What Began As Summer Jobs

In 2006 Killpack was a sophomore in high school when he decided to take a job as a busboy at the newly opened Claws Seafood House in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “I joined the restaurant industry because I was looking for a supplemental night job that went with my day time pool lifeguard gig during the summer months,” shares Killpack.

June of 2007 was the summer before Anderson’s junior year in high school. He just wanted a break from the 105-degree heat, putting up exterior electric with his dad. His football trainer introduced him to the restaurant owner, Jeff Hamer, founder of the Fins Hospitality Group (FHG). Hamer, nicknamed the “Big Oyster” due to his love of oysters and the fact that his license plate happens to read Oyster1.

Family at Fins

The Fins Hospitality Group (FHG), respectfully named for Hamer’s first restaurant that he opened in Rehoboth, Delaware in 2005, has grown to include five restaurants and two breweries. Hamer’s philosophy of success? Family. According to their website, “Every employee, past and present, is a part of our family.”

With a company like that, both busboys stuck around. According to Killpack, “I have worked my way up pretty much through every role possible in the company up to this point <as head brewer.> As the company was growing, I was getting older. That meant working my way into roles with more and more responsibility.”

And for Anderson, “In between day one and now, I worked my way up through the back of the house, cooking in various roles, and upon graduating college, into a management role at Claws Seafood House, eventually becoming the general manager.”

From Restaurants to Breweries

Anderson recalls that he was working on ordering alcohol for the restaurants. Hamer approached him with his plan of opening more restaurants and the need to keep the beer/liquor costs tight. At that moment, according to Anderson, he told his boss he might as well build his brewery. Hamer asked him to research a rough estimate, and by 2015, their beer was on tap at Fins Ale House, the first brewery of FHG. With its success, Big Oyster Brewery was built along King’s Highway in Lewes, Delaware, giving the company more space to expand and be creative.

But opening a brewery wasn’t just an economical move. Hamer had toyed with that same idea but never had a group of grown-up busboys to make it happen. His real motive: “I wanted to pair great beers with great seafood. There are a lot of breweries that pair beer with burgers or steaks, but back in the day, it was common to enjoy a beer with your oysters. I wanted to bring that back and show that beer really is versatile and can go wonderfully with all types of cuisine.”

Bring in Andrew Harton, the one with some brewing experience. “I was an avid homebrewer since my Sophomore year in college, and I eventually became an Assistant Brewer for Iron Hill Brewery, and later a Lead Brewer. I met Jeff Hamer in 2015 through a mutual friend who told me he was interested in installing a small brewery in one of his restaurants.”

Harton recognized what was special about Hamer and FHG from day one. “The culture is what first caught my eye. At FHG, and the Delaware beaches in general, it is very relaxed, personable, and friendly. FHG also offered more creative freedom and independence, two characteristics I look for in a job. I was hired as a Head Brewer and recently transitioned into a Director of Brewing Operations Role.”

So how did Killpack and Anderson make the final jump from busboys to working in the brewing industry? “It was pretty much a coin flip between Red and me for which one of us was going to brew and which one was going to make sales,” shares Anderson. His flip landed him as Director of Sales at Big Oyster Brewery, and Killpack began to apprentice with Harton. Killpack states, “I was managing for the company as Big Oyster Brewing was coming together, but then I got the chance to take off the managing shoes and put on the brewer’s boots and work in the brewery with Andrew. Best move I ever made!”

Busboys to Brewers and Beyond

After just four years since its opening, Big Oyster Brewery ranked as the second fastest-growing brewery in America in 2019, according to the Brewers Association. So how to maintain that success?

For Killpack, “I’d like us to continue to serve our local market with a great product that people enjoy. As long as we are doing that, I think we are on the right path.”

For Anderson, “We’ve got some loyal supporters and a little bit of notoriety, but there’s still a ton of space for us to grow and expand into the craft beer market both locally and nationally.”

As for Hamer, the one who started it all with just a simple oyster house on the shore, “I think it is very important for us to have a shared vision between all of our people. We look at what grabs our interest, and we look at what the market is asking. Then we put two and two together and go for it. Our team loves beer and is very creative, really you need to let them do their thing, and good things will come. I hope to see the localization of beer continue. If people continue to drink local and support their local businesses, there will be plenty of customers to go around.”

The shared vision Hamer envisions is clear. A focus on the locals. Tourist season on the Delaware shore only lasts for the summer. Still, as any busboy knows, it’s the fantastic year-round residents that give their support, no matter the season.

The post Big Oyster Brewery: From Busboys to Brewers appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Needless to say, it’s a tough time for craft brewers in Hawaii.  

 “Our major revenue centers come from on-premise sales, either direct from our tap room or distribution to other bars and restaurants,” Lanikai Brewing Company Co-Founder, CEO and Brewer Steve Haumschild said. 

“For the first time in my 20-plus year career as an entrepreneur and 5-plus years in craft beer, I was not able to guarantee hours to my employees.” 

But the always-innovative Haumschild, known for his uber-local business strategies and brewing philosophy, didn’t like the idea of sitting on his hands during the shutdown. He was losing sleep over having to trim down his business and reduce his employees’ hours. He tried different methods of fundraising, including tip-matching. He worked with local legislators to get direct beer delivery to consumers temporarily approved. Still, it was not enough to support the brewery’s bottom line, and it became clear that he would need to do something different – drastically different – in order to keep his doors open and his staff employed.   

One thing that struck Haumschild about life in the new “pandemic” world was grocery shopping. People dash into stores to get what they need, bundled up in face masks and doing their best to remain six feet apart. Speaking with farmers, whom he typically works with to source fruit and other ingredients used in his beers, he discovered that their community supported agriculture programs, or CSAs, were growing exponentially – so much that a lot of them couldn’t keep up with demand. 

“I am sure nobody will be able to get out of their minds what it feels like to walk into a grocery store wearing a mask and trying to get out of there as fast as possible,” Haumschild said. “CSAs were on an overnight rise.”

This realization gave birth to a unique partnership. In early April, Lanikai Brewing Company opened its doors to multiple farms and CSA programs, turning its then-empty taproom into a pickup hub for fresh produce. With farms unable to meet the demands of all the deliveries, customers could come into Lanikai Brewing to pick up their produce – and perhaps buy a couple beers to go as well. 

Before long, the brewery was offering pickups three days per week, allowing them to bring more staff back on board and offer more hours. Food trucks, which usually post up outside the brewery, were invited to come back on these pickup days. 

“Consumers are coming into our tap room for produce and fruit which supports our local farmers, buying beer to go which supports our brewery staff, and grabbing dinner to go which supports our local food trucks,” Haumschild said.

It gets better. At first, the brewery was merely a pickup location for already-existing CSAs, a way to help out farmers and draw in potential to-go beer business. But the side hustle didn’t stop there for Haumschild. 

When he learned that the farmers still had excess product – extra crops that would normally be sold to local restaurants – he decided to create his own CSA, Keo and Company, to help sell the surplus. On its website, Haumschild has aggregated all the products one might find at a farmer’s market – produce, eggs, coffee, tea, jerky, and honey, among others – and is now offering them through the scope of the brewery. Customers can log on to the site and place an order that will then be delivered to their door in a cashless transaction. 

The genius in the arrangement, among other things, is that Lanikai Brewing’s employees are the ones who compile and deliver these boxes, which can also include a beer order. In this way, Haumschild has diversified his business, providing his employees with more hours from delivering, packing, sorting, and even harvesting, while at the same time expanding his reach as a brewery in lockdown. 

Leading by example, Haumschild is showing others that business can indeed be community-driven, connected, and sustainable – all it requires is a little flexibility, a little patience, and a willingness to think outside the box.  

“We are growing at an exponential rate, and if we continue, we will not only be able to provide hours for all of our staff, but potentially hire more,” Haumschild said. 

“Just because we are hurting does not mean we cannot help other people. While we have always prioritized our employees, partners and community, during this time we have done everything we can to support them however we can.”

The post How Community Supported Agriculture Helped One Hawaiian Brewer Adapt appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Relocating to a forlorn part of the city was a significant risk. The craft beer craze was still years away, and the idea of a brewery being an engine of economic development was a relatively untested model in most U.S. cities.

“We thought this was Milwaukee’s year, and we were really excited.” – Russ Klisch

The brewery, now a local landmark, has helped the neighborhood become a vibrant city district. The on-site tour usually welcomes more than 80,000 guests on an annual basis, making it one of the most marketable brewery tours in the country. Production capacity in the last couple of years has risen to more than 45,000 barrels of beer per year.

Up until a few months ago, the hardships and uncertainty of building a world-class brewery seemed like a distant memory.

“We thought this was Milwaukee’s year, and we were really excited,” says Russ Klisch. “We were supposed to have the Democratic National Convention and the Ryder Cup, besides festivals like Summerfest and the State Fair. We were looking forward to being in the spotlight all summer. We even had the Milwaukee Bucks looking like they were going to win the NBA Championship.”

As the weather began to warm up, 2020 was shaping up to be a great year.

“Tomorrow’s gonna be awesome,” read a March 11th tweet from Lakefront Brewery, posted with a flyer for their Belgian Quad release party.

That same day, news began to circulate that the World Health Organization had declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

Just 26 hours later, Lakefront Brewery tweeted that it would be closed until further notice.

“It all happened really quickly, and we reacted fast because we had to,” says Russ. “We have a big place here, so I knew closing might be necessary after I read a report that was forwarded to me that talked about other cities and the steep rise in cases there. There wasn’t too much information about it, but for me, I didn’t want to wait for other people to tell us to close to do the right thing.”

Doing the Right Thing 

Since closing its restaurant and tour to the public, the brewery has adapted its business to a post-quarantine existence. Part of this new normal involves launching public awareness initiatives.

“The closest thing to royalty Milwaukee ever had has been beer barons, so everybody is used to looking up to breweries,” says Russ. “Breweries are an obvious part of the community, and that’s why it is important when we have social issues like this virus come up that we brewery owners do things that are good for the neighborhood.” One of these good deeds involved giving away beer and steins to 3,000 healthcare workers during Milwaukee Day in April.

Russ is quick to admit that even after retooling the brewery, the situation is far from optimal. Then again, he reasons that having some pieces of the business functioning is better than a complete shutdown. “We’re doing curbside delivery of beer, which was complicated to get started because our laws weren’t set up for this kind of crisis,” says Russ. “The restaurant is only for carryout right now, but the limited menu is really popular and has been selling out. We also talked about having a virtual tour with our guides, but it’s like doing stand-up comedy without an audience. It’s just not the same.”

However, Lakefront has been producing another type of digital content during the pandemic: how-to videos. The first installment features executive chef Kristin Hueneke demonstrating techniques for baking Lakefront Lager Bread. “People are looking for things to do at home, right now,” says Russ. “These videos give them some fun ideas, and it also reminds them that our product is still around.”

Other challenges include dealing with perishability issues, supply chain setbacks, and maintaining equipment that does not hold up well when in states of disuse.

In terms of what the future holds, Russ continues to be optimistic. “I plan to still be here months from now and reopening is probably not going to be like the end of Prohibition, where all of a sudden things open up and everyone flocks to the bars,” he says, “but when the time comes, we will be here in whatever way we can be.”

Undoubtedly, the Three Stooges will be there, too, and maybe not wearing masks.

The post Lakefront Brewery’s Big Year, Interrupted appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

When Trouble Began Brewing

When news about the coronavirus got more serious in March, Trubble started seeing a slip in sales. But the brewery, which has two locations in Fort Wayne, both of which serve food (although its main location has a more extensive menu), was already taking measures. There were signs posted about hand washing and they were doing regular updates about sanitation with its employees.

“We had come up with about two to three contingency plans when the governor suspended dine-in services,” says Keli Hankee, co-owner with her brewmaster husband, Chad.

That order, which has since allowed for carry-out and delivery from restaurants, began on March 24. In a proactive move, Trubble had already laid off its 18 employees so they could start collecting unemployment. “We told them that if sales justified it, we would begin hiring them back,” says Hankee.

Still Selling Beer, Filling Growlers

With sales now down at the brewery, which in pre-virus times had regularly scheduled events from trivia to live music several times a week at its main location with numerous outdoor events on its pet-approved patios, Trubble decided to sell beer during limited hours Monday through Sunday. For a while, it was still filling growlers, and after a temporary halt at the end of April — “we were concerned about the number of COVID-19 cases expected to hit Indiana,” Hankee says —  started doing this again May 1. The brewery has been spraying customers’ growlers with a bleach solution for 30 seconds and rinsing them before refilling them.

The brewery also sells crowlers and crowler cans, and although it doesn’t have a canning machine, it’s using twist-off crowler cans, which Hankee calls a lifesaver. Trubble is charging customers $2 per can (on top of the beer), which covers its costs.

Adding Family Meals

Food sales then shifted to the weekends, as customers were allowed to carry out food or have it delivered Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to its regular menu of rice bowls, loaded fries and burgers, Trubble added family meals like meatloaf, mac and cheese, and lasagna to give people a better value per meal cost and reduce their contact when ordering out. The meals have been a hit.

Orders come in through the Toast app, but Trubble recently halted carry-out temporarily for the same reason it stopped filling growlers, although it’s offering select delivery with no charge to those who live within a 2-mile radius.

Giving back and going forward

So how has Trubble adjusted to these constant pivots? Surprisingly well, says Hankee, who even admits that at times it feels “relatively easy.” Before the virus she had to worry about promoting beer and food specials, beer releases and nightly events. Her biggest focus now is promoting online ordering through social media and other channels. Through its Facebook page, Hankee has started a vlog to keep customers up to date on Trubble’s happenings, and the brewery is hosting live music events where musicians play to a virtual audience, encouraging customers to buy its beers so they can sip to the beats at home.

Although the message is more streamlined and the community has been supportive, Trubble has had to slow its beer production, and its food and beer sales have taken a major hit.

“Like other breweries, our biggest cash flow is April through September, and we have to bank money in the summer to keep paying our bills in the winter,” she says. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales have been cut by 75 to 85 percent.

