, “To have something that is a passion of both of ours and getting the opportunity to bring that to people and have them enjoy our beers is the best part, being able to make something that people like.”
One Way Brewing is open on Thursday and Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 12 to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m. They have live music on Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m., and on a couple of Saturdays a month, as well as trivia on the third Thursday of every month.