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But they're glad they did, they told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV Friday in the brewery's gleaming new taproom. Because now they're having more fun with that business than ever.  

Compared to the small, dingy taproom Mark Grimaldi and Joe Shelton opened in 2015, the new one suggests customers are standing in a completely different brewery. Raw studs and drywall have been replaced by white tile backsplash and a matte black tin ceiling. Behind the bar, a mural the size of a billboard casts Aurora's logo against the oceanic blue can art of one of its beers. 

But the taproom is just the most visible part of a top-to-bottom renovation that Grimaldi and Shelton have been toiling over for the past 18 months.

It all began a couple years ago, when they built their humble kitchen around a homemade pizza oven. Introducing prepared food to the brewery changed their overseeing body from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets to the Cayuga County Health Department, the owners said. And with that new oversight came new requirements to stay in business — many new requirements.

In all, Grimaldi said, it has cost him and Shelton between $200,000 and $300,000 to bring Aurora up to code.

They had to stop using the well on the property and drill a new one 230 feet deep. They had to build and wire a new room where that well's water is purified and stored in tanks as tall as the ceiling. And in the brewery, they had to install new floor drains that direct water with organic waste like hops and yeast to a new underground tank that has to be pumped a few times a week.

That's just for the water, though. Aurora also needed to widen its driveway and walkway, and add parking spots. The property needed a new septic system, which has a leach field under the backyard so big "we could have a concert here," Grimaldi said. And the bathroom needed to be rebuilt and kitchen remodeled with a grease trap and additional sinks and drains.

At times, the amount of work before Grimaldi and Shelton was so costly, so complex, that they asked themselves if it was worth the trouble.

"There was a lot of heartache — 'let's give up,' 'I don't think this is going to work,' 'let's move,' 'what are we even doing,'" Grimaldi said. "But it's great that it happened, because here we are."

Though they had to hire engineers and contractors, the brewery owners completed much of the work themselves, with the help of friends and family. The shell of the new taproom was built by a retired carpenter who's been driving from 90 minutes away to buy Aurora's beers, and its caged hanging lights and other design elements were recommended by a friend in high-end retail.

The project was privately funded, Grimaldi and Shelton said, but it will have its payoffs. Prior to building their own water system they had to buy it purified, which was expensive. They also expect their new kitchen will make the brewery's taproom even more enticing. It boasts a confection oven, a panini press and a new Forno Bravo pizza oven that will be operational in a week or two.

Renovating the taproom wasn't directly required by the health department. But Aurora's owners have wanted to do so for years, not long after ditching their first taproom for a homier second one. Ripping up the rest of the brewery gave them one reason, and then COVID-19 gave them another. As soon as it began in the U.S. in March, they closed the space and got to work.

While it was closed — until reopening with its new look and in December — the pandemic opened a few doors for Aurora. Grimaldi and Shelton immediately launched a site where customers beer for curbside pickup, and when New York began allowing breweries to ship anywhere within the state, they jumped on that opportunity as well. 

Both pickup and shipping have been doing "gangbusters" sales, Grimaldi said. But with shipping also available to the other 400-plus breweries across the state, and with ones across the country distributing more beer since they have to keg less, the pandemic has strengthened the competition. Cans that could only be obtained by waiting in line a year ago are in Wegmans now, Shelton said.

"The beer market is completely backwards right now," Grimaldi said. "Everyone is struggling to figure out the next avenue to move their beer."

In the face of that competition, the Aurora owners are focused on making the styles of beer that won them so many fans in the first place: decadent imperial stouts, intensely hoppy New England India pale ales and creative fruited sours. They enjoy honing their lagers and other less popular styles, Grimaldi said, but he thinks the pandemic is a time to listen to the market. 

That doesn't mean he and Shelton aren't trying new things, though. They and their two assistant brewers regularly brainstorm ideas, like hops to use in an IPA or additives to use in a stout or sour. The latter can get particularly unusual, such as the lavender and white pepper in Hermitage, which is part of Aurora's Vinous Series of beers that deconstruct the flavors of wine grapes.

So business has been fun for Grimaldi and Shelton after the frustration of their renovation. They have more to do — they want to add fermenters, brite tanks and aging barrels to their 5-barrel brewhouse, as well an overhang for the outdoor seating area looking toward Cayuga Lake. But for now, they want to work on sharing the way they're feeling with their customers.

"We know people come here from far," Grimaldi said. "So we're really trying to do an awesome job of making sure everybody's happy when they come here."