Staying As Positive As Possible

But they’re getting by and giving back to their employees and the community. Hankee set up a GoFundMe account for her employees and has already distributed funds to its employees. And recently, Trubble started its Pans for a Pandemic. Every week, 5 percent of its revenues is donated toward food ingredients, and the Trubble culinary team creates a hot meal for those on the front lines. The community can nominate a group for these free meals.

As of press time, nine employees have been rehired, and Trubble is looking to increase that number in the next two weeks. Until then, Hankee is continuing to explore new ways to find business and stay as positive as possible.

“I’m just trying to stay focused on what we can do and not worry about the future – too much,” she says.

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Metro Atlanta is home to a thriving LGBTQAI center. Though Atlanta proper has served as the epicenter for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual or allied community, many have moved south of the city into the Tri-Cities area. The Tri-Cities area originally encompassed East Point, Hapeville, and College Park but has grown to include Forest Park, Union City, and other surrounding cities.

Like others, Jamie Miles moved from the city of Atlanta to the Tri-Cities area. When asked what attracted him to the southside of the city, Miles says, “Tri-Cities offers an affordable lifestyle that is rich in culture and diversity. It’s growing very fast and has a strong community feel.”

And while many enjoy life on the southside of Atlanta, there’s one thing missing. “Tri-Cities is great but we don’t have a gay bar or anything on the southside of town,” says Miles. Atlanta has a bustling LGBTQAI bar scene that allows people from the neighborhood to socialize openly without prejudice. So Miles had an idea to bring together LGBTQAI residents on the southside.

A Safe Haven for the LGBTQAI Community

Miles approached Ashley Henry, the Tasting Room and Events Manager at Arches Brewing, with the idea for Arches to host the LGBTQIA Mix & Mingle, and she immediately said yes.

Similar to gay bars around the world, the mixer provides a safe haven for anyone in spite of their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. “It’s an opportunity to mix and mingle with fellow neighbors in the LGBTQAI community,” says Miles. And having the mixer at a brewery gives LGBTQAI members the flexibility to make it a family affair since kids and dogs are allowed.

The mixer has already had a positive effect on the people in the Tri-Cities area. Miles shared a story about a couple who has lived in the area for the last three years. While the couple has visited other businesses in the area, at the mixer, they knew they were in a safe space where they could hug each other in public without any repercussions.

“You could tell there was something missing [in the neighborhood] by the amount of people that came. There was a big void in this community for this type of an event, so it’s been great to see …not only do we want to reach out and meet other people in our community, but give opportunities for people to connect,” says Henry.

Arches Brewing’s Commitment to Giving

Wanting to do even more, Arches Brewing offered to donate $1 from every pint to an LGBTQAI-affliated charity. Each month, Miles and Henry select a non-profit to donate to.

For the first mixer, Arches Brewing donated to Rainbow House Coalition, an organization dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQAI members. The duo plans to donate to Alphabet Soup Atlanta, a transgender support group focused on helping individuals who are transitioning midcareer.

Later this year, Arches Brewing will host a kick-off party for the 50th Annual Atlanta Pride Parade. On October 3rd, the weekend before the Atlanta Pride Parade, Arches Brewing will host an all-day pride event featuring live music, comedy show, art, drag performances, food trucks, and a special beer release in honor of the festivities.

In the future, the duo would like to bring an interactive component to the mixer by providing food and beer pairings. They also would like to partner with other businesses in the area to increase interaction with the LGBTQAI community.

The post Arches Brewing Opens Doors to LGBTQAI Community appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

While being a brewery owner was not a specific life goal of his, Sharad knew he wanted to stop travelling for his job as an executive at Samsung in New Jersey every week. He wanted to put down roots in his wife’s hometown of Milwaukee and to be present in raising their 10-year-old son. This became a possibility when Sharad started talking with an acquaintance named Randy Sprecher, whose brewery that shares his last name is the oldest craft beer operation in Wisconsin. Randy was looking to retire and Sharad knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.

On the surface, Randy and Sharad couldn’t be more different. Randy was born in 1947 in Oregon and grew up in rural Southern California. Sharad was born in 1972 in the state of Punjab, India, where the men in his family worked in the equivalent of the secret service for the Indian Prime Minister. Their differing histories make for an interesting intersection made possible by the craft brewing industry.

How It All Began

Randy started his brewery after being fired from Pabst in 1984. He worked his way through city and industry politics to secure a former tannery building in Milwaukee’s historic Walker’s Point neighborhood along a canal of the Menomonee River  in 1985. Randy wanted to create beer like he had tasted during his time in the military serving in Germany – styles like Vienna lager and hefeweizen that didn’t exist in Milwaukee at that time.

Craft brewery marketing in 1985 was a far cry from today’s constant social media onslaught. Randy’s hope was that word of mouth would be enough. He said, “People would come just to see what was going on. I’d say, ‘there’s the tap, help yourself.’” That’s how tours were run in the early days of Sprecher Brewery, with patrons sampling products and Randy enlightening them to the challenges of building a brewery from scratch. He would show them his vats and other equipment, most of which was recycled from the dairy industry. As business grew, Randy was continually expanding his operation into other parts of the building.

Sprecher Brewery moved to its present location in nearby Glendale in 1994 as the original brewery building was battling erosion caused by its canal-side location. As Sprecher has grown throughout the years – not only through its beer, but also through its famed root beer and soda lineup – the brewery has become a steadfast member of the family of companies that Milwaukee is known for.

A Milwaukee Icon

Indeed, Sharad sees Sprecher Brewery as something that Milwaukee should be known for even further. It was important to Randy that the brewery remain in independent local hands. Sharad also sees the potential of what Randy built for the craft community stating, “If we can keep it independent and Milwaukee based, but grow all over the country and the world – hey, more good comes for everybody.”

Just as Randy learned the trade of brewing through working in various departments at Pabst, Sharad is making comparable efforts at Sprecher, coming in early every morning to take in the sights, sounds and understanding of what it means to own a large craft brewery. You can often find him taking video of the operation, knowing that the facility is in use and therefore benefiting the company, its employees, and the customers.

Challenges are also something that Randy and Sharad have in common when it comes to the brewery. When Randy started his brewery in 1985, he had to battle the brewing giants of Miller and Pabst to get his beer on shelves and at certain venues and events like Milwaukee’s annual Summerfest music festival. While distribution challenges still remain in the craft beer industry today, it seems that Sharad will have tests of his own in this new era of craft beer. Certainly, he didn’t think that less than two months after his purchase of the brewery that a global pandemic would force his brewery to suspend tours and scale back taproom operations in charting an unknown path forward.

A New Legacy

Future challenges aside, the sale of Sprecher Brewery represents the changing of the guard in Milwaukee craft beer from the first generation to the next. This is emphasized by the fact that Milwaukee, and all of Wisconsin, finally has a large brewery owner of color, something that had not been attempted in Milwaukee since the 1960s. Undeniably, it is something to celebrate that in a new era of brewery consolidation where macros are snapping up micros, Sprecher found a way to remain independent.

As for how Sharad feels about taking the helm of Milwaukee’s oldest craft brewery, it’s something he embraces. On his first day he found Randy’s old business cards in his desk, something that Sharad says will remain where he found them as a nod to the brewery’s founder and everything that came before him. “I believe it’s a big responsibility on my shoulder to carry that legacy of good quality products,” Sharad remarks. “When he started, there wasn’t great beer made or craft beer at all in Wisconsin or anywhere, and he just made this great beer. Now we’re going to continue that.”

The post A New Era of Craft Beer in Milwaukee appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

An accountant by day, craft brewer by night, Miller says that his college passion for brewing eventually led him to seek brewing as his chosen profession. So, he and his brother set the wheels in motion by forming an LLC for Crazy Gnome Brewery in 2017 but didn’t sign a lease until June 2019. Previously a transmission shop, it was going to need a complete overhaul. But, because of its prime location, it seemed a no-brainer. “I had every intention of opening before Christmas but didn’t realize how many government bodies were involved in opening legally. That’s me showing my ignorance having not done this before,” he says. 

The red tape had cleared, and the brothers thought, “it had all blown over.” So, they brewed their first batch on Sunday, March 1, 2020, which took 11 hours to brew because they were trying to write a handbook as they went along with documenting the day. The following Tuesday changed everything, and by 2:30 am, Miller was painfully aware of such a destructive game-changer. 

“My first thought after mentally checking my brother off the list was if I had paid the insurance bill, and thankfully I did,” remembers Miller. 

Meanwhile, he had not yet seen pictures of the tornado’s damage as his phone was blowing up from friends and family. All he could text back was, “Everyone is alive, but the brewery fell in its path.” His contractor was among the many receiving this message who immediately ordered dumpsters to be delivered. 

Over the next three days, Miller remembers a conscious stream of men riding in on personal bobcats, groups loading the dumpster with debris, and even a group helping him pour the first 800 pounds of half-fermented beer out onto the brewhouse’s sloped floor with great reverence.”It smelled good and was foamy. So, I grabbed a pint glass,” he says that no one was thinking of the deadly virus quite yet and shared in a communal taste.  The Crazy Gnome YouTube video marking the occasion garnered him a flurry of media attention that prompted others to pitch in.

Canadian breweries sent care packages of beers and snacks to keep his morale up. Local breweries like Southern Grist, Black Abbey, Bearded Iris, Tailgate, and the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild all reached out. “I’m a little bummed to join the industry in dire need right off the bat. I wanted to be one of those people that helped. I’m just flabbergasted that I’m not even open yet, and the industry has been so welcoming. I think that our collaborative nature as an industry is what is going to keep our industry afloat in these challenging times,” says Miller. 

As many industries experience the global destruction of COVID-19, it will take the love of the community to rebuild a new normal. If independent craft brewers have anything to say about it, the world will have more than enough to raise a pint or two in celebrating the resilient human spirit.   

Grayson’s inaugural brew was a Kolsch. He says that when Crazy Gnome Brewery finally opens, it will be on permanent rotation as Kalamity Kolsch.

The post Crazy Gnome Brewery Cleans Up After Devastating Tornado appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Though the mistake sounds preposterous now, the year was 1997, and Carol was one of the very few female head brewers in the country. Today, Stoudt says of The Lancaster Dispensing Co., “They’re still a lovely account of mine but that was funny,” and notes that otherwise she’s very rarely tripped over gender assumptions in the 33 years since she opened Stoudts on her family’s land in rural Adamstown, Pennsylvania, 63 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Carol Stoudt Announces Her Retirement

Sadly for the millions of fans she’s developed since launching in 1987 as one of the very first female brewmasters since Prohibition, that bar, along with all others across her sales territory, will stop selling Stoudts beers once it runs through any remaining inventory. In February, the 70-year-old announced she would mostly retire from brewing and shut down Stoudts, save the minuscule quantities she’ll continue to make for the Black Angus Restaurant–also located on the property and owned and operated by Ed since 1962.

“I won’t be working 80-to-90 hours a week,” she says.

Stoudt says sales of her traditional German- and English-style beers have slowed in the past few years. And she really wants to start traveling more for pleasure (especially domestically) and spending more time with her five children and their kids.

(More: Why I Love to Cook with Pilsner Beer)

“I really have to take one day at a time. I love to cook, perfect recipes, read. I haven’t had time,” she says, noting that she’s spent a lot of her recent hours giving press interviews.

Queen of Hops

Those interviews would have more than likely included a question or two about her role as the self-titled “Queen of Hops”–one of the original and most famous female leaders in craft beer. To show how increasing numbers of women gradually entered the industry after she did, she credits Oregon malt innovator Teri Fahrendorf for starting the Pink Boots Society in 2007 to empower the working women of beer and observes that she herself was one of the first women to judge the Great American Beer Festival® Competition.

Now, she says, “I think it’s almost 50/50. … I’m glad more women who have passion for beer go into it. It’s nice to have a balance.”

The Best Part of Craft Beer is the People

Looking back at her overall experience in the industry, the former kindergarten teacher says though she does love educating beer lovers on flavors and styles, the best part of her career has been the people.

“I love the passion of the people that make fabulous beers and the people who’ve enjoyed them over the years,” she says. “I really think there was a lot of personal growth for me. I enjoyed being around all ages and applauding the beers they’re making.”

(Related: Female Brewing Pioneers and Innovators Talk Gender Equality in Craft Brewing)

Always active and rarely one to reflect wistfully on the past, Stoudt says she’ll probably pop up at beer events now and again. She’d like to sell her 30-barrel brewing system or rent the space and equipment to another brewer. She’ll hang on to her two-barrel pilot system for the restaurant but doesn’t know yet how much beer she’ll make or which styles, though she suspects she’ll keep brewing certain classics like Golden Lager, Pils, American Pale Ale, Gearshifter IPA and Fat Dog Stout.

“I do love beer and its people. It makes me smile. It keeps me young.” Carol Stoudt

She does know that all of her brewers have already found new jobs and her sales manager is staying on, for now, to help wind things down and maybe take on a new role at the family complex that will continue to house the restaurant, plus the German bier hall, antiques mall and bakery. He could produce beer events or work directly under Stoudt if she decides to eventually contract brew or boost production, just a bit, beyond the restaurant.

She does hint that she’d like to keep supplying beer to McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philadelphia. It’s her longest-running account and one of the oldest continuously operating bars in America. Not only does the tavern advertise that it sells more Stoudts on draft than any other pub in Pennsylvania, but it also doesn’t hide the fact that the brewery makes its three house beers, McGillin’s Real Ale, McGillin’s Genuine Lager and McGillin’s 1860 IPA.

“I would love to keep serving them,” Stoudt says. “Can you imagine someone being that loyal?”

Not long after Stoudt announced her retirement, Pennsylvania craft old guard Sly Fox Brewing announced the release of a Stoudts collaboration beer called Black Lager packaged in a plain 16-ounce can. Brewed to honor Stoudt’s legacy, the collaboration suggests that one might get chances to drink her beer through similar endeavors with others going forward.

“I mean, I do love beer and its people,” she says. “It makes me smile. It keeps me young.”

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“I really didn’t know what direction to go in,” Swanson, 32, says. “After he passed away, it really put things into perspective where you just realize that anything can happen at any moment.”

It was one of those cinematic and cliche “What do I do now?” moments. Looking for a job that would help, however slightly, fulfill a deep void, Swanson began sending resumes out to local breweries. Jester King, a local Austin brewery specializing in farmhouse-style beers, was the first to respond and the craft brewing world is lucky for the cosmic coincidences that paired them together.

