As a business owner, it’s in August Rosa’s nature to embrace change. What started as Brew, a retail beer and coffee shop that opened in Albany in 2014, morphed into two Capital Region bars called Pint Sized that weathered the Covid-19 pandemic and all its associated restrictions largely thanks to Rosa’s flexibility and quick thinking. When craft beer’s popularity began to wane post-pandemic, he started carrying seltzers, hard teas, and NA options in addition to the wide range of brews for which the bars were known. Last year, he changed the name of his bars to DIVE in an effort to refresh the brand post-pandemic. And in the middle of all that he opened No Fun, a popular live music venue in Troy, and sold it after three years to spend more time with his kids.

Now, he’s changing things up again.

For starters, he’s going back to the name Pint Sized. “I’d been doing this for 10 years, and was like, maybe this is a good time to rebrand,” he says of his thinking in 2024. “I changed the name, and everyone’s like, ‘What are you doing?!’ People loved Pint Sized. And the business isn’t about me; the people that come to the space are really what makes a bar. So I took their feedback.”

While the Pint Sized name is back, the DIVE name isn’t necessarily going away. Rosa’s treating it like the umbrella company for his two bars as well as his live music booking business. (He still books shows at No Fun as well as at other venues around the Capital Region.) You can find info on the Saratoga and Albany Pint Sized locations as well as live shows on diveupstate.com and @diveupstate on Instagram.

No matter what you call it—Pint Sized, DIVE, or the more accurate yet slightly more verbose “DIVE Presents Pint Sized”—there’s an even bigger change on the horizon for the Saratoga bar. Later this year, it’s moving across town to a larger spot at 33 Phila Street, where Mittler’s is located now. Yes, that means owner Steve Mittler is closing up shop a year and a half after opening the hybrid market/restaurant.

“The community loves Mittler’s, but truth be told, I’m not loving what I’m doing,” Mittler says. “I built myself a job, don’t love it, so in a way, I’m resigning. When the opportunity came along to work with August, I asked myself those hard questions, and decided to work out a deal to assign my lease to him.” Mittler plans to stay open through October 1, at which point Rosa can get into the space to make some renovations before his target open date of December 1.

Rosa is thrilled to have locked in a new, larger location that gets more foot traffic and that will allow him to expand upon popular offerings that feel cramped in the current space. “There are memories here that I’m never going to forget,” he says of the tiny (or should we say pint-sized?) 489 Broadway location. “It’s treated us really well, but it’s a challenging space. We do a lot of things that aren’t conducive to the space. I’ve had a 10-piece band in here, which makes no sense—our capacity is 25. It’s fun and unique and quirky and people love it, but I’m definitely looking forward to having live music series and a comfortable place to do karaoke.”

With the increased square footage, Rosa is also considering adding a pool table, dart boards, and/or arcade machines, as well as food service, though that’s still TBD. Other than that, he hopes to preserve the essence and vibe of the Broadway location. “We still want it to feel like you’re having a party at your friend’s house,” he says. “That’s always been what we’ve tried to achieve here. We’re bringing all the photos on the walls, and probably all the old beer labels. The only thing that changes is that it’s in a much better, bigger location that’s in the thick of it. None of us are afraid. A big project like this should be like, ‘Oh my god.’ But I’ve never felt so confident in a decision ever.”