Brewing up a hobby
TRAVERSE CITY — John Perreault recently cracked open the first bottles of beer that he brewed himself.
“It’s only been in the bottle for a week now, so it’s pretty young,” Perreault, 28, said of his pale ale. “But it’s shaping up well. It tasted pretty good, and I’m expecting it to get even better.”
The Traverse City software designer is newly making the jump into home brewing, a hobby that’s been on the rise nationally and locally for years now. While the Traverse City area has seen a boom in microbreweries, there’s been an equal surge in the home variety.
Joseph Vokes, a Traverse City engineer at Consumers Energy, started with a simple Mr. Beer kit he received as a birthday gift this year. He’s now on his fifth batch of pale ale, trying new varieties in each.
“I tried putting some raspberry in the India Pale Ale and like the results of that,” said Vokes, 42. “I found you can actually save money creating the expensive beer I love by doing a little bigger batches.”
With a nearly infinite combination of grains, hops, yeasts and other ingredients to try, as well as varying techniques for combining them to make the suds you’re after, it’s a curious mind’s dream.
“With any new hobby, the world’s the limit,” Vokes said. “There’s just so many options.”
At first glance, the microbrewery and home brewing booms wouldn’t seem to go hand in hand. After all, there’s plenty of new and unique craft beer from all over the world dotting store shelves these days.
But it’s that curiosity — “can I make something like this?” — that has led the microbrew and home brew trends to intermingle and simultaneously see steady upward mobility.
Vokes said he tries out different store-bought beers not only to see what he likes, but also what he doesn’t. Then he researches the ingredients of those he doesn’t like — especially what types of hops were used — to guide what he puts in his own brews.
Making a batch can take anywhere from two to four hours for the primary cooking aspects, and then there’s the wait for it to ferment and be bottled or kegged.
A beer town
Earlier this month, Traverse City was named one of the Top 10 Best Winter Vacation Destinations by Livability.com in part due to the city’s preponderance of craft beer. The area’s nine microbreweries, brew pubs and craft beer taprooms helped Traverse City make it onto Draft magazine’s list of newest “Emerging Beer Towns.”
That number is scheduled to expand as two more microbreweries are in the works — Brewery Terra Firma on Hartman Road and Beggars Brewery in Blair Township.
Many such operations start in the same way — with someone brewing a five-gallon batch on their stovetop and then expanding from there.
“A lot of guys — myself included — aren’t in it for the money,” said Dustin Jones, the brewer at Brewery Ferment, Traverse City’s newest brewpub on Union Street. “It’s just what I want to do. It’s an addictive hobby.”
The American Homebrewers Association, based in Boulder, Colo., had just 11,724 members in 2006. That number has since almost tripled; the group hit the 30,000 mark in February.
Locally, a group called Traverse City Homebrewers Order of Practicing Zymurgists, or TC-HOPZ for short, started up in late 2009 to give area brewers a forum to share tips, recipes, experiences and, of course, beer. Founded by Blake Key, Bob Reinke and Terry Pratt, it had a half dozen members at the beginning. Participation has grown steadily, with about 30 on the roster now.
“The home brewers out there, we know they’re making better beer than the major breweries,” Jones said.
Why the growth?
There are numerous reasons for the surge in home brewing.
For one, home brewing was made illegal by Prohibition, which was repealed in 1933. However, brewing at home wasn’t legalized again until 1979 when the Jimmy Carter administration passed a bill sponsored by California Sen. Alan Cranston creating an exemption from taxation for beer brewed at home for personal or family use. It also lifted the requirement for licenses that could entail a $1,000 bond, making it cost-prohibitive to produce beer at home.
Once that major obstacle was overcome, modernization and technology kicked in. So did the Internet, with information on how to brew readily accessible. Message boards to share information, recipes and review equipment dot the web.
“There’s so much information out there that there’s no excuse not to know how to make beer if you want to,” said TC-HOPZ president Matt Therrien.