Averie Swanson’s Rise at Jester King

The fact that she fell in love with mixed fermentation didn’t surprise Swanson. She graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in biology, so she already possessed a proclivity toward obsessive note taking and experimentation.

“I’m drawn to the exploration of mixed culture,” she says. “In some beer, you can pitch one type of yeast and more or less know what the final product will taste like. Using mixed culture, there’s an unpredictability. I like to call it a ‘collaborative engagement with organisms.’ That’s interesting to me.”

Working at Jester King seemed to be a perfect marriage of this continual pursuit of experimentation and creative autonomy. Swanson can recall the exact day — it was her mom’s birthday — that she felt she’d found her proverbial calling. It was a day spent at the Jester King doing the manual labor of love that so often goes unseen in the world of craft brewing.

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“We probably started at 2 p.m. and ended at 2:30 in the morning,” she says. “We were all working really hard, drinking good beer, and having a good time. At the end of the night, we were eating pizza off cardboard boxes because we didn’t have any plates. It was one of those unique experiences where you’re surrounded by very kind, very smart people. It was just a vortex of creative energy.”

Over the course of Swanson’s tenure, the Austin outfit became a critical darling, commercial success, and certified beer geek destination in the years since it launched in 2011, and Swanson’s tireless work ethic and attention to detail no doubt contributed.

“[Averie is] highly respected for her talent, as well as her academic approach and accomplishments,” says Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company in Maine, another brewery that specializes in mixed fermentation beers. “She’s given great presentations; she’s accredited. She’s regarded as an international authority of mixed fermentation beers. We’re so happy we’ve been able to work with her as much as we have.”

Always the traveler, Swanson has brewed beer in the mountains of Japan and the Italian countryside. In fact, her reputation as a brewer might only be surpassed by her reputation amongst her friends. She’s equal parts adventurous and outgoing, with a tendency to get introspective; She can seem intimidatingly inquisitive and bright, but is quick to laugh and there lies an accessibility in her voice.

“Averie has a universal charisma,” says John Laffler, co-owner of Chicago’s Off Color Brewing, who often appears on Swanson’s Instagram feed. “She’s one of my favorite people.”

“She is so much fun,” says Adams. “She’s open-minded. The way she approaches the world and her art, there’s this kind of trifecta of adventure, intelligence, and being fascinating to talk to.”

Swanson found herself traveling the world and drinking in everything it had to offer. But even when a person is doing what they love and is surrounded by people who share that same energy and enthusiasm, there comes a time to pump the brakes and reassess where the vehicle is headed.

(More: Denver Beer Co Participates in State of Colorado Pilot Program to Capture and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions)

And so for the second time in her beer life, she found herself evaluating who she was and where she was going. For Swanson, it all added up: Her long-time, long-distance boyfriend lived in Chicago; She’d just passed her Master Cicerone exam in 2018; She had become one of the industry’s more widely-respected voices. The wind was at her back.

In 2018, she left Jester King and Austin behind, and moved to the Land of Lincoln.

“I knew if I took the risk and left, I’d have a lot of momentum,” she says. “It felt like it was the right time for me to quit and move and make a change.”

Her New Chapter in Chicago

She took almost an entire year off to get acclimated into Chicagoland, particularly the food and drinks scene, and to a climate much different than the one she’d lived in her entire life. Then one day, she walked into a brewery.

The way Half Acre founder Gabe Magliaro tells it, the story sounds like a western: Wyatt Earp rolling into town, but instead of a badge and a six shooter, Swanson was carrying a recipe book and an idea. The two spoke in Half Acre’s Lincoln Avenue taproom about her ambitions for Chicago, creatively and professionally, and how her new project–named Keeping Together–can exist within the walls of Half Acre.

Keeping Together essentially allows for Swanson to execute her creative and brewing vision through recipes of her own creation. Magliaro was more than happy to be able to provide Swanson with space within the walls of his own brewery.

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“We’ve known [Averie] for a long time and had a deep respect for who she is as an individual and what she was hoping to accomplish creatively,” says Magliaro. “From all angles, up and down, this is good. Just to be around [the Keeping Together project], to observe what she does, we are very fortunate.”

Keeping Together, which came together in the early summer of 2019, is energizing to Swanson. She’s not working 80 hours a week. She’s been able to reevaluate what she wanted her own life to look like. She’d been jaded with the current state of beer and Keeping Together is her response.

“Beer culture has become something I’m less interested in,” she admitted. “Ticking beers, not interested in enjoying the beers, or the company they’re in while they’re drinking those beers. This is my personal response. I want to make beers that are small batch, enjoyable. I’m making them here in Chicago. There will be a little distro, but if you want to enjoy them, come to Chicago and drink them with us.

“I’m not trying to make serious beer. I chose 750 mL bottles less for the larger volumes and more for the reason that they’re more likely to be shared. I want them on the tables at dinners with friends,” she says. “I enjoy the idea of sharing. It’s not intended to drink [the] entire bottle. It’s something that should be shared.”

(More: Craft Brewers Find Flavor and Flexibility with Rice)

In typical Swanson fashion, she chose to make her grand re-entrance into the beer world overwrought with splashy releases of high ABV bombs in the most antithetical-to-that way: by making a 3% ABV table beer called The Art of Holding Space. All jokes aside, it’s perfectly Swanson, says Magliaro.

“The beer is not a huge exclamation point,” he says. “Everything is intentional for her. She wanted to invest in nuance and subtlety—come out with a bang without having the beer be incredibly loud. [It] says everything about how she wants Keeping Together to be. This is the type of liquid she wants to make. She’d rather them exist peacefully within someone’s day.”

“[The Table Beer] is a bold and interesting choice,” notes Laffler, perhaps Swanson’s most ardent cheerleader. “It’s one of the things I respect about her. It’s a style most people won’t give a f*** about. The trends she’s looking at aren’t mainstream trends. The Chicago brewing scene is very current, very trend following. For me, having one more of those people who goes against that, who is good at it, and who I love? I’m very happy.”

“I’m very fortunate to make the beer I want to make in the way I want to make them,” Swanson says with characteristic modesty. “There’s not a huge risk. It’s a dream come true.”

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Among those at the incubator are two powerhouse brewers, Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty. The two now-friends have formed a strong bond over their love of beer and a shared vision that craft beer can bring beauty to communities where other people may only see disadvantage.

The story starts about 20 years ago in Harlem, New York.

Celeste Beatty’s Harlem Brewing

A century ago, Harlem served as a cultural mecca for many black writers, artists, poets, and singers. The city provided a haven from the oppressive cloud of the Jim Crow South and allowed black culture and social activism to thrive.

This movement expanded to many areas of the country and across the world to Paris. Even after the Harlem Renaissance, the neighborhood continues to hold meaningful significance to the black community. It should come as no surprise that the city that birthed the Harlem Renaissance would become home to the first black woman in the U.S. to own a brewery since the craft beer boom.

One day, Celeste Beatty pulled a homebrew kit she’d received as a gift out of the closet of her Harlem studio apartment. Her first batch of beer didn’t turn out well, but she didn’t give up on perfecting the recipe.

Beatty’s passion for beer grew, allowing her to combine her love for food, gardening, and community into one glass. Inspired by surrounding entrepreneurs, Beatty opened Harlem Brewing in 2000. Beatty describes it as a lonely landscape. There weren’t many independently-owned breweries in the region at the time–Brooklyn Brewing and Boston Beer Company were among a small handful. When she shared her plan to open the brewery with others, they couldn’t understand how Beatty would be able to compete with more established breweries.

Luckily, Beatty had the support of the neighborhood and people in it, including Sylvia “The Queen of Soul Food” Woods, founder and owner of the soul food eatery Sylvia’s Restaurant. The restaurant put Beatty’s beers on the map. The Woods family gave her the chance she needed to get her business off the ground.

Since then, Beatty has created beers that celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Harlem, including 125 IPA named for 125th Street, the main thoroughfare through Harlem; 125th street is home to the Studio Museum Harlem, the first museum devoted to works of art from artists of African descent and other notable buildings, including the Apollo Theater.

Though Beatty has a strong love for Harlem’s history and culture, eventually she would find herself back in her birth state of North Carolina.

(More: Women Flourish in Atlanta’s Craft Beer Scene)

Briana Brake: Blending Afrofuturism with Craft Beer

In 2013, Briana Brake was in the midst of law school in North Carolina when her love for homebrewing began. When Brake’s mother became sick, she had to put law school on hold, but she was able to devote more time to homebrewing. The more she worked at it, the better her beer got, and she soon realized that she didn’t want to go back to law school.

Brake started researching whether she could turn her new passion into a career. During her research, Brake came across an article about Beatty. Being a Durham native, she was excited to see that Beatty was also originally from North Carolina and had attended Shaw University.

In fall 2016, Beatty was judging on a business panel at Shaw University. It was there that the women met and immediately hit it off. Days later, Brake invited Beatty to help her brew a batch of beer. Things started falling into place, and Brake realized she could make her dream of brewing professionally a reality.

Brake would eventually create Spaceway Brewing. The name is an ode to Afrofuturism, an unapologetic imagining of arts, culture, and technology-infused with ancient African traditions and black identity. One well-known example of Afrofuturism is Marvel’s blockbuster “Black Panther,” a film that blends African culture with technology.

Brake recognizes the parallels between the scarce representation of minorities in pop culture and the craft beer industry. With the Spaceway brand, Brake says she hopes to “destroy the space between us” through craft brewing education, innovation, events, and community ownership. But first, she needed a home for Spaceway Brewing to grow and take flight.

(More: Founders of Montclair Brewery Celebrate Culture Through Craft Beer)

The Ghosts and the Beauty of Rocky Mount

A year after the two women met, Beatty spoke on a homebrewing panel during the Art of Cool Festival in Durham, North Carolina. Following the festival, the duo met with Sebastian Wolfrum, executive brewmaster for the Rocky Mount Mills, to discuss the brewery incubator space at the historic Rocky Mount Mills. Brake’s grandparents were from Rocky Mount so she was familiar with the area, but she was hesitant. It had a history she found hard to confront.

In a story that’s all too familiar, Rocky Mount depended on the cotton mill named for the town. Built in 1816 by enslaved people, the Rocky Mount Mill once served as the top-tier business for the area. When textile manufacturing moved overseas in the 70s, the mill struggled to stay afloat and eventually closed in 1996, striking a severe blow to the town’s economy. In the 80s, Rocky Mount’s downtown experienced urban decay, and the area deteriorated.

The history of the Rocky Mount Mill was a struggle for both women. Over its three decades of operations, the mill thrived from using a black workforce. Enslaved and freed blacks built and worked in the mill until the Civil War where they created uniforms for Confederate soldiers. For Beatty and Brake, the mill’s history hangs thick in the air forever reminding them of the past.

“I stepped foot on the ground, and it was beautiful, but I still had the weight of knowing what it was before. This place has a lot of ghosts that are not being talked about,” says Brake.

“You feel the spirit of the people every day,” says Beatty.

Since the town’s decline in the 80s, the city has grappled with having an unfavorable reputation, but Rocky Mount is now undergoing revitalization. In 2007, Capitol Broadcasting Company purchased the 82-acre campus to develop a mixed-use community that would include restaurants, lofts, event space, and a brewery incubator. The Rocky Mount Mill restoration will not only provide a space for the community to live, work, play and connect, but to change the perception of the town.

For Beatty, there were many connections between her first brewery, Harlem Brewing, and Rocky Mount Brewing. Both started in neighborhoods seen as undesirable because of their reputation as dangerous areas. From experience, Beatty understands that an area’s reputation doesn’t always reflect the true heart of the community. Rocky Mount is also the birthplace of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, and Beatty couldn’t say no to brewing in the same hometown of a legend.

“There are beautiful people in places that have challenges.” Celeste Beatty

“There are beautiful people in places that have challenges,” shares Beatty.

Beatty and Brake moved into the brewery incubator with the caveat that they would work with the owners to acknowledge the Rocky Mount Mills’ solemn history.

Fostering Inclusion and Growing Community at Rocky Mount Brewing

The incubator allows startup breweries to work on their craft without the immediate need for expensive equipment since the space includes everything they need to get started. The incubator includes a contract production facility that allows brewers to brew, ferment, keg, can/bottle, and distribute. The space is home to six breweries, including Rocky Mount Brewing.

Craft breweries are a big draw in North Carolina. According to the Brewers Association, North Carolina is home to more than 290 breweries and brewpubs. Only six other states have more breweries than North Carolina. With that, Rocky Mount Brewery is one of two black-owned breweries in the state of North Carolina and one of less than 50 women and minority-owned breweries in the country. Briana is the head brewer and CEO, while Celeste is the co-brewer and adviser.

Under the Rocky Mount Brewing name, Brake brews for Spaceway Brewing and Harlem Brewing South. The current focus is to open a taproom in the downtown area of Rocky Mount. Eventually, Brake plans to outgrow the incubator and return to Durham to open her own space.

Beatty and Brake share a love of beer and encouraging community growth while celebrating black culture both past and future.

“People of every culture have reached out to us. We’re all united by beer and [a desire for] community,” says Beatty.

Beatty and Brake hope to bring a festival to the area and open up mentoring opportunities for women interested in brewing and the craft beer industry. Their goal is to provide more educational and training events and foster more diversity in the brewhouse.

The post Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty on Ghosts and Beauty in Rocky Mount, NC appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Culturally, beer is a part of us,” says Denise Ford-Sawadogo, co-owner and general manager of the brewery. “My husband [and head brewer/co-owner] Leo is from West Africa, where there is just a wealth of culture.”

Ford-Sawadogo acknowledges that in West Africa, it’s traditionally the women who do the brewing. But her husband is a chef by training and has a vast knowledge of the fruits, plants, herbs, and ingredients that are unique to that part of the world. Ford-Sawadogo was born in Brooklyn, the first in her family to have been born outside their native Jamaica, and grew up on Long Island in a household dominated by kitchen smells of hibiscus and coconut.

“We and our beer are very inspired by our culture,” she says.

