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An eerie silence fills the cavernous hallway of Freewill Elementary in Walworth, broken up only by the whirring reverberation of an industrial sander vibrating through the walls. The scent of must and sawdust lingers in the air. At the intersection of the halls, crudely painted markers note thoroughfares like “Sportsman Street” and “Responsibility Road” which, a decade ago, served to guide children to their classrooms.
Brad Kennedy, who co-owns K2 Brothers Brewing Company with his brother Kyle, stood in the hall on a recent Tuesday afternoon and smirked.
“You must think we’re nuts, right?” he said.
Freewill Elementary will serve as the second location of K2, augmenting the original location in Penfield which opened in 2017. It is one of—if not the most—audacious, ambitious undertakings in the history of Rochester beer. The new facility will someday span all 72,000 square feet of the school and cover 46 acres of land surrounding it.
The cafeteria space will be converted into a large taproom. An auditorium stage will host live bands. The large gymnasium will become a new production brewery, while a second, smaller gymnasium will be used to host the brewery’s corn hole games.
As for myriad classrooms and hallways, the ideas range for the long-term: e:rything from a bowling alley to an arcade and a go-kart track is being considered for the five-to-10-year plan at the school.
The vision of the Kennedy Brothers is an “adult playground.”
“We’re using one-third of this building to start, so we have a long road ahead of us,” Brad Kennedy said. “Anything from entertainment and Airbnbs to, literally, anything.”
Freewill Elementary opened its doors in 1969. In 2016, the Wayne County School Board voted 7-2 to close the school to consolidate students. Its last class left in June 2017. Since then, it’s been unused, although K2’s plan to take it over has been an open secret in the beer community for over a year.
The Kennedys have remained mostly tight-lipped about the project, save for the occasional hinting over a pint of beer. The deal to purchase the school closed on May 12, at a price tag of $1.5 million. The brothers declined to say how much money exactly is planned to be invested into the school, instead stating simply it was a multi-million-dollar project.
Kyle Kennedy described the cost as an “asshole-puckering amount of money.”
“You got to believe in your product, and you got to believe in what you’re doing,” Kyle Kennedy said. “If you don’t, you’ll never succeed. My brother and I, from what we came from … we didn’t do this stuff.”
The Kennedys opened K2 Brothers Brewing in 2017 on Empire Boulevard. Neither came from a food or drink background—up until 2019, Kyle’s day job was as a New York State corrections officer. Brad was a computer programmer at Cornell University. Their background in brewing came in the form of homebrewing projects in Brad’s basement.
Shortly after opening its doors, K2 became a bayside destination. Its beer, particularly the assortment of easy-drinking fruited kettle sours, became a local favorite and quickly started popping up on Wegmans shelves. Within its first year, K2 surpassed its five-year target goals, and the onsite brewery soon became too small.
For the past several years, K2 has contracted with Canandaigua’s Young Lion Brewing Company, one of the largest craft breweries in the region alongside Three Heads Brewing Company, to meet the demand for their product. Its most popular beer has been Blue Razz, a supremely crushable blueberry- and raspberry-imbued sour ale.
The new gymnasium brewing facility is expected to meet the current demand, upping maximum capacity from about 200 barrels every two weeks to 670 (or about 21,000 gallons of beer). At the Empire Boulevard facility, a modest seven-barrel brew house will be reserved for smaller batch products.
Kyle said the old space could be used as a pilot brewery of sorts, pumping out more esoteric beers like long-fermented wild ales, an art Head Brewer Adam Keith has proven a particular flair for. At the new brew space, the brothers plan to start with 500 barrels and slowly ramp up.
“Right now, we’re doing about eight turns at Young Lion every year, and that’s a 90-barrel system, and that’s barely keeping up with demand,” Kyle said. “So, you got to push, you got to set yourself up for success.”
Adam Cormack is the general manager at K2 and will be running operations at both facilities. He called the project “fantastic.”
“I mean, you’re taking a property that was going to become a blight and turning it into something awesome for the community,” Cormack said.
Through a small attic space, a doorway opens to the roof of the school, offering a panoramic view of the school’s land stretching from rolling green hills to dense woodland. The Kennedys have big plans for the outdoors, too, from winter snow mobile trails through the woods to an outside amphitheater situated along one of the slopes. At some point, they are even considering a rooftop bar.
What the brewery will be called is still up for debate. One idea is the apt “K2 High,” leaning into the school motif. Another, more straightforward idea, is simply “K2 at Freewill.” When it will be open is also up in the air, although the brothers are hoping for doors to open early next year.
Kyle feels the location is an ideal spot for a destination brewery. It’s well tucked away into the countryside, while still only being a leisurely 20-minute drive down Atlantic Avenue from the city limits.
“I want people to understand this, it’s one road that gets you out here,” he said. “It’s not like it’s in the sticks.”
When asked if they would be keeping the playground situated on the northern edge of the schoolground, the brothers both laughed.