The Internet has also brought about easier ways to procure equipment and ingredients via brewing supply companies online. That has also carried over to brick-and-mortar stores, which pop up more frequently. There are more than a dozen home brew stores in Michigan alone, including one of the newest, Bad Teacher Brewing Supply on South Airport Drive in Traverse City.
Diversons and the Terrace Shopper in Traverse City also offer brew supplies, although not in the capacity that Bad Teacher’s 3,100 square feet can.
“I had a desire to brew and not the means to do it,” said Bad Teacher owner Bryan Snyder, who had trouble getting fresh grains and hops without ordering online and waiting for a week or two. “The response has been overwhelming by the brewing community. We hear two to three times a day they’re so glad somebody is doing this.”
Bad Teacher — so named because Snyder’s wife and co-owner Kristy is a teacher at Grand Traverse Academy and dislikes the phrase, “Those who can’t do, teach” — operates with the slogan, “Those who can, brew.”
The store offers 44 different types of grains used in brewing as well as equipment, hops, yeast and pre-packaged kits, occasionally offering free classes on how to start brewing.
Even the White House has joined in the brewing frenzy. President Obama has had three varieties of home brew made by White House staff — a honey brown ale, honey porter and honey blonde — all made with ingredients collected from a beehive on the South Lawn.
But home brewers get to be the president of their own company, choosing how and when to concoct their next drink.
“It’s working out with the time frame as well,” said Perreault. “I’m heading downstate for Christmas with the family, so I’ll have a nice batch of beer to bring. I’m looking forward to sharing it.”
Craft Beer: More Than What’s in the Bottle – Jew and the Carrot – Forward.com
By Rabbi Baruch Rock
Craft beer brewing is an art. The craft brewer is self-mandated to blend the complex flavors from water, malts, hops and yeasts into a harmony of delight. There is also a creed of the craft brewer as described by the Brewer’s Association:
• The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.
• Craft beer is generally made with traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.
• Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism, and sponsorship of events.
• Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers.
• Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.
Technically, a craft brewery produces no more than 475,000 gallons of beer per year (I am using craft brewery and microbrewery interchangeably, an obvious generality that glosses over the complexities of the industry, but sufficient for this posting). Culturally, these small scale breweries forsake size to allow for greater care and attention to be paid to the quality of ingredients and the nuances of the brewing process. What speaks to me most from the creed is the commitment to integrity and relationship: relationship with the ingredients, history, individualism, community and innovation.
Never thought of beer in this way before? You are not alone. When I made Aliyah in 2002, the craft beer industry in Israel was well … non-existent. Even homebrewing equipment was nearly impossible to find. It was several years later in 2006 that Dancing Camel appeared not on the scene, but to create the scene. By now, there are 20+ registered microbreweries in Israel. But do not mistake quantity for quality…or craftsmanship. This past summer on a return to trip to Israel, I made it a point to try as many Israeli craft beers as I could find, albeit from the bottle (draft beers are in a different league, unfortunately the dynamics of the visit didn’t allow for that kind of luxury). Besides, if a brewery has the courage to put their product in a bottle, then that should be proof enough that they have something worth tasting. While on the whole the experience was a delight and some tasty brews were discovered, there is certainly room for improvement. The sum of it, craft brewing is form of art, craft brewing in a bottle … a fine art that few, at least in Israel (or more aptly, from the beers tasted), have mastered.
Throughout the course of two beer tastings my friends and I sampled six different breweries and 18 different beers. The list of breweries and beers included the following:
NEGEV BREWERY – AMBER ALE
NEGEV BREWERY – PORTER
CANAAN BREWERY – PALE ALE
CANAAN BREWERY – CARAWAY
CANAAN BREWERY – WHEAT
EMEK HAELAH – BEVARIAN WHEAT
EMEK HAELAH – BLONDE
EMEK HAELAH – IRISH RED ALE
JEM’S WHEAT, JEM’S AMBER ALE
JEM’S DARK LAGER, JEM’S STOUT
JEM’S 8-8, ISRA-ALE BLONDE
BIRA BRABUA – PILSNER
BIRA BRABUA – RED ALE
BIRA BRABUA – BOCK
BIRA BIRABUA – AMBER
Other beers sampled but not included in the beer tastings were various styles from PAVO BREWERY in Zichron Yaakov, as well as various styles from the GOLAN HEIGHTS BREWERY.