For evidence, look no further than Baobiere, a golden ale from Montclair Brewery which is a mainstay on tap and is packaged in cans. Baobiere is brewed with fruit from the baobab tree, a tree native to parts of Madagascar and Africa, and is often referred to as the “Tree of Life.”

“Only Leo would know about [brewing with] that fruit,” she says, laughing.

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In fact, the brewery’s beer menu is typically full of beers that reflect their upbringing from Hibiscus Dream, a pale ale brewed with the flower. Kingston Porter is a beer named for Jamaica in honor of Ford-Sawadogo’s family history.

Denise and Leo recognize there aren’t many Caribbean or West African natives in the U.S. craft brewing world, but Denise says that motivates them to make sure everyone feels welcome and comfortable coming into the brewery.

“We pride ourselves on making our guests feel comfortable,” she says. “We are appealing to larger audiences.”

Montclair Brewery’s Black History Month Beers

Staying true to their vision to connect with culture through craft beer, Montclair Brewing is releasing a series of beers for Black History Month that pays homage to some of the black Americans that created lasting cultural legacies. For the husband and wife, Black History Month is a chance to “openly and proudly honor all the great accomplishments that people of African descent have contributed to the world,” Ford-Sawadogo says.

“We are aware of these great accomplishments all year round, but February gives us the platform to elevate the message.”

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Sawadogo created Tubman Railroad Strawberry Ale as a nod to Harriet Tubman’s favorite snack. The brewery is also releasing a beer honoring Larry Doby, the second player to break the Major League Baseball color barrier when he was signed to the Cleveland Indians in 1947, a few months after Jackie Robinson started for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He spent the years at the end of his life in Montclair.

“Doby is a historical figure,” Ford-Sawadogo says. “He is not as well-known as Jackie Robison, but there are tons of achievements. Plus it is the Negro League 100th anniversary this year. We thought this is the year to honor someone from that league.”

Other beers Montclair Brewing is offering during Black History Month are the Motherland, a gluten-free beer made with sorghum, a traditional style of beer brewed in Africa, and the MB Pecan Stout, which connects the history of African-Americans and pecans. A former slave, known only as Antoine, is regarded to have developed the technique used to grow pecan orchards.

The husband and wife duo have also planned to honor their culture by hosting a series of events featuring weekly acts that celebrate music of the African heritage like reggae, hip-hop, and calypso. Ford-Sawadogo believes that music, like beer, can connect people.

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“We think our music helps [bring people together],” she says. “Musicians have a following, so they come into our brewery and get introduced to craft beer. For many people, it’s their first time in a brewery. It’s an opportunity for us to tell them about what we do.”

Music and beer can be the bridge between people who may not typically be seated at the same table, taking in a culture that might not be their own.

“And whether you’re a person who goes to breweries on weekends or if you’re a person just coming to see a band you like, we want everyone to feel welcome,” Ford-Sawadogo says.

In many taprooms, the beer can inspire the culture within the walls. At Montclair Brewery, the Sawadogos are intent on making the opposite true.

The post Founders of Montclair Brewery Celebrate Culture Through Craft Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Inspired by Failure

Peetz graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in sustainable development. A friend gave him a homebrew kit for graduation, and he started brewing his own beer. His first beer was an amber ale. It wasn’t good.

“It was an absolute failure,” he says. Regardless, he was excited. He realized brewing was the perfect blend of science and art.

He also loved the fact that brewing was something anyone could do.

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“There’s no barrier to brewing,” says Peetz. “The field is open and level for everyone.”

Fermentation and yeast became a passion. He kept trying and experimenting—even after he exploded five gallons of beer all over his house and harvested dandelions for an infused beer (which was also terrible).

He returned to school and obtained a Master of Science in biology in 2012. During his studies, he worked with a researcher specializing in the science of brewing. He fell in love with beer and never looked back.

A Career in Yeast

Over the years, Peetz has specialized in yeast at a range of organizations and businesses, from the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus to the Brewing Science Institute to Gevo, a biofuels company. In 2015, he co-founded a brewing business that grew bigger than he wanted and took him away from working with yeast, so he left to start a new company in 2018—Propagate Lab, LLC in Golden, Colorado.

At Propagate, Peetz focuses on quality, openness and a full range of yeast strains. Unlike many labs, Propagate welcomes visitors.

“We have an open lab,” says Peetz. “We’re transparent and want people to see how our product is made.”

There are 65 different yeasts in the catalog, although Peetz has a list of more than 200. He calls himself a hoarder when it comes to yeast.

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“It’s kind of like having a zoo,” he says. “All these creatures do something different.”

Even so, he says 90 percent of what people buy is about a handful of yeast strains.

In addition to yeast, Propagate sells bacteria to breweries to produce acidity and tartness for sour beers. It offers a kit for seltzers, an area of growth for craft breweries. Peetz also advises breweries on fermentation, equipment, recipe creation and more.

“Matthew really knows what he’s doing and always has great suggestions on what yeast strain to use for a particular style beer,” says owner and brewer Jason Bilodeaux of Over Yonder Brewing Company in Golden and a Propagate client. He reached out to Peetz based on positive word of mouth reviews. “He’s also very approachable, which is important to me being new to this industry,” says Bilodeaux.

More Ways to Share His Knowledge

These days, Peetz is an accomplished brewer who not only advises craft breweries, but also teaches. He began lecturing in Denver-based Regis University’s Applied Craft Brewing Certificate Program when it started in 2014. Three years later, he became its first permanent director.

He shares his passion for yeast with his students, colleagues and clients.

“Yeast is the least respected ingredient,” he says, “yet it’s the most complicated one.”

He notes that yeast makes 10,000 different flavor compounds and wants people to know how much it contributes to beer’s flavor. His mantra is that brewers make the wort—the sugar water at the beginning of the brewing process—and yeast makes the beer.

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Kelissa Hieber, head brewer and owner at Goldspot Brewing Company in Denver, agrees. She completed the certificate program in 2015 and now teaches in it. She’s also a Propagate client.

Hieber uses yeast blends for Goldspot’s unique beer styles and has worked with Peetz to create the perfect flavor profile and balance. She partnered with him on one brewing collaboration that used a yeast at a much lower temperature than normal, which changed the beer entirely.

“We would have never thought to use the yeast in that way without Matthew,” she says, “and the beer was amazing.”

Peetz also uses his knowledge to provide feedback to brewers as a professional beer judge. He’s been judging homebrew competitions for about five years and served as a judge at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival.

In addition to working with yeast, he loves being part of the tight-knit brewing industry and knowing his customers.

“Most people see other brewers as collaborators, not competitors,” says Peetz. “Plus, you’re making something you get to enjoy in the process.”

The post Matthew Peetz Says Working with Yeast is a Little Like Running a Zoo appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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“The quality when you get a beer that’s perfectly conditioned and perfectly served,” says Arnott, “When that’s done right the level of that beer drinking experience is better than any one I have found.”

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From Conflict Zones to Community Change

Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum and her husband Robert Rivers worked in conflict zones including South Sudan, Lebanon, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia for two decades. Fernanda’s background in trauma psychology led her down a path to help people. Native Montanan Robert left home when he was 19 to build houses in Tijuana, Mexico for the community with a local nongovernmental organization (NGO). The two met in Romania training for an organization called Nonviolent Peaceforce, which aims to protect civilians against violence.

“We’d both had symptoms of PTSD and secondary trauma, burnout,” Fernanda says. “We needed a solid break from that work at that time. And we were together enough that we felt that we wanted a home base — that we hadn’t had for a long time.”

In Brazil, where Fernanda is from, they discussed their plans for the future. How could they settle down, but still make a difference?

“We were having a beer and talking about opening a retreat center,” Fernanda says. “We wanted to continue the work we were doing in the way of sharing our experiences with other people.”

They knew if they opened a retreat center alone, it might not be enough to keep them afloat. They needed a project that could sustain such a center’s educational programs and community outreach. Beer in hand, Robert had an epiphany.

“He looked at the beer and was like, ‘How about a microbrewery?’” Fernanda recalls. “It wasn’t the beer itself, it was the idea of opening a public house where people could sit around a table, enjoy sipping a beer but connecting and talking about the challenge that we as a society and humanity face, which is what is important to us.”

They put together their business plan, started doing their homework, and purchased homebrewing equipment.

“We had never done anything like this in our lives,” Fernanda says.

They decided to open Imagine Nation in Robert’s neck of the woods, Missoula, Montana. Fernanda says the area’s open-mindedness and hundreds of existing nonprofit made it the right choice for the brewery model they envisioned.

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Social Change on Tap

They opened the Center for Community Transformation, a cozy 500-square-foot classroom with a chalkboard, chairs, tables and projectors. Sure enough, the Missoula community has embraced Imagine Nation Brewing and its Center for Community Transformation.

“Four and a half years ago, we started with two events booked in the evenings,” Fernanda says. “Then we started growing to three and four.”

Now, Fernanda says they book that space six days a week on average, including in the afternoons.

When an organization wants to utilize Imagine Nation for an event, she takes the time to help them plan.

“I sit down with each one of them and we build a program and we brainstorm how to maximize the hours they’re there. What’s an activity or program they can offer while we’re raising money?” Fernanda says. “It’s a really open canvas and people are excited about it.”

For example, the brewery recently hosted an event for the Free Verse Project, a nonprofit that engages incarcerated youth by giving them writing workshops. The fundraiser at Imagine Nation is a session of the teachers reading the children’s pieces.

“People would look at each other and just really be touched and moved by it, realizing what’s going on out there with these children,” Fernanda says.

At another fundraising event, refugees performed as a band in support of Soft Landing Missoula, an organization that welcomes refugees families in Missoula and helps them settle in.

“It was a beautiful mixture of culture and celebration and integration of refugee families with the Missoula community,” Fernanda says. Now, it’s an annual event.

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“Imagine Nation Brewing not only offers an incredibly friendly community space where, it must be noted, the brews can’t be beat, but Fernanda and Robert also offer our nonprofit and peacemaking community a kind and experienced sounding board for navigating the very real challenges we all face,” Mary Poole, the executive director for Soft Landing Missoula, says. “Being in their space and interacting with this incredible couple gives me strength and determination in my own path and that we are all in this work together. It is a feeling that is incredibly special and always uplifting.”

That commitment extends even farther into the Missoula community. It’s been important to Fernanda that the brewery be an open, welcoming space for anyone who needs it.

“Imagine Nation Brewing has been such a wonderful partner in hosting our outreach events,” Andy Nelson, operations administer on the board of the Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center says. The last Sunday of every month, the organization hosts a “Queers and Beers” event at the brewery. “The Center has always had a presence with a table of resources and volunteers there to assist with questions for folks needing information. The Gay Health Task Force is there as well offering free HIV, syphilis and Hepatitis C testing for anyone that is interested.”

Every month, Andy and his organization dream up new ideas for bringing in new people, like trivia night, speed friending, Drag Bingo, and a “WarmGiving” event where attendees can bring warm clothing to donate to the local homeless shelter.

The brewery partners with one organization each month for an event called “Taproom Dialogues.” Rather than being in the Center, it’s hosted in the brewery’s taproom, so anyone and everyone can be a part of it. The organization chooses the topic, and a facilitator fosters discussion among a panel of two to three people, with the opportunity for patrons to get up and their own opinion. “That’s how we build civil discourse,” Fernanda says. Topics have ranged from climate change, mental health, refugees and more.

(More: Montana Brewery Inspired by Careful Artistry of Bonsai)

A Better World Through Brewing

Ultimately, Fernanda says she hopes their Center for Community Transformation can be a place to spark connections and engagement around issues that can better their community, their well-being, and the planet. In the war zones they’ve worked in, Robert and Fernanda learned about the importance of finding that middle ground of networking.

“Helping people go beyond what they’re already doing and enhancing their ability to do even better – that’s been the first goal with the space,” Fernanda says.

And that philosophy is apparent from the murals of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the outside of the building to the enthusiastic staff on the inside.

“We don’t hire only taproom servers or a brewer,” Fernanda says. “We hire humans that have some connection with the community work and that mindset.”

Fernanda hopes to help to implement similar programs in public spaces all over.

“I think there are ways of maximizing your public space that you already have, and the community that already goes there, to make that even more impactful besides being a space to sit and have a good beer and connect, or entertain themselves,” Fernanda says. “If other businesses or other public houses would think and implement a little bit of [our] model, I think we could impact communities even more than we already do.”

The post From Conflict Zones to Craft Beer: Imagine Nation Brewing appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“If conquest had gone the other way, we’d have 150 different categories for chicha and one for European beers,” says Belstock, co-founder and brewer for Denver’s Dos Luces Brewery. Dos Luces specializes in the indigenous Central and South American beer styles of chicha and pulque. Most beer drinkers haven’t even heard of these styles—and if they’ve heard of chicha, it’s likely connected to sensational stories about the role of mastication in the beer’s production.

Chicha is made with corn, and until about half a century ago, the starches in that corn were converted into fermentable sugars through the enzymatic work of human saliva. That’s no longer the case, but Belstock still gets asked if he chews the corn for his beers. His typical response epitomizes his sardonic sense of humor.

“No, but I’ll spit in your beer for a dollar.”

Reclaiming America’s Ancient History

Dos Luces Brewery was founded not only to preserve the heritage of chicha and pulque, but to establish both as distinctly American styles. The brewery was founded by Belstock and Sam Alcaine, professor of fermentation science at Cornell University. It opened in Denver’s South Broadway neighborhood in 2018.

“Our mission is to change the way people think about beer,” explains Belstock. “We want to use American ingredients and styles from before European conquest and make them a part of everyday beer culture in the United States.”

Belstock spent over a decade working for Coors and then Miller followed by three years at Boulder Beer Company before starting Dos Luces. His interest in ancient American beers initially came from his father.

“My goal eventually is that if you walk into a great beer bar with a lot of taps and they don’t have a chicha and a pulque on draft, they’re doing it wrong.”

“My dad was living in Peru in the late ‘60s while serving in the Peace Corp, and he drank a lot of chicha and told me about it when I was growing up,” he explains. “When he was having a beer, he’d pour a little out for [Incan goddess] Pachamama, which is the tradition in Peru.”

Alcaine is the son of Salvadoran and Cuban immigrants, and, as Belstock explains, specializes in “fermenting things that are not intended to be fermented.” The two tried their first pulque together when they found a can in a liquor store in Chicago while both were working for Miller.

