Do you feel like a craft beer? Or a mug of fresh-ground coffee? Both beverages, and more, are now available at one Campbelltown location.
Mount Gretna Craft Brewery has partnered with Ancestor Coffeehouse & Creperie to provide new food and drink options at 2701 Horseshoe Pike.
“Not everyone in a family or friend group wants just one or the other,” brewery co-founder Allison Kleinfelter said. “You might have some people grabbing a beer, but someone else just wants a latte or a cafe drink instead.”
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“It’s a nice multi-use,” she added. “It allows for a lot more flexibility.”
It’s not entirely new, Kleinfelter said, noting when the craft brewery opened in Leed’s Corner in 2017, it partnered with Sonder Coffee Co., which roasted and ground its beans on the premises, and the Red Canoe General Store, which sold food and Sonder’s coffee.
“The intention was always to be a local gathering place,” Kleinfelter said. “That was always our hope, and now it’s coming together.”
The brewery and the coffeehouse both focus on local craft products, she said, and that draws a different crowd than someone who wants grab-and-go coffee or a generic beer.
“Craft doesn’t draw the overly jittery or the over-consumer when it comes to coffee or alcohol,” she said. “It’s a coming together of people who love craft, the appreciation of the process, the flavor notes. To get to see it being made on site.”
Allyson Tumminaro, who owns both Ancestor and Sonder with her parents, Rick and Pam Stammel, said they were content to grind beans and sell their product in bulk until last June, when they opened the first Ancestor coffeehouse in Lebanon.
“A few months ago, Brad and Allison Kleinfelter approached us about running the shop here,” Tumminaro said of the Campbelltown location. “We love working with them. The brewery is a really fun place to be … and they’re very community-oriented.”
With the first Ancestor up and running, the Kleinfelters decided to offer the coffeehouse option to Sonder, which had been closed for renovations anyway.
“There’s a lot of similarity in coffee lovers and beer lovers, especially when they’re made locally and craft,” Allison Kleinfelter said.
“A lot of people said they were excited to have us there,” Tumminaro added.
Ancestor was designed to reflect the look and feel of the original location, she said, with plenty of blue paint and brick to give it an antique feel.
“We really tried hard to make it feel the same,” she said. “We wanted people to know it was us as soon as they walked in.”
Tumminaro noted, however, that there is a difference in clientele.
“At our first location, most people come in for crepes. Here, people get more drinks,” she said. “I think they’re still used to it being a grab-and-go location.”
Besides a menu of sweet and savory crepes, Ancestor sells local pastries and several varieties of fresh-ground coffee, including espresso, Sumatra, Ethiopian and a signature house blend.
“We definitely have plans to expand in the future,” Tumminaro said. “But opening two businesses in two years is a lot. We’re just trying to get our processes down before we consider another location.”
The brewery, Kleinfelter said, has 12 to 14 taps running at any given time, plus a new house-made seltzer and a full kitchen.
The coffeehouse and brewery aren’t always open at the same times, although their hours sometimes overlap, she said.
“Really, the peak time for coffee is not the peak time for beer,” Kleinfelter said with a laugh.
But because they share space, she said, beer drinkers and coffee drinkers can share a table and a meal.
“People are super happy to have coffee back on the corner,” she said. “People are pretty excited to have a creperie, too. It’s a great complementary offering … and it lets us keep our focus on what we do best, which is the beer.”
For more information, visit the company websites at gretnabrewery.com, ancestorcoffeehouse.com and sondercoffeecompany.com.
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