Petroni, right, with Mayor Joseph DeStefano, center, and Common Council President
Miguel Rodrigues
MIDDLETOWN – A year-and-a-half after Ricardo Petroni and Pete Oates bought a building at 22 Henry Street in Middletown and built the Equilibrium Brewery, business has gone so well that the men will buy the former TD Bank building from the city to expand their business.
The company will pay Middletown $650,000 for the three-story building at 2-8 South Street, diagonally across from the Paramount Theater.
Petroni said on Tuesday that they are selling out their product faster than they can make it.
“What we want to do now is start connecting by having our own tap room and place to gather and have a beer garden and have a place where we can work with the community and start sharing our love for beer with the locals in the way we intent to and also increase production because we are selling out faster than we can produce right now and also make it more available for our fans in this area and also in the Hudson Valley and in the city itself,” Petroni said.
The company employs 15 people now. Once the new building is in operation by the end of the year, Petroni expects that to double.
Middletown is also home to Clemson Brewery.