“It was pretty bad,” Belstock says with a laugh, but it got the wheels turning.

Pulque, a Priestly Aztec Drink

Pulque is an ancient Aztec drink brewed with corn and sap from the maguey plant, a type of agave. The drink was a sacred beverage in Aztec culture.

“Pulque was reserved for the priesthood and for special ceremonies,” explains Belstock. “It was considered a gift from the gods. If you were about to be sacrificed, you got two cups of it before you went.”

Despite being brewed for thousands of years, pulque nearly went extinct in its homeland. The Austrian colonists who took over Mexico during the American Civil War actively disparaged the drink and made it all but illegal. Fortunately, the drink has seen a resurgence over the last five years in Mexico.

“Pulquerias have been popping up in Mexico City the way craft breweries have here,” says Belstock.

In addition to the Colorado blue corn malted for Dos Luces by nearby Grouse Malt House, the brewery uses maguey sap from Villa de Patos farm in Mexico. To harvest maguey sap, the farm cuts a hole in the bottom of the plant and collects the sap overnight. Over about 30 days, this will yield enough sap for one batch of pulque at Dos Luces. This slow collection process brings a good deal of native microflora along with it, and the brewery has harvested its house bacterial culture from the sap.

Chicha, the Peruvian Homebrew

Malted blue corn forms the base of the brewery’s Chicha as well, and the malting process provides enzymes that make it unnecessary to use human spit to brew the beverage. Chicha is an ancient Incan beer from Peru, and while it had a ceremonial role much like pulque, it wasn’t reserved for the elites.

“It’s never been that uncommon to brew chicha in the home,” explains Belstock. “It was much more of a common person’s drink.”

That homebrewing heritage protected chicha from the extinction pulque nearly suffered.

“Chicha never really went away,” reports Belstock. “It’s just been limited to the mountains primarily and made mostly in people’s homes. Since the time of the Inca, you would put a flag in front of your house indicating that you had chicha available for sale.”

While historical chicha used the notorious chewing method for acquiring conversion enzymes, techniques have modernized. Belstock says even traditional homebrewers in Peru are using sprouted or malted corn now.

From Ancient Beverage to Modern Beer

Belstock is passionate about helping people appreciate the long history of chicha and pulque, both of which are a bit sour and mildly spiced.

“With both of these beverages, the history goes back at least 3,000 years based on pot shard evidence,” he says. “But the Inca and the Aztec don’t go back that far. There were cultures that predated both of those cultures that made beers from corn and maguey, respectively.”

While that history is rich and worthy of attention, he stresses the importance of not treating these styles as mere historical artifacts or quaint diversions.

“When we treat these as curiosities and historical anachronisms, then that pigeonholes them. It makes them interesting other things rather than being part of our culture, which they should be.”

Making these beers part of our American drinking culture requires public education, and that often happens one drinker at a time. A lot of people who walk into Dos Luces have never heard of the beer styles they produce.

“We have a lot of people who come in and just see the word ‘brewery’ and don’t know what we’re doing,” says Belstock. “They’ll come in and say, ‘I’ll have the IPA.’ Well, we don’t have an IPA, but let me tell you about what we do here. There are a few who will walk out at that point, but most people who try it do like it.”

He says the experience people have inside the taproom is generally superior to those tasting the beers elsewhere, because the education component is so important. He also leads educational tasting classes to increase public understanding of his beers.

“My goal eventually is that if you walk into a great beer bar with a lot of taps and they don’t have a chicha and a pulque on draft, they’re doing it wrong,” he says.

Dos Luces has also collaborated with other Latinx-owned breweries likes Atrevida and Border X to bring attention to these and other Latin American brewing traditions.

Doc Luces: Two Lights

Belstock’s chicha is named Inti after the Incan god of the sun. His pulque is named Metzli after the Aztec god of the moon. Those two lights, or “dos luces,” are guides for this brewery making ancient beers for a modern audience.

“Those are the two lights in our name, but we also like to say the light of the past is showing the way for the light of the future,” Belstock reflects. “We’re taking inspiration from the past to create something entirely new.”

The post Two Ancient American Beers Light a New Path at Dos Luces Brewery appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“My family was proud of it,” she says, remembering.

The occasional batch of plums collecting fruit flies in the young Czech-American’s closet was only the beginning. Sandi Vojta would realize her childhood dream by opening Prairie Berry Winery among the stunning South Dakota Black Hills in 1999. She opened Miner Brewing Company down the hill from the winery in 2013, along with a Sioux Falls location in 2018. With a hint of wanderlust to point her in the right direction, Vojta claimed her calling and hasn’t looked back since.

Family Tradition Rooted in Wine-Making, Distilling

As a child, Vojta found plenty of room to explore and run around on her family’s farm in the Upper Midwest. This is where she learned to make wine and distill with her dad and brother–a family tradition five generations strong.

“It was something to do as we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere,” she says.

Initially, Vojta set out on a career as an environmental chemist. She soon met and married her husband, Matt Keck. The couple found themselves in Portland, Oregon, during the mid-90s, where they chose to see the world volunteering in the Peace Corp.

Once stationed in Tanzania, the 1998 United States embassy bombings which killed more than 200 people caused great family panic back home urging them to cut their globe-trotting short.

Less than a year later Vojta made a chokecherry beer while developing plans for the winery at her South Dakota kitchen table with Keck and her dad, Ralph.

“It was meant to be, and I have no regrets,” she says.

Leaving travel in her rearview for a life filled with community and good cheer, Vojta set her brand in motion.

(MORE: Mining Town Breweries Dig Deep Into History)

Miner Brewing Co. Offers a Taste of the Black Hills

Prairie Berry Winery is Vojta’s “firstborn” and is perched atop the hill. A short stroll down to Miner Brewing Company, you’ll fall in love with what she likes to call her “middle school kid.” On the other side of the hill there is a separate fermatory dedicated to her sour program.

“My team is actually cross-trained between the winery and brewery and are fluid,” Vojta says.

This is one brewmaster who certainly devotes a great deal of love to her “kids” and it shows.

In an area where the great outdoors commands your attention with national treasures like Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, Miner Brewing Company offers a taste of what South Dakota’s Black Hills community is all about. From the local hop farms she annually contracts with, Native American farmers and foragers from which she sources fruits and grains, right down to the beef she buys from cattlemen who feed their herd her spent grains, Vojta embraces such a fruitful village in this beautifully rugged part of the world.

“We have amazing support,” she says. ”People know where the good beer is at.”

She also believes in supporting local artisans and local performers: “When it’s snowing outside it’s so cozy to grab a pint and curl up to some fine music. When warmer months come along, it’s about that outdoor stage between the winery and brewery.”

(Related: Heroes of the Brewhouse: Here’s What Brewery Workers Actually Do)

Sandi Vojta’s Love for Fermentation

These days Vojta indulges in a bit of soul searching. She enjoys reading books in the vernacular of enlightenment. She’s also turning to the trusty standbys of her trade like “The Art of Brewing.”

“My brain swishes in fermentation.” Sandi Vojta, Miner Brewing Co.

“I am the type of person who has six to 10 books open at the same time,” she explains.

(Brewery Near You: Brewery Finder)

Ever hungry to explore more, she admits she has her eye on distilling: “Never say never,” she says.

“My brain swishes in fermentation and is on a spectrum between winemaking and brewing. It’s all fermentation,” she says.

You could say Vojta is always focusing on the proverbial hills ahead of her, subscribing to the sentiment that life is to be lived in the name of good cheer.

The post Sandi Vojta Keeps Family Tradition Alive in South Dakota’s Black Hills appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Shuff is the owner and general manager of three bustling local brewpub operations: DryHop, Corridor and the newly-opened Roebuck Pizza which is conveniently located right next door to DryHop in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Corridor is located a mile away near Wrigley Field. They also plan to open a fourth location, Crushed by Giants, right off Michigan Avenue in spring 2020.

With three bustling brewpubs to-date and another one in-planning, Shuff’s neighborhood brewery bet seems to have paid off.

Shuff’s Chicago Brewpubs Have Different Identities

When you talk to Shuff about his Chicago brewpubs, it’s like talking to a proud father. Each of his brewpub children is a vibrant, popular neighborhood spot.

DryHop was the first and focuses on primarily new-American food and popular American hoppy beer styles. Corridor focuses on pizza and with Belgian-inspired beers. The newest, Roebuck Pizza, also focuses on pizza along with European-style beers that pair perfectly with thin-crust pizza.

Shuff sees each as their own independent operation: “Every brewpub is one of one.” There is no overarching parent brand.

“People value uniqueness and novelty,” says Shuff. “They don’t get excited about chain restaurants [in their neighborhood].”

(Find a Brewery Near You: Brewery Locator)

The result is three distinct brands with their own decor, aesthetic, staff and brewery team.

The one consistent thing you’ll see across all three is the lack of TVs. That’s a purposeful move on Shuff’s part; he wants each of his brewpubs to be a local gathering spot for the neighborhoods they serve. He even selects his new buildings based on convenience inside neighborhoods, even if it means paying a little more for the space.

Competing Against Restaurants, Not Breweries

Shuff says that he doesn’t consider his Chicago brewpubs to be competing with area breweries. Instead, he’s competing with neighborhood restaurants and bars. He wants to be the Lettuce Entertain You–the popular restaurant group that started in Chicago–for brewpubs, and the beer is his competitive advantage. Casual diners, families, and hardcore beer fans alike are all a part of his target audience.

(More: Form & Function: Brewery Visits with an Architect)

None of his brewpub locations distributes its beer and that’s intentional. It means customers have to come to the breweries for the experience. The ability to get an upscale meal paired with expertly-made, award-winning beer–Corridor won gold at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival in the Other Belgian-Style Ale category — made in the tanks behind the bar is a competitive advantage for Shuff’s brewpubs.

Adding in the ability to sell crowlers to-go and releasing a select-amount of highly-desired one-off IPAs at the brewery boosts sales further and helps differentiate these brewpubs from their restaurant-only colleagues.

The Motto: Trust Your People, Don’t Micromanage

Overseeing three popular businesses in three different locations can be overwhelming.

“There’s this constant dilemma of wanting to do everything,” Shuff says.

To ensure things stay on schedule and save Shuff from sleepless nights, his brewpub business operates in a decentralized model that empowers the staff at each location. There are five people at the “corporate” level. The rest of the employees are wholly unique to each location and operate independently from each other. Each brewpub has its own general manager, chef, and head brewer; Shuff gives each the operating autonomy they need to succeed. It also ensures that brewpub has its own flair and distance from each other.

(Related: Chicago Brewery’s Wild Trip Down a Hazy IPA Rabbit Hole to GABF Gold)

“[I’ve learned] that the world keeps churning without our involvement,” Shuff remarks.

Hiring and empowering good people, differentiating with beer, and appealing to each neighborhood the brewpubs operate in seems to be an effective business model. No brewpub cannibalizes the sales of the others because beer lovers see each as an individual concept.

The testament to this has been the success DryHop has seen since its sister operation, Roebuck opened up literally next door. The two share a wall but so far, that doesn’t seem to negatively impact sales. Shuff says the sales at DryHop have actually gone up since Roebuck opened.

The continued success and sustained growth of each brewpub is a testament to the concrete business plan Shuff follows. While opening up a fourth brewpub in the coming months might stress out some business owners, it doesn’t seem to bother Shuff. Could a fifth be on the way soon?

“Four is the current active focus,” he says. “Anything more than five or further lives on the spreadsheet.”

The post Greg Shuff is Building a Chicago Brewpub Empire appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

No, they aren’t serving Japanese-style beers here. Co-owners Graham Hart and Keela Smith are carefully crafting beers with flavors that can only be coaxed out by focusing on the details and keeping things small, just like their bonsai-designing counterparts.

“It’s about being able to carefully manipulate as you go because you see how it’s growing and how it’s doing,” says Hart. “It’s not about growing bigger, it’s growing stronger.”

(Chart: Easy Tips for Beer and Pizza Style Pairings)

Bonsai Brewing Project, located just north of downtown Whitefish, is thriving as it goes into its sixth year of business. Like its namesake, the brewery has been very intentional about its growth.

From Homebrewer to Sierra Nevada Beer Camp

Although Hart bought his first homebrewing kit from a local coffee shop when he was 18, it wasn’t until his mid-20s when his dad asked for a homebrewing kit for Christmas that the idea really gained legs.

“We made a batch of beer together and it came out pretty good, but he was just too busy and didn’t really have time for it. I thought it was great though,” Hart says.

From there, Hart tweaked and grew his homebrewing system for several years before quitting his construction job with his dad and going to work at a local brewery. That brewery started growing and packaging, which prompted Hart to pursue his own brewery. With the help of a winning video entry that sent him to a “beer camp” put on by Sierra Nevada, Hart was off and running.

“I couldn’t even begin to list how much stuff I learned in three days of being there,” says Hart. “Also, we road tripped there and went to something like 48 breweries in 21 days. The amount of stuff I saw – it’s unfathomable how much I learned in that small amount of time.”

Building a Brewery in Their Hometown

Whitefish natives who are currently engaged, they knew home was where they wanted to be.

(Related: Malteurop will #MakeMaltSexy)

“There was only one brewery in town that had been here since the 90s,” says Hart. “We really wanted to do something here, but we didn’t have the ability to do it full out.”

Hart says most of the plans he saw for breweries called for at least $1 million in startup funding, but he kept scaling the plans down until a nano brewery operation seemed workable. That’s when he found an abandoned kitchen in the local mall. It was only 1,000 square feet–and the mall was only 20 percent occupied–but the rent was affordable at $600 per month.

With the help of a Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $3,000 more than their $15,000 campaign goal, they opened in the space in early 2014. Hart and Smith credit being lifelong locals with getting people in the door initially.

Then Hart and Smith were dealt a curveball: the mall declined to renew their lease after the first year; a bigger tenant wanted to lease the space. They had only started getting traction and making some money, and suddenly they had just a couple of months to find a new place.

(Related: Going ‘All In’ Pays Off for Montana’s Lewis & Clark Brewing Co.)