Each beer evaluation considered the following six aspects (as expanded upon in the publication “How to Hold a Tasting at Home” by The Brewer’s Association): 1. Appearance — color, head and carbonation; 2. Aroma; 3. Taste; 4. Mouthfeel or Texture; 5. Overall impression; 6. Beer Whispering.
This last category is my favorite. The beer whisper is essentially what you, your totally subjective self, have to say about the beer. What is its story? What does the beer remind you of? You will see in the evaluations (what I like to call developmental criticism) that a beer may whisper some unusual things. In this case the beer tastings were much more a celebration than an attempt at critique. My love for Israel, craftbeer, comraderie and plain old fun is what I was going for in these tastings. I hope that you will have the opportunity to hold a beer tasting of your own, in a rebuilt Jerusalem, speedily in our days.
In this first post, I share the write ups for two of the six breweries and their respective beers. A disclaimer, this is a completely subjective evaluation. Coming up in the posts to follow, more evaluations and the stories behind the breweries/brewers themselves. L’Chaiim!
Rabbi Baruch Rock, born and raised in NY, first learned of craft brewing while serving in the Student Conservation Corps in the Bitteroot Wilderness of Idaho at the age of 16. Since then, Baruch has been an avid homebrewer both in the US and for the ten years he lived in Israel. Baruch Rock now resides in Fairfax, Virginia, where he gladly sips his favorite craft beers from across the country to those close to home.
Batch Brewing Co. Founder Stephen Roginson Aims To Open Nanobrewery In …
This article originally appeared in Model D.
Stephen Roginson has been home-brewing since he was 19. The Midtown resident’s more than a decade-old hobby is becoming his profession now that he is starting Batch Brewing Co. He hopes to open his nanobrewery in Corktown midway through 2013.
“I am scaling my homebrewing to a new level and entering the market as a nanobrewery,” Roginson says. “As far as I know, I am the only nanobrewery in Detroit.”
A nanobrewery is often defined as a small microbrewery that produces four barrels or less of beer per batch. Batch Brewing Co plans to make batches of beers as small as 10 gallons. Some of the company’s brands include “Son of a Batch IPA” and “Global Domination Pilsner.”
“I am going to try and stay true to the style when I am brewing,” Roginson says.
Roginson and his two partners are aiming to open their operation at 1444 Michigan Ave in Corktown midway through next year. The brewery would be complemented by a weekly rotation of local food trucks serving their wares at the space.
Source: Stephen Roginson, co-owner of Batch Brewing Co.
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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Craft Beer: More Than What’s in the Bottle
By Rabbi Baruch Rock
Craft beer brewing is an art. The craft brewer is self-mandated to blend the complex flavors from water, malts, hops and yeasts into a harmony of delight. There is also a creed of the craft brewer as described by the Brewer’s Association:
• The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.
• Craft beer is generally made with traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.
• Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism, and sponsorship of events.
• Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers.
• Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.
Technically, a craft brewery produces no more than 475,000 gallons of beer per year (I am using craft brewery and microbrewery interchangeably, an obvious generality that glosses over the complexities of the industry, but sufficient for this posting). Culturally, these small scale breweries forsake size to allow for greater care and attention to be paid to the quality of ingredients and the nuances of the brewing process. What speaks to me most from the creed is the commitment to integrity and relationship: relationship with the ingredients, history, individualism, community and innovation.