“I wish,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, that’s an insurance issue,” Brad added.
Gino Fanelli is a CITY/WXXI reporter. He can be reached at (585) 775-9692 or [email protected].
Brad Kennedy, who co-owns K2 Brothers Brewing Company with his brother Kyle, stood in the hall on a recent Tuesday afternoon and smirked.
“You must think we’re nuts, right?” he said.
Freewill Elementary will serve as the second location of K2, augmenting the original location in Penfield which opened in 2017. It is one of—if not the most—audacious, ambitious undertakings in the history of Rochester beer. The new facility will someday span all 72,000 square feet of the school and cover 46 acres of land surrounding it.
The cafeteria space will be converted into a large taproom. An auditorium stage will host live bands. The large gymnasium will become a new production brewery, while a second, smaller gymnasium will be used to host the brewery’s corn hole games.
As for myriad classrooms and hallways, the ideas range for the long-term: e:rything from a bowling alley to an arcade and a go-kart track is being considered for the five-to-10-year plan at the school.
The vision of the Kennedy Brothers is an “adult playground.”
“We’re using one-third of this building to start, so we have a long road ahead of us,” Brad Kennedy said. “Anything from entertainment and Airbnbs to, literally, anything.”
Freewill Elementary opened its doors in 1969. In 2016, the Wayne County School Board voted 7-2 to close the school to consolidate students. Its last class left in June 2017. Since then, it’s been unused, although K2’s plan to take it over has been an open secret in the beer community for over a year.
The Kennedys have remained mostly tight-lipped about the project, save for the occasional hinting over a pint of beer. The deal to purchase the school closed on May 12, at a price tag of $1.5 million. The brothers declined to say how much money exactly is planned to be invested into the school, instead stating simply it was a multi-million-dollar project.
Kyle Kennedy described the cost as an “asshole-puckering amount of money.”
“You got to believe in your product, and you got to believe in what you’re doing,” Kyle Kennedy said. “If you don’t, you’ll never succeed. My brother and I, from what we came from … we didn’t do this stuff.”
The Kennedys opened K2 Brothers Brewing in 2017 on Empire Boulevard. Neither came from a food or drink background—up until 2019, Kyle’s day job was as a New York State corrections officer. Brad was a computer programmer at Cornell University. Their background in brewing came in the form of homebrewing projects in Brad’s basement.
Shortly after opening its doors, K2 became a bayside destination. Its beer, particularly the assortment of easy-drinking fruited kettle sours, became a local favorite and quickly started popping up on Wegmans shelves. Within its first year, K2 surpassed its five-year target goals, and the onsite brewery soon became too small.
For the past several years, K2 has contracted with Canandaigua’s Young Lion Brewing Company, one of the largest craft breweries in the region alongside Three Heads Brewing Company, to meet the demand for their product. Its most popular beer has been Blue Razz, a supremely crushable blueberry- and raspberry-imbued sour ale.
The new gymnasium brewing facility is expected to meet the current demand, upping maximum capacity from about 200 barrels every two weeks to 670 (or about 21,000 gallons of beer). At the Empire Boulevard facility, a modest seven-barrel brew house will be reserved for smaller batch products.
Kyle said the old space could be used as a pilot brewery of sorts, pumping out more esoteric beers like long-fermented wild ales, an art Head Brewer Adam Keith has proven a particular flair for. At the new brew space, the brothers plan to start with 500 barrels and slowly ramp up.
“Right now, we’re doing about eight turns at Young Lion every year, and that’s a 90-barrel system, and that’s barely keeping up with demand,” Kyle said. “So, you got to push, you got to set yourself up for success.”
Adam Cormack is the general manager at K2 and will be running operations at both facilities. He called the project “fantastic.”
“I mean, you’re taking a property that was going to become a blight and turning it into something awesome for the community,” Cormack said.
Through a small attic space, a doorway opens to the roof of the school, offering a panoramic view of the school’s land stretching from rolling green hills to dense woodland. The Kennedys have big plans for the outdoors, too, from winter snow mobile trails through the woods to an outside amphitheater situated along one of the slopes. At some point, they are even considering a rooftop bar.
What the brewery will be called is still up for debate. One idea is the apt “K2 High,” leaning into the school motif. Another, more straightforward idea, is simply “K2 at Freewill.” When it will be open is also up in the air, although the brothers are hoping for doors to open early next year.
Kyle feels the location is an ideal spot for a destination brewery. It’s well tucked away into the countryside, while still only being a leisurely 20-minute drive down Atlantic Avenue from the city limits.
“I want people to understand this, it’s one road that gets you out here,” he said. “It’s not like it’s in the sticks.”
When asked if they would be keeping the playground situated on the northern edge of the schoolground, the brothers both laughed.
“I wish,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, that’s an insurance issue,” Brad added.
Gino Fanelli is a CITY/WXXI reporter. He can be reached at (585) 775-9692 or [email protected].
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