They went back to a place they’d previously wanted to lease but hadn’t been able to afford only to find out it was no longer available for lease–it was up for sale. A family friend ultimately bought it for them.

“The deal was he’d let us buy it in the future for what he put into it and apply all our rent toward the eventual purchase price,” Hart says.

The friend had also offered to invest in a bigger facility, but ultimately Hart and Smith decided to stay small. Two years later, they were able to purchase the building from him and get their own mortgage.

Bonsai Brewing Project Intentionally Stays Small

Bonsai Brewing Project has grown to producing 400 barrels a year. Although Hart says the current facility could double that number, his current plans are to top out at 500-600 barrels a year.

“That would be perfect for us. I’m the only brewer, so that’s my limit. Once it gets higher than that, I’d have to bring more people in and it would change the whole plan,” Hart says.

“Part of the reason we’ve been fairly successful is that Graham and I are both so hands on,” Smith says. “We’re on the floor a lot. We’re constantly drinking the beer. We’re constantly engaging with our clientele, and I think that’s a big benefit.”

Bonsai Brewing Project keeps 10-12 beers on tap at any given time, with at least five rotating taps that are constantly changing. A summer favorite was Let a Thang Go, a habanero and ginger blond soured on sundried mangos in white wine barrels. There was also a barrel-aged gose called Sea Walk, a mildly tart wheat ale with coriander and sea salt.

Hart and Smith’s mission remains focusing on the details, not simply trying to grow as big as they can. Instead, they’re making small moves that are carefully calculated to yield very specific results, just like the Bonsai artists from which they draw their inspiration.

The post Montana Brewery Inspired by Careful Artistry of Bonsai appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Meet The Larimer

Pennsylvania native Matt Lindenmuth’s journey into craft beer began when he pushed West. But at the time, it wasn’t for beer.

Lindenmuth, now commonly known as the Larimer, first traveled west from his hometown of Kutztown, Pennsylvania, to compete in the X Games. That’s right. The adrenaline-seeking event that includes double backflips on rollerblades, a maneuver first attempted by Lindenmuth and now respectfully called the “Double Lindy.”

After a day of competing against one another, the athletes found common ground over a glass of beer. That soon led to some homebrewing.

Now, standing in his own brewery and reflecting back on those days, Lindenmuth relates craft brewers to his fellow X-Gamers.

“There’s a lot of similarities. The two worlds are very comparable — a sense of camaraderie,” he says.

Lindenmuth takes a sip of his own brew and continues, “The craft beer world is a total community–welcoming with open arms. We are competitors but we are always helping each other. I immediately felt at home. It reminded me of my days in the X Games. Everybody cared about each other. Yes, we were always competing but at the end of the 30-minute show, we were checking on all our injuries and hanging out.”

(READ: Before Mott the Lesser, There was the Legend of Kate the Great)

Life After the Games

When the days of the X Games came to a close for Lindenmuth, he spent a year not knowing what he was going to do with his life. “From 12 to 32, my life was the action sports world. I never believed it would come to an end.”

Then he read “Brewing Up A Business” by Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione and with the knowledge he learned in homebrewing, he started his first brewery, Saucony Creek, in Kutztown.

But the West called again. This time for the beer (and maybe a girl). Lindenmuth found himself in Denver where he fell in love with the craft beer scene. It was there he began contract gypsy brewing and The Larimer was born.

Who is The Larimer?

General William Larimer Jr. was an 1800s military general, state senator and entrepreneur. He dabbled in all sorts of jobs from acquiring stone for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, managing a Conestoga wagon line, organizing a coal company and even establishing a wholesale grocery. As he pioneered West, he founded the capital of Colorado. He was also an abolitionist, fighting to end slavery and fighting to increase women’s rights.

Lindenmuth first heard of this renaissance man from a friend.

“He saw a lot of similarities between us. We both have a pioneer mindset; wanting to push the envelope and discover new things,” he says.

Seeing that Lindenmuth was immediately drawn to the idea of “The Larimer,” his friend offered to sketch up a logo.

The bearded general that adorns hats, shirts, cans and now a building in South Philadelphia was brought to life as a modern rendition of the 1800s General Larimer.

Holding true to the principles of the General himself, Lindenmuth continued the entrepreneurial task of gypsy brewing, making connections all across America.

Heading Home

Lindenmuth originally settled on finding a permanent brewing home in Denver. But Lindenmuth’s heartstrings were pulled back to his home state. Leaving the adventures of the West behind, Lindenmuth shifted his sights on Philadelphia.

“I loved Denver and still visit frequently, but I needed to get back to here,” he says.

You can now find Matt Lindenmuth serving up beer at his own brewery called The Larimer in the Chester neighborhood of South Philly.

“I brew in the morning and then stand behind the bar all day,” Lindenmuth says as he offers up one of his most recent beers, Domestically Challenged Pilsner.

“There’s a lot of change happening here in Chester. It’s a rebuilding community. So it’s incredible watching folks from two different ends of the spectrum share beers and conversations and realize similarities. It’s very romantic watching the whole thing unwind in front of me,” he says.

(COOK WITH BEER: Soft Pretzels with Pumpkin Ale)

A Certain Fan Base

The location choice for the Larimer? Essential. Just a few blocks from the Major League Soccer Philadelphia Union Stadium, the Larimer has become the official tailgate spot for the Sons of Ben fanatics.

“It is incredible to see this place transform on game day,” Lindenmuth says.

The Larimer even has a sideline table for four in the stadium. Lindenmuth offers up these prime seats to fans for them to enjoy one of his craft beers while watching the game.

“The soccer crowd embraces that they are the fifth forgotten professional sport in America.”

The Larimer is proud to be represented at the Union stadium. With connections in Denver, Lindenmuth hopes to one day expand into the Colorado Rapids stadium, continuing his pioneer efforts to bring craft beer into the world of soccer.

The Spirit of General Larimer

To pay true homage to the unsung hero of General Larimer, Lindenmuth and his girlfriend found the general’s gravesite in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh on plot No. 1.

“We took some beer and just stayed for a while,” he says.

Since taking on the Larimer, Lindenmuth has done his best to embody the entrepreneurial spirit of General Larimer. He often says, “My dreams are bigger than my pockets.”

Lindenmuth is taking those big dreams one step at a time.

“I am patient. It’s not going to happen overnight,” he says.

Who knows if he will have a list of accomplishments as long as the Larimer, but if he has learned anything from the general, it’s certainly worth trying.

The post The Larimer Pioneers Path from X Games to Craft Brewer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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Lakefront Brewery’s “My Turn” Beer Series Puts People First

One of the most personalized one-off beer programs in the industry spawned organically when Russ Klisch, president and co-founder of the 32-year-old Milwaukee brewery, took a page from the Good Boss book and asked his employees for help. Klisch had noticed more one-off beers entering the market and wanted Lakefront to get involved. But something about the trend didn’t sit right.

“I felt like these beers were all [representing] one personality, a head brewer that liked one specific style,” he says. Wanting to do something different, he fielded suggestions from his employees.

“They were all over the place,” he says.

Instead of picking just one, he decided the brewery should try them all, and every employee would take ownership of his or her idea. Not just the brewing team, either, but the entire full-time staff, from the back of the house to the front.

Since 2012, Lakefront has released 31 My Turn beer series brews, with styles ranging from Baltic porter to Mexican-style lager. Every full-time employee eventually gets a turn, and they usually know it years in advance. The order is decided by seniority, with some flexibility baked in to account for the seasons. For instance, an easy-drinking kölsch just tastes better in summer weather. When it’s their turn, employees work with head brewer Luther Paul to create the recipe. Ideas are never shot down.

“We never tell them what to do,” says Klisch. That’s because Lakefront wants “to promote [its] people. There are no test batches. We want the beer to show the personality of the individual.”

(READ: 10 Craft Beers Under 140 Calories)

My Turn Beers Reflect Tradition, Cultures, Personalities

One of the most recent My Turn beer series beers was inspired by catering sous chef Anai Sigala’s favorite family get-togethers, El Día de Reyes — Three King’s Day. Working with Paul, she developed a beer that recalls the hot chocolate she and her family drink with slices of rosca de reyes cake every year on the holiday. Her Mexican hot chocolate ale, named “Anai” of course, pours dark-brown and rounds into shape with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and chili.

“I just felt like you’re never too old for king cake and Mexican hot chocolate, but we love to drink [beer] in Wisconsin, so why not,” she says.

The My Turn beer series is more than an opportunity to showcase family traditions. Both the Anai and the Arturo–a Mexican ale created by Lakefront’s sous chef–were Mexican-inspired beers that spoke to their creators’ Latino identities.

“It’s important to keep doing My Turn; you get to see how diverse we all are in our tastes and, hopefully in the future, [you’ll see] more of our unique cultural tastes, too,” Sigala says.

Logistics coordinator Terrance Tolliver agrees.

“When Lakefront came up with this idea…we had half the employees we do now [currently there are 70 full-timers on staff]. It’s cool to see the next employee get an opportunity to create a beer that tells people a little about them,” he says.

That opportunity allowed Tolliver to choose a lighter style beer when it was his turn. The Quad Cities native admits that he grew up consuming Bud Light and Miller Lite before he began to get into craft beer at Lakefront. When it was his turn, he and Paul developed a German-style kölsch that not only stoked his nostalgia, but also hit the market in 2013, before the traditional style resurfaced in popularity.

(VISIT: Find a U.S. Brewery)

‘Junk’ Beer’s Silver Lining

Over the summer, Lakefront had to recall bottles of “Junk,” one of the My Turn releases, after discovering the beer contained wild yeast from the cherries that it was brewed with. The yeast was continuing to ferment, causing carbon dioxide to build up in the bottles, and that meant the bottles could burst. The beer itself was still safe to drink, but the brewery issued a recall as a safety procedure and offered refunds.

“It was a bummer, but I am glad that we jumped in front of [the issue],” explains Lakefront Brewing’s export manager and social media manager, Andrew Jungwirth, the employee who worked on the recalled beer. Jungwirth’s nickname is “Junk,” and that’s how the name of the My Turn beer, a kettle sour with cherries and cherry blossoms, came to be.

“Junk sold really well, but we couldn’t keep the bottles out there on shelves and issued a voluntary recall,” he says.

Despite the wild yeast, Junk beer was anything but. The beer earned a silver medal at the International Beer Cup in Japan, a country that Junkwirth is fond of and pulled inspiration for the beer.

When the Spotlight is On You and Your Beer

Kristin Heuneke, head chef at Lakefront, had her turn in 2018 and used it to create a smoked maple weizenbock that was inspired by more than just her love of food.

“I had a lot on my shoulders because I was the first woman to have a My Turn in years, and I didn’t want to produce some sweet and fruity beer,” she says. “I wanted something that was strong and in-your-face.”

She chose to brew a smoked beer.

“After years of running a high-volume kitchen in a male-dominant industry, it felt like a great representation of who I am and most of the women I know,” she says.

She knew that creating a smoked beer would be risky, though.

“Not many people, even craft beer aficionados, are fans of smoked beers,” she says.

But the final sign of approval came from Paul.

“He isn’t a man of many words. So his smile and nod were enough to tell me I chose a good style,” she tells us.

Her “Kristin” beer, an 8.2% ABV smoked weizenbock, ultimately reminded her of pancakes with bacon. That was precisely the effect she was seeking. Thick from the wheat in the grain bill, a little sweet and aromatic from the maple and smoky like cooked bacon from the addition of smoked malts.

“Voila! Breakfast in a bottle,” she exclaims.

As for what My Turn means to her, Heuneke doesn’t mince words.

“Everyone counts down the days until they can make their beer. And when it is your turn you have three months where you feel like a star,” she says. “It’s like getting your golden birthday and tenure wrapped into one.”

The post Lakefront’s ‘My Turn’ Beer Series is One-of-a-Kind Employee Perk appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

While beer geeks can attend stout releases virtually weekly, to understand the context of the Mott the Lesser release, first you’ll have to learn about Kate the Great and “Kate Day,” the OG of beer release days. Before pre-dawn lines became the norm in craft beer, there was Kate Day: a once a year event at a small New Hampshire brewpub that took place in the frigid early spring to celebrate the release of a 12% ABV Russian Imperial Stout.

‘Kate the Great’ Crowned as Legendary Beer

In spring 2008, at The Portsmouth Brewery, then-assistant brewer Tyler Jones came to work on the morning of the annual release day for a beer called Kate the Great. The beer was packaged in 22 oz. bottles, hand-capped, and adorned with handwritten labels. Each transfer from tank to bottle netted around two-and-a-half cases.

As he’d done countless times before, Jones walked the two cases through The Portsmouth Brewery restaurant and into the shop, where he placed them atop the counter to be loaded into the cooler.

“Walking through the brewery, I could feel the eyes on me,” says Jones, who is now a co-founder at Oxford, Connecticut’s Black Hog Brewing. “It wasn’t normal.”

When Jones got back downstairs, the phone rang. They needed more Kate. When Jones insisted he just dropped off two cases, he was shocked to find out they had sold out.

“That’s f**king weird,” he said. “Okay, you have to give me like a half an hour, 45 minutes.”

It became mythologized and sought-after on every beer trading board imaginable. The legend of Kate the Great was born.

“It was the first beer that people lined up for,” says Tod Mott, the recipe’s creator, who was The Portsmouth Brewery’s head brewer at the time. “Now, with technology and social media, people are just herded to the release of the next Holy Grail.”

“It really blew me away the first time people lined up,” says Mott. “Oh my God, [it was] insane.”

(More: Milk Stouts Brewed with Dairy Alternatives)

Artistry of ‘Kate the Great’ Brewer Tod Mott

At that time, as is true now, New England beer drinkers would be hard-pressed to find a brewer more revered than Mott. Kate the Great was a recipe that Mott had been developing for years, beginning at the long-gone Commonwealth Brewing Company in Boston. Kate the Great was, in December 2007, rated the No. 1 beer in the United States by Beer Advocate and No. 2 in the world, and still lives in infamy.

“When that accolade came out, we knew we needed to brew another batch,” he says. “We doubled our production. When it blew out in a month I thought, ‘We’re in deep sh*t.’ It used to last a few months and we were selling it in f**king growlers.”