Never thought of beer in this way before? You are not alone. When I made Aliyah in 2002, the craft beer industry in Israel was well … non-existent. Even homebrewing equipment was nearly impossible to find. It was several years later in 2006 that Dancing Camel appeared not on the scene, but to create the scene. By now, there are 20+ registered microbreweries in Israel. But do not mistake quantity for quality…or craftsmanship. This past summer on a return to trip to Israel, I made it a point to try as many Israeli craft beers as I could find, albeit from the bottle (draft beers are in a different league, unfortunately the dynamics of the visit didn’t allow for that kind of luxury). Besides, if a brewery has the courage to put their product in a bottle, then that should be proof enough that they have something worth tasting. While on the whole the experience was a delight and some tasty brews were discovered, there is certainly room for improvement. The sum of it, craft brewing is form of art, craft brewing in a bottle … a fine art that few, at least in Israel (or more aptly, from the beers tasted), have mastered.
Throughout the course of two beer tastings my friends and I sampled six different breweries and 18 different beers. The list of breweries and beers included the following:
NEGEV BREWERY – AMBER ALE
NEGEV BREWERY – PORTER
CANAAN BREWERY – PALE ALE
CANAAN BREWERY – CARAWAY
CANAAN BREWERY – WHEAT
EMEK HAELAH – BEVARIAN WHEAT
EMEK HAELAH – BLONDE
EMEK HAELAH – IRISH RED ALE
JEM’S WHEAT, JEM’S AMBER ALE
JEM’S DARK LAGER, JEM’S STOUT
JEM’S 8-8, ISRA-ALE BLONDE
BIRA BRABUA – PILSNER
BIRA BRABUA – RED ALE
BIRA BRABUA – BOCK
BIRA BIRABUA – AMBER
Other beers sampled but not included in the beer tastings were various styles from PAVO BREWERY in Zichron Yaakov, as well as various styles from the GOLAN HEIGHTS BREWERY.
Each beer evaluation considered the following six aspects (as expanded upon in the publication “How to Hold a Tasting at Home” by The Brewer’s Association): 1. Appearance — color, head and carbonation; 2. Aroma; 3. Taste; 4. Mouthfeel or Texture; 5. Overall impression; 6. Beer Whispering.
This last category is my favorite. The beer whisper is essentially what you, your totally subjective self, have to say about the beer. What is its story? What does the beer remind you of? You will see in the evaluations (what I like to call developmental criticism) that a beer may whisper some unusual things. In this case the beer tastings were much more a celebration than an attempt at critique. My love for Israel, craftbeer, comraderie and plain old fun is what I was going for in these tastings. I hope that you will have the opportunity to hold a beer tasting of your own, in a rebuilt Jerusalem, speedily in our days.
In this first post, I share the write ups for two of the six breweries and their respective beers. A disclaimer, this is a completely subjective evaluation. Coming up in the posts to follow, more evaluations and the stories behind the breweries/brewers themselves. L’Chaiim!
Rabbi Baruch Rock, born and raised in NY, first learned of craft brewing while serving in the Student Conservation Corps in the Bitteroot Wilderness of Idaho at the age of 16. Since then, Baruch has been an avid homebrewer both in the US and for the ten years he lived in Israel. Baruch Rock now resides in Fairfax, Virginia, where he gladly sips his favorite craft beers from across the country to those close to home.
Shelburne landmark gets $230000 from feds
A building which was once a ships’ store and a centre of commerce for the community will once again be a hub of business activity following a investment from the federal government.
South Shore St. Margaret’s MP Gerald Keddy came to Shelburne on Tuesday morning with a big present …almost $230,000 for the restoration of the iconic Cox Warehouse.
“The improvements to Cox Warehouse will allow this community-owned building to make a significant economic impact,” said MP Keddy. “This facility will become a new home of business on the Shelburne Waterfront.”
The investment will make the 110-year-old building suitable for leasing to private businesses for light industrial and retail use. The first tenant of the renovated facility will be the Dock Street Brewing Company, a microbrewery that will feature exotic brews with a local twist. Upgrades will include replacing the roof as well as water-damaged ceiling and walls, repairing and replacing windows, upgrading the heating system, re-shingling and structural repairs.
