BALLSTON SPA — Speckled Pig Brewing Company has continued to expand its offerings, celebrating the opening of its rooftop bar and patio in mid-June.
R.J. Elliott, a partner at Speckled Pig, said opening the rooftop “was always a goal,” noting the plans were taken into consideration when initially renovating the interior.
“When we started renovating downstairs, we framed it up and were ready to go to build on top of it,” said Elliott. “We made sure that everything was structurally sound to go up another story.”
This allowed construction to move quickly, with Elliott saying the patio took just over a month to complete.
“It was really quick,” Elliott said. “We framed out most of it in a weekend, and then did some finishing touches. But it didn’t take much longer than a month to go from no rooftop to having customers.”
“We wanted to obviously maximize the potential for the summer,” added Larry Heid, a partner at Speckled Pig. “Hopefully in the fall, we’ll put down some propane heaters for little fire pits. … Probably cap out at a Halloween party.”
The patio has become a popular spot, with Elliott saying it tends to fill up at the same time as the brewery’s interior.
“This is actually kind of proving to be the late-night hangout spot,” said Heid.
“Even when it’s raining, people are up here under the umbrellas,” added Elliott. “It’s been crazy.”
The patio was designed with a more modern look than the brewery’s interior, which Elliott said is by design. It offers views of downtown Ballston Spa, overlooking the intersection of Milton Ave and Washington St.
The brewery has recently begun offering hard seltzer slushies made from their own seltzers, brewed in-house with a variety of flavors. They offer eight beers upstairs in addition to the 12 options offered inside.
“A couple of the beers overlap, but there’s also stuff that you only get upstairs too,” Elliott said. “Lighter beers, stuff you want to enjoy out in the sun.”
The partners said it has been rewarding to see the community response since opening the patio.
“The first impression is really cool,” said Elliott. “Everybody has the same reaction when they walk up. … You don’t expect to see this up here.”