“The reason it is great is because of what Tod is as a brewer,” says Jones. “He’s a true artist. He’s really known for these beautiful malt bills in his beers.”

The original Kate the Great beer was ahead of its time. It was a recipe being “tweaked at every spot” he worked, Mott says. Even though it wasn’t billed as a barrel-aged stout, it utilized port wine-soaked oak spiral from a nearby distillery. Before barrel-aging became the norm, Mott understood the alchemy that would make the beer better. And beer lovers responded by lining up before the sun came up in the cold each spring. Drinkers lined the streets for their allotment of Kate the Great.

(Related: Epic Fall Road Trip: New England Breweries Off the Beaten Path)

The limits of a small brewpub made it tough to defend having an imperial stout take up so much tank space regardless of how good it was. Mott used this to his advantage.

“When it blew out in a month I thought, ‘We’re in deep sh*t.’” Brewer Tod Mott

“We could make this beer once a year, enjoy it, but then we’d have another year to think about how to make it better,” says Jones.

In 2009, the beer sold out in a day, both in bottles and on-tap (much to the chagrin of locals, who flooded the brewery’s website with complaints). The system changed annually to get Kate into the hands of as many customers as possible. In 2011, the brewery sold scratch-off lottery tickets for $2 apiece at 10 per person per day. Scattered throughout those tickets were winners that allowed for purchase of bottles. The next year, the brewery moved the format of the beer from 22 oz. bottles to 11.2 oz steinie bottles (and reduced the price), thus essentially doubling the amount of bottles available. One year, there was even a literary contest where writers were asked to pen a poem that was judged by Portsmouth Brewery employees. Winners received a bottle for their superior literary chops.

(More: Form & Function: Brewery Visits with an Architect)

In 2012, Mott, who’d been brewing professionally for the better part of two decades, decided it was time to move on from The Portsmouth Brewery to open Tributary Brewing in 2014. The Portsmouth Brewery owned the naming rights to Kate the Great, so the empress was laid to rest when Mott departed. Jones took over for Mott and, while he didn’t shy away from brewing an imperial stout, Kate the Great was no more.

The recipe — which evolved at every professional brewing stint and from Boston to Maine — lives on with Mott the Lesser.

Mott the Lesser’s More ‘Civilized’ Release

At the Mott the Lesser release, it would be difficult to find people lining up solely out of “Fear of Missing Out.” It’s not the social media crowd getting its filtered photos into everyone’s feed.

“The crowd at these releases is experienced beer drinkers,” Mott says. “The whole thing about Mott the Lesser is that it’s civilized. No one needs to get out early in the morning. People show up at four in the afternoon and will get the beer.”

This is the 10th release of the beer, and Mott said that he’s got all 10 versions. He’s going to do a staggered release of all 10 versions in the coming weeks. As for this iteration:

“It’s a beautiful beer,” he says.

The post Before Mott the Lesser, There was the Legend of Kate the Great appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“This is the gay agenda,” Foulk quips. “We’re coming for all your stage time!” As the crowd laughs, he asks if there are any straight people present, provoking nervous giggles from those who raise their hands. “This is the reversal,” he smiles, kindly. “This is how it feels.”

A few parties moved indoors to continue their conversations. But most of the eclectic crowd was drawn into the heartfelt, sometimes humorous stories. The success of the unusual evening traces back to the brewery’s intentions, hiring philosophy and one spectacular birthday party.

(More: Chicago Brewery’s Wild Trip Down a Hazy IPA Rabbit Hole)

Temescal’s soft-spoken founder, Sam Gilbert, has been thinking about diversity, inclusion and the community aspects of craft beer since before he launched the brewery in 2016. During construction, he offered free gallery space to Oakland artists. In its successful crowdfunding campaign, Temescal Brewing vowed to be welcoming for all, with “no jerks” as its creed.

That motto now glows neon pink above a seating nook opposite the bar, serving as a reminder for patrons and staff. But as Gilbert reflects, “Being nice isn’t enough — you must be active.”

One action Gilbert took was non-traditional hiring. While he rejects the thought of quotas, he wanted a brewery staff with ties to multiple communities. For many positions, he hired “on potential” as much as on related experience. Currently, he counts 10 of 22 employees as not “cis-male,” a term for non-transgender men. Five identify as queer, while about a third are non-white, with crossover between categories.

Temescal’s “Queer First Friday” Fills a Void

In the first year, Fridays at the taproom were busy, with one exception. On the first Friday of each month, thousands of revelers jammed Oakland’s downtown galleries, bars and streets for the First Friday festival, a few miles away, while nightlife in the Temescal district was dead.

(More: Brewer Honors Grandfather’s Legacy as WWII Navajo Code Talker)

So when taproom manager Theresa Bale, now head of operations, contemplated her upcoming birthday in the summer of 2017, she had a crazy idea. She wanted to go out with friends in the queer community without the expenses and late hours of club culture. What if she threw a party at Temescal Brewing on First Friday? She’d been learning to DJ and was eager to debut for friends and “all the performers, voguers and dancers” she knew.

Bale asked her straight, white, cis-male boss for a night off to host a party for her queer friends in Temescal’s beer garden. Gilbert was struck by her point that on Oakland’s big party night, there was no LGBTQ+ event. They agreed the brewery would publicize the celebration as “Queer First Friday.”

“I was really worried that no one was going to come,” Bale confided. “Because all we serve is beer! Everyone wants their cocktails and stuff.”

(More: Arizona Breweries Rally Around Beer for Suicide Prevention Hotline)

Halfway through the evening, the bartenders got slammed. Bale was busy DJ’ing when she noticed Gilbert had made a run to buy plastic cups. She remembers thinking, “Sam’s never going to let me do this again.”

It was their busiest night ever outside the brewery’s opening and anniversary. And Queer First Friday has continued since, with Bale at the helm.

When she visited Brooklyn, New York, Gilbert suggested checking out Threes Brewing, which he considers simpatico in its outlook. During Pride Month last June, she organized and DJed Queer First Friday at Threes, on the same day as Temescal’s continued. Back home, Bale also teamed up with Berkeley’s The Rare Barrel to create “Out for Beer” night in its taproom.

Temescal Wants to Have Tough Conversations

Last February, during SF Beer Week, Temescal Brewing announced Hella Halftones, an event calling for “real conversation between industry, the Black community, and Oakland stakeholders” about what the event listing described as craft beer’s  “diversity problem.”

Joshua Diggs, East Bay native and long-time beer enthusiast, stepped forward from his role as bartender and events ambassador at Temescal to pull the evening together. Diggs and Gilbert sat on a panel with “Black People Love Beer” activists Teo Hunter and Beny Ashburn, of Crowns & Hops in Inglewood, California; and Seneca Scott of Oakhella, an Oakland cultural organization.

(Find: Breweries Near Me)

On a night featuring less challenging craft beer activities all around the Bay Area, Diggs was delighted with both the turnout and the diversity of the crowd that showed up. And after discussing tough topics such as gentrification and the dynamics of who feels comfortable in craft brewery taprooms, people stayed to party together. Diggs is brimming with ideas for future activities in conjunction with Oakland’s Black community.

Temescal’s SF Beer Week activities caught the attention of brewers who share goals of inclusion but haven’t taken action. “The biggest comment is like, ‘I don’t know where to start,’” Gilbert said. “But also, ‘I’m really busy. I don’t have time.’”

While Temescal, too, is busy making and selling beer, Gilbert vows to bring in other communities and break down other barriers, to “take it to the next level.” In the meantime, Oakland and the craft brewing world have a welcoming beer garden and an array of thoughtful beers to enjoy together — while learning what the next level will look like.

The post ‘Being Nice Isn’t Enough’ for Temescal Brewing. They Take Action appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Crooked Hammock Brewery in Lewes, Delaware, has teamed up with nearby ILC Dover to create a beer called One Giant Leap. ILC Dover made the spacesuits worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 moon landing 50 years ago.

ILC Dover’s place in the moon landing is an important footnote in Delaware history, but one that isn’t particularly well known, even by locals. Crooked Hammock’s head brewer, Jon Schorah, says he wasn’t aware of the connection until recently. When America was celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the moon landing this summer, a server at Crooked Hammock whose mom works at ILC Dover told Schorah the history. That’s all it took to inspire him.

(Related: How Space Launched Huntsville’s Craft Beer Scene)

“Over beers, it came up they created the spacesuit that was used in the Apollo mission specifically for the moon landing,“ says Schorah.

Schorah reached out to ILC Dover to see if they’d be interested in brewing a collaboration beer. They came up with One Giant Leap, a beer they’re calling a “suborbital” stout. As an homage to the space trip, the beer recipe includes a favorite space snack.

“We added a whole ton of ice cream sandwiches–the space ice cream sandwiches. The freeze-dried stuff you get,” explains Schorah.

One Giant Leap is a rich, oatmeal stout that includes dark chocolate malts, chocolate wheat and vanilla beans. But the space ice cream sandwiches steal the show.

Finding enough dehydrated space ice cream to make a bunch of beer was not an easy task since the ice cream itself weighs only a few ounces.

“I researched this for weeks,” Schorah says. “We found a company online that made bulk orders that could send us a few hundred pounds.“

When they first called to request a few hundred pounds, there was a mad rush to check the warehouse to see if the company had that much dehydrated ice cream. Luckily, for beer lovers, they did; the final ingredient for the space-inspired beer fell into place.

(More: Form & Function: Brewery Visits with an Architect)

“There’s an underlying sweetness to One Giant Leap. [The space ice cream] definitely boosted the chocolate and vanilla flavor to it. The vanilla flavor is a very underlying tone but the chocolate is upfront and hits you,” says Schorah.

The brewer admits he created the beer as a throwback to his own childhood. He and his family would vacation in Florida every year and made a trip to the Space Coast part of their routine.

“My dad was a big space nerd,” remembers Schorah. “We would go to Cape Canaveral and watch shuttle launches.”

Every child, or adult, knows dehydrated space ice cream is a highlight of that trip.

“I always got that as my souvenir when I went to Cape Canaveral for the shuttle launches so I was like, if we’re doing a space beer we have to put this in there,” explains Schorah.

(More: Craft Brewers Create $79.1 Billion Impact on U.S. Economy)

About half a dozen ILC Dover workers were part of the brewing process at Crooked Hammock.

“They got to help us weigh out the hops and break up the ice cream sandwiches and dump them in,“ Schorah says.

One Giant Leap launches Oct. 17 and will be available at the brewpub in Lewes.

“To think that craft beer created a relationship between a brewery and restaurant and a science company that does medical devices and made the Apollo spacesuit … To be able to draw that connection through beer is so cool,” says Schorah.

The post New Beer Tells Story of Delaware’s Place in Moon Landing History appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“We are the Number 1 thing of one thing to do on Trip Advisor,” says Brewing Lair co-founder Susan DeLano, laughing.

She says they wanted to build a brewery that would coax beer lovers to enjoy the outdoors. See how they’re making that dream a reality in our video.

The post The Tiny California Brewery in a Tiny California Town appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

A year or so later, Garrett Marrero and Melanie Oxley decided to move to Hawaii and start a craft brewery. In 2005, the pair co-founded Maui Brewing Company (MBC) with a flagship location in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.

Business owners in Hawaii pay some of the highest electrical costs in the country. As a startup, Garrett and Melanie pinched pennies any way they could. First, they swapped incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent, then traded those for LED. They experimented with recovering cooling capacity and reducing energy consumption as much as possible, anything to stay open.

“As we grew successful, we saw the opportunity to invest in sustainable energy,” says Marrero.

Maui Brewing Co. qualified for tax credits if they made some minor sustainable energy improvements. Adding some solar panels seemed like an obvious benefit to lowering electricity costs and, at the same time, reducing the brewery’s carbon footprint.

Marrero explains, “How can we do more? Can we do this with no grid energy? Can we reduce water consumption? It almost became a game and almost became a dream state in some ways to say, could we ever become a grid-independent brewery?”

In August 2019, Marrero and Oxley realized that dream, drawing 100 percent of their power from self-sustaining, off-grid sources at their primary brewing location in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii.

(READ: Father, Surfer, Brewer: Co-Founder of Lanikai Brewing Talks Pursuing Passions)

Powered by the Sun, Biodiesel and Tesla Technology

The facility itself is impressive in size and innovative practices. The 85,000-square-foot facility includes a 5,800-square-foot main cold box, 12 stainless steel fermentation tanks totaling 940 barrels plus 18 fermenters at 250 barrels each. All of it is powered by sustainable energy alone.

Eighty percent of the facility’s power comes from a glittering 1.2 MW rooftop solar panel array along with rows of Tesla Powerpack battery storage units. Solar thermal systems cut propane gas consumption for heating water by 50 percent, and a biodiesel generator makes up for the rest.

Marrero says putting so much focus on sustainability is an important long-term investment for the brewery.

“When I can accurately predict my energy costs in perpetuity, and you are subject to the rise and fall of oil and how that impacts your energy costs, I have a more predictable, stable cash flow which gives my team and myself a much more stable foundation to build on for the future,” he says. “I think it’s beyond just your savings today.”

(MORE: Why Breweries are Making Non-Alcoholic Craft Beers)

Hawaii’s state legislature has committed to powering the state using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Maui Brewing Company is leading the charge into a sustainable future by becoming the first completely off-grid brewery in the entire United States. However, their sustainable practices go beyond solar power, Tesla batteries and biodiesel.

Marrero, Oxley and crew recycle everything they can. Recycling carbon dioxide used in the brewing process reduces carbon emissions by more than two million pounds per year and enables them to produce 86 percent of CO2 on-site, reducing electrical use and waste even more. They also recycle brewed grains into livestock feed and clarify yeast by-products to reuse for another batch of beer.

They’re not resting on their laurels. Says Marrero, “We’ll continue to develop things that not only help the company and give it a more solid foundation but also to inspire the community and hopefully inspire manufacturing in our community as well.”

Welcome to the future.

The post Maui Brewing Goes Off-the-Grid appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

One Code Talker is being memorialized by brewer LT Goodluck at the Hellbender Brewing Company in the District of Columbia. LT is dedicating a pale ale, Code Talker, to his grandfather, John V. Goodluck, a Navajo Code Talker. He served in Guam, Guadalcanal, Bougainville and Iwo Jima.