The Shelburne Historical Society is managing the restoration process and has invested $51,430 in the project, which is also being supported by the Town of Shelburne ($10,000) and the Municipality of the District of Shelburne ($6,000).
“This development is a huge opportunity for our community,” said Louise Lindsay, President of the Shelburne Historical Society. “The Society has spent more than 20 years trying to find a sustainable use for Cox Warehouse. This project allows us to retain and preserve a significant community landmark and is a chance for us to look to our past to define a new future and create economic activity for years to come.”
“Cox Warehouse played a chief role in our Municipality’s history as a driver of business activity and development,” said Roger Taylor, Warden for the Municipality of Shelburne. “We are excited to see this impressive structure begin to play this role again and add to the appeal of Shelburne’s historic downtown core.”
”There has been much interest in terms of the preservation of the Cox building,” said Karen Mattatall, Mayor of the Town of Shelburne. “The rejuvenation of the Cox Warehouse should provide new economic opportunities in our area.”
Local Man Sets His Sights on Establishing Brewery
Although Monkey Wrench Brewing is not yet in operation, Wayne Baxter doesn’t feel that it’s that far off. After home brewing for sixteen years, his dream is to own and operate a microbrewery in Snellville, or at least close by. The only thing stopping him is finding the right investors – and with his business savvy, a passionate team and optimism for the future of craft beer, that shouldn’t be a problem.
The market for craft beer has been growing by about 14-15% per year for the past five years. There is a trend toward buying local and drinking local, according to Baxter.
“If I use honey in one of my beers,” he said, “I’ll buy it from the guy at the farmers market.”
He tries to include local ingredients in all of his beers, and while he doesn’t have any paid staff, he barters beer for man hours.
“And they’ll work for beer!” he joked.
Baxter now has seven beers on tap, and another five or six “ready to go in.” He creates the recipes from scratch, some through trial and error. His latest is a Christmas brew, which features rosemary, ginger, bitter and sweet orange peel and orange blossom honey. The process takes a few weeks from start to finish.
If you’re unfamiliar with how beer is made, Baxter is more than willing to discuss it. It involves grains, hops, yeast, water, a mechanism called the mash tun, the lauter tun and the boil kettle.
First, you mill the grain, and in order to stop the enzyme activity you raise the temperature to 168 degrees. The bitter hops are added initially, and the aroma hops are added toward the end.
Sound complicated? Maybe a little, but for Baxter, it’s just a part of life – a part that he hopes to make full-time. As of now, a home brewer can brew 100 gallons per year. In order to brew more and sell it, he has to be licensed. In order to be licensed, he has to have an approved location. And for that, he need a good chunk of cash. In the end, he plans to have a fully operational microbrewery with a tasting room.
“Then we’ll just keg it and bottle it,” he explained.
He considers himself a “hophead.” He personally prefers spicy, grainy beers, like an Indian pale ale. He enjoys experimenting with his brews, and describes how “half a pound of this and half a pound of that” really changes the complexity of the beer.
“Because of the color, flavor and complexity,” he said, “you can pair beer with food just like you can wine.”
And while Anhauser Busch and Miller have the corner on the pale ale market, “sometimes you just want a steak instead of a hamburger,” according to Baxter.
For example, one of his beers, the Belgian Trippel, is described as a ”medium-bodied, effervescent ale practically exploding with Trappist Ale yeast, clear Belgium Candi Sugar and wheat malt character – kind of like a liquid multigrain bread.”
Another, his Monkey Barrel Bourbon Oak Porter, is completely different: “Infused oak chips with Jack Daniels Bourbon after fermentation make this an awesome brew. Chocolate, Munich Roasted Barley malts were used along with Tettnanger and Fuggle European hops. It pours dark brown and has an creamy dark chocolate bar flavor with the added characteristics of the oak, bourbon vanilla from the oak chips.”
Monkey Wrench Brewing is Baxter’s second start-up company. His first, Baxtek Solutions, Inc., is a successful barcode, RFID, mobile computer and wireless technology company.
