Will Cleveland

@WillCleveland13

When Wegmans approached Three Heads Brewing about producing an exclusive beer for its restaurants in western New York, Dan Nothnagle had one thought: he wanted to produce an approachable beer that would appeal to a wide segment of beer drinkers.

"It’s easy to enhance the (eating) experience with a more specialty beer," said Nothnagle, co-founder of the Neighborhood of the Arts-based craft brewery. "But it’s hard to have a beer that can go anywhere.

"In my mind after we talked, I envisioned it as a beer that (Wegmans CEO) Danny Wegman would hand out to everybody at his Christmas party when they leave. No matter what, if you like beer, you will like this. You might like a great IPA, but that doesn’t appeal to the whole room. So tell Danny, we have a beer for him."

The Wegmans 1916 Lager, a nod to the supermarket chain's first year in business, launched this week at its Pub inside the Perinton store, 6600 Pittsford-Palmyra Road. The beer, which mirrors a pre-Prohibition Vienna-style lager, will be a draft exclusive, available at Wegmans restaurants such as Amore at the East Avenue store and Next Door Bar and Grill in Pittsford.

"We also wanted something unique, being that 1916 is a very special date for Wegmans," said Antonio Arias, Wegmans restaurant beverage merchant (head buyer of spirits, wine and beer for Wegmans' restaurants). "Like Dan said, you can make a great IPA, but there are so many IPAs out there. We came up with the idea of making something that was popular back in that day."

► MORE: Wegmans highlights local beer at Perinton Pub

► MORE: Wegmans opens its first Pub in the Rochester area

Each of Wegmans' nine pubs, including the two in upstate, have teamed with a local brewery to collaborate on a pub-only exclusive draft beer.

In Pennsylvania, the pubs have worked with Sly Fox Brewing to produce three beers. The Virginia pubs collaborated with Hardywood Park, one of the best up-and-coming breweries in Virginia, to produce beers. The Transit Road (suburban Buffalo) pub teamed with Big Ditch Brewing to make an oatmeal cookie stout.

Before settling on the amber lager, Nothnagle and Three Heads brought a wide range of options to the Wegmans team. They ultimately settled on a style that would pair well with the pub menu.

File video: Wegmans opens first pub in Rochester area.

"I would drink this beer with anything we have on our menu," said Joe DeVito, the Perinton store executive chef. "All of the foods here are approachable and lend themselves well to beer. Obviously, a burger is a gimme. It’s too easy. I enjoy the iceberg wedge that we serve here, with bleu cheese, radish and a nice grilled hanger steak."

DeVito said he is also working with the Wegmans restaurant group to reformulate some of the menu items at the pub that incorporate beer.

"The recipes are the same for all of our pub concepts," DeVito said. "So the beer cheese, the beer-steamed mussels that we serve are all done with Yuengling. We could use this beer in place of Yuengling. It’s a win-win for us. This definitely has much more body and character to it. I think people will able to taste the differences in the dishes we make."

Three Heads brewing excitement in Rochester

Three Heads, which brewed a 30-barrel batch of the lager and intends to re-brew it in January, will be part of the Perinton store's grand reopening celebration Saturday. Nothnagle and brewery co-founder Geoff Dale will be sampling the beer from noon to 4 p.m. Starting next month, 1916 will be available on draft at all of the Wegmans restaurants in New York.

Arias said they are currently throwing around other ideas to extend the Wegmans craft beer brand. He noted that some of the Wegmans-backed beers from other breweries like Hardywood and Sly Fox could be poured in Rochester through an exchange program.

There is also the possibility of canning or bottling the Wegmans beers for retail sale. That won't happen until next year.

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com

Livingston County's first brewery opens

Sleeveless tanks: First sign of Genesee Brewery's renovation

Beer talk: Tart, sour, wild beers open new taste horizons