In 1942, it took machines 30 minutes to encode, transmit and decode a three-line English message. The Navajo Code Talkers could perform this same task in 20 seconds.

(More: Why Breweries are Making Non-Alcoholic Craft Beers)

The Navajo Code Talkers participated in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They staffed elite Marine Raider battalions and Marine parachute units and transmitted crucial radio and telephone messages in their native language. The sentiment shared by Marines is that if not for the Navajos and their communication skills under duress, the U.S. could have lost the major battle on Iwo Jima.

“Growing up on the Navajo reservation you learn about them in school,” brewer Goodluck says. “I was fortunate enough to be the grandson of a Navajo Code talker, so my dad’s side of the family talks about Code Talkers all the time. It was around the 1980s when they began to get recognized outside the Navajo Nation.”

(Related: Daughter of Fallen Marine Creates Beer to Fund Desert Storm War Memorial)

Code Talker Pale Ale is offered exclusively on draft at the Hellbender Brewing Company. A few kegs were on draft around Washington, D.C., but Hellbender’s CEO and head brewer Ben Evans says the beer sold out quickly.

Code Talker Pale Ale is bursting with aromas of grapefruit and juniper. The flavor profile of citrus skin and pronounced pine comes from the use of Chinook, Columbus, and Comet hops. According to brewers Evans and Goodluck, only a handful of hops were used in the boil and it was dry-hopped with over three-and-a-half pounds per barrel.

“I miss those more resiny, dank, grapefruity characters–the more intense citrus without the fruitiness that those older school IPAs had but they all had this intense bitterness,” Evans says. “LT wanted to do something that had the flavor and the aroma of those old school hops.”

(Find a Brewery Near You)

Ultimately Goodluck wanted to keep the bitterness down which he did with his pale ale.

Goodluck hopes his beer encourages people to learn more about the Native American Code Talkers and other Native Americans who served.

“There were more indigenous tribes that also became code talkers and each of them should be honored and respected,” Goodluck says.

Hellbender Brewing Company has been brewing beer in the District of Columbia since 2014. Both Goodluck and Evans strongly encourage visitors to our nation’s capital to come pay them a visit in the taproom.

The post Brewer Honors Grandfather’s Legacy as WWII Navajo Code Talker appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“She started crying on the phone,” he says. “Then our [taproom] glycol chiller went out 3 hours later.”

The road to success is never easy. Gulley and Alarmist Brewing are proof of that. Even after capturing a GABF gold medal for Le Jus, the Chicagoland brewery’s entry in the Juicy or Hazy IPA category, there was no rest. But any success rarely comes from taking the easy road—just ask Gary Gulley.

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Life-Altering Moments Spur Gut Decision

Nestled in Chicago’s quiet Pulaski Park neighborhood, Alarmist Brewing is a small operation with a homey taproom in the back of an industrial park. Perhaps the noisiest part of the operation pre-Great American Beer Festival 2018 had been the consistent cadence of Chicago Transit Authority buses that run by the taproom.

The journey from when Gulley first started homebrewing to winning a gold medal for Le Jus is a memorable one. Gulley started homebrewing in Texas in the early 90s. In his own words, the first beer he ever brewed was “crap. I would never make it here in a million years, but I might frame [the recipe] at some point.”

After life in Texas, Gulley and his family moved to Chicago and he joined the Chicago Beer Society in 2008. Gulley says he became engrossed with brewing after joining but wasn’t ready to fully commit. He had a stable job, a mortgage and a family.

Then, his entire life changed. First, his wife Bridget was diagnosed with breast cancer. One month later, he lost his job. He says these two life events provided the impetus he needed to drop everything and brew.

It also provided the clarity for Gary and Bridget that no job would determine their fate. He knew at this point that he needed to be his own boss; the only option available then was to open the brewery they had dreamed about.

“[It] has been the best decision we have ever made,” said Gulley.

(MAP: Gold Medal Winning IPAs from 1989 to 2018)

Down the Hazy IPA Rabbit Hole

First dubbed Panic Brewing before he had it to change it due to trademark disputes, the newly-minted Alarmist Brewing started brewing professionally in February 2014. Through trial and error and a relentless pursuit of producing excellent beer, Alarmist gradually gained their foothold in the Chicago craft beer scene.

A big turning point in the journey was the hiring of their second employee and now head brewer Aaron Dahl. A seasoned homebrewer, Aaron’s brewing experience helped Alarmist grow even faster, eventually leading to the opening of their Northwest side taproom at 4055 W Peterson in 2017.

At the time of the opening, Alarmist’s two biggest beers were Pantsless and Phobophobia, a Belgian-style ale. 2017 was also around the time that the New England-Style IPA trend started to enter national consciousness.

Gary and Aaron were both skeptical of the style and decided not to make one. But then they had a chat with BJ Pichman, formerly of Forbidden Root, who Gulley says showed them how “cool a well-crafted NE-IPA could be.”

After that meeting, Gary says Aaron went all-in.

“He went down the rabbit hole…[He] tried every hazy IPA he could find, talked to everybody, researched everything,” Gulley says. ”It was awesome to see.”

The result of this quest was Le Jus, an intensely-hoppy, juicy, yet refreshingly simple New England-style IPA that set the Chicago beer scene ablaze.

(VISIT: Find a U.S. Brewery)

Triumph Culminates in Surreal GABF Medal Moment

Gulley was not in Denver the morning of the GABF award ceremony, but his cell phone started buzzing with texts and calls.

Months earlier, before rushing to a local festival, Gulley hastily dropped off 10 freshly-canned Le Jus beers at Revolution, who had offered the extra space in their GABF beer shipment to other Chicago-area local breweries also entering their beer in the festival competition. Gulley remembers that once the stress of getting the beer shipped had subsided, his mind switched to other priorities.

Then, the GABF medals were announced.

“All of a sudden I started getting text messages [about the award ceremony]. I got one particular text from a buddy asking me if I wanted him to go on-stage and accept [our] medal. Of course, I thought he was messing with me at the time,” he says. “Then [Aaron] texted and I started getting tons of congratulations texts from all of my brewery friends.”

Gulley knew he needed to share the news with his biggest supporter.

“I called my wife. She said: ‘We won? You won?’” he says. She started crying on the phone.

The gold-medal moment was a surreal one. All of the struggles. All of the uncertainty. In that moment, all it had paid off. And in that moment, everything had changed.

Then he spent the Sunday after winning on the roof of the brewery fixing the glycol chiller.

The post Chicago Brewery’s Wild Trip Down a Hazy IPA Rabbit Hole to GABF Gold appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Not that there was anything wrong with what others were doing. Pursuing something unique and bold, building a great comedy—that was what mattered to the tv show’s creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. And it caught on.

No yoga, no trivia, no pumpkin beer. Coelacanth (pronounced see-luh-kanth) Brewing Company Founder and CEO Kevin Erskine, along with Head Brewer Matt Topping, devised such (anti-)sentiments while building a quirky brewery in Virginia. And it’s caught on.

“I didn’t set out to be a great bar,” Kevin says, ruminating about December 2015, when the curtain opened on Coelacanth, named for the Cretaceous-Period fish thought extinct—yet found very much alive. “I want to be a great craft brewery.”

Being great but doing it differently is what Kevin and Coelacanth are all about.

Kevin’s Brewery Vision Reflects His Personality

The brewery’s slogan, painted on the wall and also printed on labels, alludes to Coelacanth’s personality: “Ugly fish. Beautiful beer.”

Setting up shop in Ghent, a funky segment of Norfolk, Virginia, helped Kevin’s vision from the get-go. Think tiny slice of Austin, Texas, with the slogan “Keep Ghent weird.” Yet more than millennials and hipsters meander through, looking for a tasty new craft beer.

Kevin’s professionalism germinated in a private sector place far from the cheery hops-and-barley world: the tricky world of the health care industry.

Hailing from New York City, this strategic thinker by trade journeyed from DC to Richmond, Virginia, to California and back to Virginia before realizing he wanted out of insurance and into a more desirable trade. He wanted to be in an industry that would ensure satisfaction in a product well done, an atmosphere of the avant-garde, and a community reveling in the joie de vivre of it all.

Moonlight-consulting for beer, wine and spirits businesses along the way introduced Kevin to that trade he was seeking. At first, he dabbled in spirits in Virginia, but the regulations at that time stifled that industry’s attractiveness to him. So he returned to his first love: craft beer.

(More: Craft Beer Programs in Senior Living Communities Show Beer’s Ageless Appeal)

No Regular IPA? No Problem for Coelacanth Brewing

Kevin’s not hung up on any one beer style.

“When we started, we were doing lagers and goses when few, if any, in our area were doing those mainly. Everyone was too busy chasing the IPA. I wanted to be different—yet do it well,” he says.

That explains Coelacanth producing only a few IPAs annually, and only one regularly—around April 1—aptly dubbed Fool’s Gold.

“People have told me, ‘I hate you because you don’t have an IPA,’” Kevin says with a nonplussed grin and curved eyebrow a la “Huh?”

Touching on diverse beers they’ve brewed turns the spotlight on native Virginian Matt, who attended Virginia Tech then leaped onto the brewers’ stage, first at Bell’s Brewery then at Maui Brewing Co. His recipes abounded when the curtain went up on the Coelacanth.

“We make nearly all of ‘em at some point, any beer, you name it,” Kevin says. “We do it to show everyone that we can make any beer great.”

One recipe he thought beer nerds might question at first was the brewery’s American pale lager Old Glory. But it won a gold medal at the 2018 Virginia Craft Beer Cup and is among the brewery’s top-selling beers.

“It’s the second bestselling beer, on and off-premise here,” Kevin states—then opens the aperture again to focus on the bigger picture. “We just want to be different. That’s our whole raison d’etre. When others zig, we zag.”

Brewing goses when IPAs are in high demand only exemplifies that Seinfeld-ian do-the-opposite impulse. “They do pumpkin beer, we do caramel apple pie porter,” he says. “They do milkshakes, we do a crystal clear lager.”

(More: Red Shed Brewery is a Hit in Baseball-Loving Cooperstown)

The Brewery with No Name (that Anyone Can Pronounce)

That nonplussed grin, smart glint in the eyes, infectious laugh—all belie a man about more than his business. For one, he vice-chairs the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild, helping grow independent breweries across the state.

From the movie-allusion marketing (e.g., the imperial stout Megalodon with its dead-on “Jaws” poster chalk-drawing with the quip, “You’re gonna need a bigger glass”), to the sweet reflection on once working at the Big Apple’s first all-metal radio station (“where I met the Ramones and hung out with roadies from Pink Floyd,” he muses, “too cool”), Kevin is, well, cool about it all.

If droves continue to mispronounce the brewery’s name (or in the case of one retailer, refuse to sell Coelacanth because he hates the name), he’s good with that too.

As long as a great time at this 22^nd Street treasure was had by all, and they talk about it and bring others to it…well, in the slogan-ish words of another “K-man”—Cosmo Kramer—as Kevin himself would approve: Giddy up!

The post The ‘Seinfeld’ of Breweries: Coelacanth Brewing appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“I’ve lost a lot of really good people that I don’t think they knew it was okay to talk about it,” he tells me. ”They didn’t want to reach out because it was taboo.”

Jon wants to be part of the solution. He sees a culture shift that allows people who are struggling to realize that asking for help isn’t taboo. He’s starting a movement of Arizona breweries who agree with him and who also want to do something to help.

(READ: Lady Justice Brewing Dreams Big, Supports Women-Based Causes)

Starting Sept. 10, O.H.S.O. Brewing will release a beer that will be named with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline number: 1-800-273-8255. Several other Arizona craft breweries will join O.H.S.O. to raise awareness, either brewing their own beer or by renaming an existing beer with the hotline’s number.

While the brewery does plan to donate a portion of the beer’s sales to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, Jon’s primary goal isn’t about a financial gift.

“It’s not about donating, it’s about awareness,” he says. “This is more about people asking when they see it on a menu or a board, ‘What is that?’–or Googling it and understanding, then asking some questions.”

Even the Suicide Prevention Hotline beer’s Untappd description will focus on how to make that difficult call for help versus offering beer sensory or style notes. Jon says when a drinker finds the 1-800-273-8255 beer on the social app, he wants the description to “urge people to reach out.”

(READ: Craft Beer Documentary ‘For the Love of Craft’ Screenings Announced)

“I hope that people in our industry, in every industry, see this and they react in a positive way, and call that friend they haven’t called in a long time that they know is struggling, talk to that person that just went through a traumatic point in their life and check in on them, check on neighbors that are struggling, or your friends that haven’t had the best time,” Jon says. “We all need a helping hand every now and again and literally a conversation can save a life.”

Breweries Participating

• 12 West Brewing
• 1912 Brewing Co
• Beaver Street Brewery
• The Beer Research Institute
• Borderlands Brewing Company
• Button Brew House
• Dark Sky Brewing Company
• Desert Monks Brewing Co
• Harbottle Brewing Company
• Huss Brewing Company
• Huss Brewing Co. Taproom at Uptown Plaza
• Little Miss Brewing – Normal Heights San Diego
• Little Miss Brewing – East Village San Diego
• Little Miss Brewing
• Little Miss Brewing – La Mesa
• Local Flix Brewhouse
• Lumberyard Brewing Company
• Mother Bunch Brewing
• Mudshark Brewing Company
• North Mountain Brewing Company
• OHSO Brewery – Gilbert
• OHSO Brewery – Arcadia
• OHSO Distillery
• OHSO Brewery – Paradise Valley
• Oro Brewing Company
• Pedal Haus Brewery
• The PERCH Pub & Brewery
• Prison Hill Brewing Company
• Sedona Beer Company
• Walter Station Brewery

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“This represents our spirit,” says Ratio Beerwerks Marketing Manager Tristan Chan. “When we do stuff like the Punk Rock Drag Show, it’s all about creating the safe, welcoming environment.”

Along with providing a forum and an audience, Ratio donates $1 from every beer sold during Punk Rock Drag Shows to One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBTQ non-profit organization.

Ratio has hosted six as of summer 2019, with another planned for later this year.

Tristan and Punk Rock Drag Show host Spencer Duncan tell us how the plan came together in this video.

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