For more information, follow Monkey Wrench Brewing on Facebook and Twitter.
Home hobbyists dream of operating microbrewery in Latrobe – Tribune
By Joe Napsha
Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 8:56 p.m.
Updated 3 hours ago
Two men who enjoy drinking and brewing beer are trying to raise $30,000 to make their dream of operating a craft brewery in Latrobe a reality.
Mark Pavlik, 27, of Latrobe and Christian Simmons, 30, of Unity hope to move Pavlik’s home-brewing operation into a 6,000-square-foot warehouse on Mission Road, where they want to operate by next spring a microbrewery to produce four craft beers and a dozen seasonal beers that will be sold in kegs and growlers, a customer’s personal half-gallon beer container.
The men have discussed the idea of forming a business from Pavlik’s home operation since the fall of 2011, Simmons said. They formed Four Seasons Brewing Co. Inc. last month, using Pavlik’s Latrobe address as its offices, according to state Corporation Bureau records.
“I think what kick-started Mark was a lot of people started telling him how good his beer was,� Simmons said.
Because Four Seasons does not have a liquor license, Pavlik and Simmons are not permitted to sell their beer. Friends and family get to taste it, and the two have taken it to beer tasting events, such as they did last week at D’s SixPax Dogz in Monroeville.
“Some of them were local people who actually knew what they were talking about,� said Pavlik, who has worked with brew masters at All Saints Brewing Co. in Hempfield and Full Pint Brewing Co. in North Huntingdon.
“They taught me a lot. They have the ability to fine-tune and not cut corners,� he said.
Before Pavlik can move his brewing kettles and fermentation tanks out of his garage and into the warehouse, there is the matter of raising enough money to make a tasty hobby into a money-making business.
Rather than taking their business plan to local banks and asking for a loan, Simmons and Pavlik are attempting to raise $30,000 by Nov. 1 through a website, Kickstarter, which offers startups a 30-day fundraising platform. With just a week remaining until their Kickstarter fundraising drive finishes, Four Seasons has pledges totalling just $2,160 from 12 backers.
Four Seasons is offering several incentives to get supporters to make pledges ranging from $10 to $2,500. A $10 pledge will get backers a sticker; a $25 pledge earns a bottle opener; and donors making a $50 pledge get a pint glass with the Four Seasons logo. Those willing to pledge $2,000 will be treated to a catered dinner at the brewery, and anyone pledging $2,500 can get to design, brew and name one of their seasonal brews.
The advantage of this method of raising capital lies in that the men do not have to give anyone a stake in the company, Pavlik said. The pair can retain 100 percent ownership.
The downside is that all their pledges will vanish if they do not reach their goal by Nov. 1.
‘A lot of good faith’
The owners say the $30,000 would be used to cover legal costs necessary to obtain a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board permit to produce and sell beer, insurance coverage, a brewing system, inventory — such as kegs and growlers — and ingredients like hops and yeast.
“It also would show a lot of good faith for any of the banks� that might consider loaning money to the venture, Pavlik said.
Loan officers seeing such support might think “maybe we should really, really look into these guys even a little bit more (because) obviously they have all these backers,� Pavlik said.
The problem with seeking traditional financing, Simmons said, is that banks likely would want collateral for any loan. Neither man is willing to offer his house as collateral.
They do have a fallback plan in case their web fundraising effort fails. The two said they will approach family and friends for the necessary investment, and even consider giving a large investor equity in the business. They said they also would approach the Progress Fund, a Greensburg-based community development organization that lends money and provides technical assistance to under-served entrepreneurs.
While neither Simmons nor Pavlik intends to give up his day jobs as a construction worker and electric utility technician, respectively, Pavlik will be the brew master and Simmons will handle sales and marketing. They are trying to get their business up and running by the end of the first quarter because beer sales are highest in the second and third quarters, Simmons said.
“It’s OK to follow what you love to do. I love good beer,� Pavlik said.
