-By Kate Bartlett-
William Bursee is the founding partner of Steelbound Brewery & Distillery. “It was created out of the passion to create craft beer and spirits” says Bill. “Prior to the opening of Steelbound in May 2018, several years were spent creating spirit formulas and craft beer recipes. The restaurant was built as a vessel in order to bring our amazing beer and spirits to the public. We wanted to also achieve craft handmade cuisine by incorporating our beer and spirits into the food making process.”
Steelbound currently has 3 locations: Ellicottville, Springville and their newest location in Dunkirk. “As Steelbound headed towards the opening of its second location in Springville NY, we added four partners to the business: Bill Guigino, Jim Fleischman, Kody Sprague and Mark Baerwaldt. These four men have already established themselves as very successful businessmen. Not only do they bring their hard working and determined nature, but they also lend their own individual passions and talents in design, engineering, building and cuisine. They have become like extended family. It is with these four new partners that we move forward with the first franchise that opened this past summer, July 2022 in Dunkirk NY, on the waterfront. Our next location to open will be in Pahrump, NV—just outside of Las Vegas, anticipated to open before the end of this year. We are also close to finalizing locations in Brampton and Toronto, Ontario. “
Fleischman,Bill Gugino , Bill Bursee , Chef ohm And Mark
Baerwaldt. This photo was at National wing Festival in
Buffalo First prize trophy for best overall wing.
Bill describes Steelbound as a comfortable atmosphere, with amazing cocktails, great beer and one-of-a-kind cuisine. “Our staff is friendly; the music is good and customers are welcome to sit back and enjoy their experience at Steelbound.”
Each location offers a wide variety of food and beverage options, encompassing some of the region’s most popular items. “Our beer and spirit flights are very popular with customers that are looking to sample a variety of our products. Our house made Cheese curds have always been a top seller along with our Whiskey battered fish fry. Our number one sandwich is our Blueberry Monte Cristo which comes with a freshly made blueberry dipping sauce made from our blueberry wheat beer. There are so many other delicious options to try, you just can’t go wrong!”
This past season, Steelbound hosted a Harley Davidson Bike Night at their Springville location the first Friday of every month from May-September 2022 in collaboration with Gowanda Harley Davidson. They have also attended many pop-up beer and spirits events throughout Western New York and entered four of their distilled products into the International Spirit Competition. “We are proud to say three of the four products won medals. Silver on our Reposado, Silver on our Whitetail Vodka and Bronze on our Genever Gin.”
Most recently, Steelbound was invited by Drew Cerza, the Wing King, to take part in the National Buffalo Wing Festival. “The National Buffalo Wing Festival turned out to be an amazing weekend. We took home three awards: First Place for Best Creative Sweet Wing Sauce, First-Place for the Grand Prize of the Best Overall Wing, and Rookie of the Year award. We were excited to collaborate with our new partners, Vic, Gill, Singh and Mr. Kang, at our Dunkirk, NY location. It was here that the winning Indian Sweet Chili and Garlic wing sauce was created by our Chef, Ohm, in just three days! We are still riding high on this incredible win. It is such a great honor and we are looking forward to next year.” This event can be viewed on YouTube and Americas Best Restaurants.
Next, Steelbound will be participating in the Meatball Street Brawl VI on Sunday, September 25 at Osteria 166 (166 Franklin Street, Buffalo) hosted by Nick Pitillo. “We will be bringing an Indian style and a traditional meatball to the competition along with sampling our beer and spirits during this delicious and fun event. You will not be disappointed by any of the restaurants competing for the best meatball.”
The brewery in Ellicottville has been undergoing renovations to triple in size, and is close to completion. They are also building a production facility for their distilled spirits to include three bottling lines, one of which will fill 50ml bottles and an area for recycling liquor bottles. This project will begin in November 2022.
According to Bill, Steelbound stands out as a brewery and distillery because it is a true passion. “These are not only my personal feelings; the team we have built here at Steelbound shares this passion and vision. It’s not money first here—it’s quality first and it’s a collaborative effort from all that are involved.” To quote Vince Lombardi, ‘The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.’”
Follow Steelbound on Facebook @ Steelbound Brewery & Distillery and online https://www.steelboundevl.com contact William Bursee directly at 716-997-1444 or email bill@steelboundevl.com
Steelbound opened their first franchise this past summer, July 2022 in Dunkirk, NY at the Clarion Hotel Conference Center on Lake Erie, 30 Lake Shore Dr E.
This Photo includes Chef, Ohm