A History of St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company

St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co., located in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, has been a staple of the local craft beer scene since its inception in 2010. The brewery’s journey from humble beginnings to becoming a beloved establishment in Lancaster County is a testament to its commitment to quality and community.

The Early Days

St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co. opened its doors on February 2, 2011, in the Donecker Artworks building on North State Street in Ephrata. Despite initially offering only one beer, Hegemony Stout, the brewery quickly gained popularity among craft beer enthusiasts as Lancaster County’s first production nano brewery.

St. Boniface quickly gained popularity among craft beer enthusiasts despite initially offering only one beer, Hegemony Stout.

The brewery’s humble beginnings can be traced back to 2010 when the business plan was first conceived. Within months, the founders had navigated through planning, construction, and regulatory hurdles to bring their vision to life.

In these early days, St. Boniface operated on a small scale, offering samples and growler fills to eager customers. The Hegemony Stout, which remains a staple of their lineup, was described as an imperial stout with a chocolatey sweetness balanced by roasty notes from dark malts and a slight bitterness from centennial hops.

Despite the limited offerings, craft beer fans flocked to the new establishment, setting the stage for St. Boniface’s future growth and expansion in the vibrant Pennsylvania craft beer scene.

Expansion and Growth

In January 2013, St. Boniface took a significant step forward by moving to its current location on West Main Street in Ephrata1. The new space allowed for growler fills, and by June 2013, the brewery began selling its first pints on-site. This expansion marked the beginning of a new era for St. Boniface, as it could now offer a full taproom experience to its patrons.

Milestones and Innovations

As the brewery grew, so did its offerings and capabilities:

• June 2014: Inaugural Bonifest, celebrating St. Boniface’s feast day with beer, food trucks, and music.
• Fall 2014: Upgraded from a 3-barrel system to a 15-barrel Premier Stainless Brew system and commissioned their first canning line.
• October 2016: Added a kitchen to provide food service alongside their beers.

Political Controversies

In June 2022, St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co. found itself at the center of a heated political debate that significantly impacted its public image and business operations:

• The brewery’s Tied House location in Lititz planned to host an event titled “Should We Want An Explicitly Christian State” organized by The Mid Atlantic Reformation Society1.
• This decision sparked outrage among community members who accused the organization of being tied to white nationalist and hate speech, particularly concerning their derogatory language towards the LGBTQI+ community1.
• Initially, St. Boniface defended their decision, citing Pennsylvania’s Christian roots and arguing for inclusivity of all groups, including Christians.
• The brewery later deleted their social media post defending the event, but maintained their stance on hosting it.
• This controversy had lasting effects on the business:
  • The Tied House location in Lititz closed permanently in July 2024, with some attributing its failure partly to the political backlash.
  • Local residents reported avoiding the establishment due to its political associations.
• The incident highlighted the challenges businesses face when navigating political issues in a polarized social climate.

This controversy marked a significant turning point for St. Boniface, affecting its reputation and potentially contributing to the eventual sale of the brewery to Pour Man’s Brewing Company in April 2024.

(See: Pour Man’s Brewing Acquires St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company)

Award-Winning Brews

St. Boniface’s commitment to quality has not gone unnoticed. In 2020, their Hegemony Anniversary Reserve won 3rd Place in the Barrel-Aged category at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Beer Competition.

Recent Developments

In a significant turn of events, St. Boniface was acquired by Pour Man’s Brewing Company in May 2024. This acquisition aimed to continue providing the beloved Boniface beers while expanding distribution and establishing the brands deeper in the central PA area. May of 2024 we covered the purchase with the article – Pour Man’s Brewing Acquires St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company.

The Legacy Continues

Today, St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co. remains a cornerstone of the Ephrata community, offering a range of year-round, seasonal, and limited edition beers crafted and served on site5. The brewery continues to honor its namesake, Saint Boniface, the patron saint of brewers, by “laying the axe at the root of the tree of bland beer”. St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co.’s journey from a small storefront to a well-established brewery showcases the power of passion, quality, and community in the craft beer industry. As it moves forward under new ownership, the brewery remains committed to its roots while embracing opportunities for growth and innovation in the vibrant world of craft beer.

See Also

• A History of St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company
• A History of Pour Man’s Brewing Company
• History of Brewing and Breweries in Harrisburg
• Pour Man’s Brewing Acquires St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company

Articles on the History of Beer

• The Rich History of Beer in Pennsylvania: From Colonial Times to the Craft Beer Revolution
• Hops, History, and Innovation: The Fascinating Tale of the IPA
• The Rise of Craft Lagers in Pennsylvania Brewing
• What is a Lager? Exploring the World’s Most Popular Beer Style
• East Meets West – The Duel of the IPAs: West Coast vs. New England Styles
• Exploring the Bock Beer Style – From Einbeck to Munich
• Unraveling the Brews – The Distinctive Styles and Differences of Lagers and Bocks
• The Lifespan of your IPA – Freshness Counts with Craft Beer
• Unleashing the History of Flying Dog Brewery
• Beer and Philosophy 101 – A Crash Course in Beer and Philosophy (A Confluence of Thought and Taste)
• Unearthing the History of Harrisburg Brewing: From Barnitz to Troegs

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We are also now on BlueSky as well, so make sure to check us out there also. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)