Art Harvey has 20 years of home brewing experience. Two years ago he decided to take his passion and go pro. He and a friend, Larry Picchiotti, who has 20 years of home brewing experience as well, decided to team up. The long-time Lakewood residents formed the Westlake Brewing Company, the newest craft beer maker to come to East Dallas.
The two friends ratcheted up operations about six months ago.
“It’s something that’s just been growing in the back of my head,” Harvey says about getting serious about the business. “I just thought, eventually I would absolutely love to be doing this with my time, 100 percent of my time.”
He’s not there yet. He has two other jobs and two young children at home. But this weekend the company is taking a step forward. They’re participating in BrewFest this Saturday. The beer-centric event at the Dallas Farmer’s Market features hundreds of brewers, a handful of which are local.
“This is kind of like our coming out party,” Harvey says.
While this weekend is big for the young company, there is still progress to be made. The duo hope to eventually find a storefront that they can set up as a taproom, but finding the right spot at the right price in Lakewood isn’t easy.
So, for now, they’re continuing to boost their operations any way they can. They’ve even started an Indiegogo campaign to help.
“Right now we’re just trying to make good beer and share it with our friends,” Harvey says.
