Jonathan Golon is an engineer who designs traffic signals for the state Department of Transportation. His wife, April, is a hairdresser. Their relationship developed in part due to a mutual love of beer and visiting brewpubs. While it’s common to hear that a new local brewery grew out of someone’s usually yearslong devotion to homebrewing, the Golons’ story is the opposite.
“I started learning to brew because we wanted to open a brewpub,” said Jonathan. In November, he and April opened Broken Loop Brewing Co., having taken over the former Yonder Farms Cider Mill & Bake Shoppe in Colonie. It was open from 1983 to the end of 2024 as an extension of the eponymous 600-acre fruit farm in Valatie.
Located at the intersection of Route 155 and Albany Street, the 3.3-acre property has a 7,300-square-foot main building that required months of renovation — and lots of money.
“It was significantly more than planned,” Jonathan said. After years of discussion and hundreds of brewery visits, things came together last year. They removed a drop ceiling over the main dining area, exposing crosshatched trusses that give the room the feel of lofty barn, expanded the kitchen area and upgraded electrical service to accommodate a 7-barrel brew system that produces about 220 gallons per batch, with runs once or twice a week.
“We’ve just been trying to keep up,” said April. She doesn’t have a title but described herself as “doing everything that needs to be done,” from hosting to serving to assisting in the kitchen and wrangling their daughters, ages 2 and 4, who loved to scamper around the brewery while it was being built and are still acclimating to having other people there.
Naturally, other people’s kids are welcome, too. The very first “What to know” box on the brewpub’s homepage says, “We just ask that little ones stick with you and respect the space.” They’ll have room to run around outside during the warmer months; the Golons plan to build a play area in one of two outdoor spaces expected to double seating capacity, to more than 200. Until spring arrives, a shelf rack along one wall holds coloring books, board games and other table amusements to further the sense that Broken Loop is a place for spending offline time…