UnCapped: Interchange Tiki Bar & Brewing in Williamsport

Lauren LaRocca, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
Updated ·3 min read

Dec. 7—In this episode of the UnCapped podcast, host Chris Sands talks with Ben Little, Lucas Pinyan and Dylan Krzywonski, cofounders of Interchange Tiki Bar & Brewing in Williamsport, about tiki bars, their approach to beer and Pinyan's love for the McChicken sandwich. Here is an excerpt of their talk.

UnCapped: When did Interchange open?

Dylan Krzywonski: It was July 16 this year.

Ben Little: Not so long ago, but longer than it seems sometimes.

UnCapped: How have those few months gone? Are you getting into your groove?

Little: I think we're just finding it now, really. Figuring out who we wanted to be and who people wanted us to be was a little bit different for a little while. We've been listening to what people buy, what people say and change what we are but keep the heart of what we are at the same time.

UnCapped: Has Lucas learned how to brew beer yet?

Lucas Pinyan: No.

Little: We are pretty well-rated, but I'll let him answer that one.

Pinyan: It's a work in progress.

UnCapped: Every beer I've tried has been really, really good, so I'll just go ahead and say yes, Lucas has learned how to brew beer.

Pinyan: Well, thanks.

Little: I think people responded well to the beers. We went, obviously, with a tiki theme here, and we tried, across the board, to have beers inspired by tiki, whether it's hop profiles that are tropical or the fruit flavors that are pure tiki-inspired, or even our stout is Big Coconut Forward Stout. Lager, easy drinking, that's the side of things that is maybe a little different, but in the tropical regions, they have some of the lightest beers that exist.

UnCapped: Like Sands Bahamian Lager.

Little: Uh, sure. Is that a thing?

UnCapped: Yeah, in Jamaica. Search on YouTube. The videos are hilarious.

Little: I'll have to check it out. Like Presidente. It's one of my favorite beers to drink, and it's gotta be the lightest thing I've ever had. So good.

UnCapped: You guys are taking a different approach than what most craft beer breweries where you're not doing weekly one-offs. You're more or less sticking to a lineup and playing with flavors.

Little: So far, we've done that. We do have a triple IPA coming up here soon, but we're really not going too far out of line with things. We have eight core beers, and we slide some things in, here or there, to keep it fresh, but for the most part, we are sticking with something that's pretty core-driven.

UnCapped: Would you say this is a tiki bar that has a brewery in it or a brewery that has a tiki bar in it?

Pinyan: Yes.

Little: I think we always established ourselves as a brewery. Brewery first.

Pinyan: You could answer yes to either one of those, and it works.

Little: But I think the tiki bar culture has taken over here quite a bit, too.

UnCapped: You're not operating as what people think of as a typical craft brewery, where you're expecting different beers every week, but you also add in — because Washington County is smart enough to allow breweries to have liquor licenses — you have a full cocktail menu.

Little: Yeah, and I think that's always been intentional — being consistent, setting a tone that people can rely on. Being a concept that doesnt exist in many places, if any place, I think we had to do that to start, to figure who our people are.

This excerpt has been edited for space and clarity. Listen to the full podcast at fnppodcasts.com/uncapped. Got UnCapped news? Email csands@newspost.com.