‘Quality over quantity’
In concentrating on making craft beers, the pair are focusing on “quality over quantity,� Simmons said. They have selected a segment of the industry that has shown the most growth and is becoming more crowded.
The Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colo.-based trade group with 30,000 members, said 250 breweries opened in 2011, with 174 of them microbreweries. There also were 37 breweries that closed last year, 12 of them microbreweries.
A beer industry veteran, Pittsburgh attorney Cris Hoel, who once represented Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and Rolling Rock brewer Latrobe Brewing Co., said the craft beer segment offers the possibility of success for Four Seasons.
“Being good and being novel are rewarded by the drinkers going after craft beer,� Hoel said. “There is an enormous opportunity for a beer maker with a dream and a sack of hops.�
The craft brewing industry grew by 13 percent in volume last year and 15 percent by dollars, compared with 2010, according to the Brewers Association. Craft brewing sales accounted for 5.7 percent of all beer sales by volume last year, with an estimated 11.4 million barrels of beer in 2011, up from 10.1 million barrels in 2010.
Western Pennsylvania has a tradition of supporting craft beers, Hoel said, pointing to the success of Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh’s North Side, Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville, Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville and the new All Saints Brewing Co. in Hempfield.
“It’s not a fluke anymore. They’re barking up the right tree,� Hoel said.
Brewing once a week
Tim Bates, a business consultant at St. Vincent College’s Small Business Development Center who helped Simmons and Pavlik with their business plan, said those seeking to start a microbrewery have a good idea, but their success lies “in the implementation of the idea.�
“In this particular industry, you can’t be everything to everybody, at least not in the beginning,â€� Bates said. “The challenge is trying to keep the focus on what the original intent is … to keep the focus on what is your market niche and who are your clients.â€�
Pavlik said he intends to brew once a week once the business starts growing. So far this year, he has brewed beer 71 times in 5-gallon batches. He has ramped up production in the past two years, brewing different beers almost on a weekly or biweekly basis.
If they get their business off the ground, Pavlik said, the building the men want to lease has sufficient space for canning or bottling. They envision creating a taproom where customers can sample their brews as well as buy growlers. Simmons said he has talked to beer distributors in the region that would carry their kegs, along with some local taverns.
“There’s a very good potential for customers spending money on craft beer,� Bates said.
Joe Napsha is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.
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Crafty Moves
With space hard to come by in Chandigarh, coupled with restrictions on independent beer brewing, Panchkula is fast emerging as a pubbing destination. There seems to be a demand for craft beers, as little else would explain the opening up of another microbrewery that is surprisingly housed not too far away from its predecessor. Situated on one end of the always-buzzing market of Sector 9, Ooze- The Brauhaus is discreetly tucked away in the first floor of an international fast food joint. There’s a huge beer cask that leads the way to a flight of stairs. With dark, black walls highlighted with yellow neon lights, there’s an immediate transition from the sunny ambience outside. The darkness engulfs once you are past the huge doorway, even though we visited it in the middle of the afternoon. There’s a large announcement at the entrance that asserts that weapons are not allowed inside. Yes, in this part of the world, these things have to be spelt out.
At first glance, Ooze- The Brauhaus (the latter is a German word for microbrewery) comes across as a diner-lounge. There are rows of lounge sofas, their backs plastered to the walls with tables (that should ideally have been coffee table height) across them. The copper-coloured steely units (adhering to German designs made by Chinese manufacturers we are told) that brew the beer can be spotted in one corner, carefully encased in glass.
The highlight is definitely beer that comes in four variants. There’s wheat, pilser, ale and stout priced Rs 150 onwards. “Here we follow the Bavarian Purity Law or the German Purity Law which states that the only ingredients that could be used in production of beer are water, barley malt, hops and yeast. There are no preservatives,” remarked owner Suraj Pratap Singh Sidhu. The wheat beer was light with a sweet aftertaste and the ale will appeal to those who prefer it bitter and stronger. The menu offers everything from Mexican, Indian and Oriental cuisines. The nachos we sampled with the beer were spot on and worth pairing up with a pilsner. Ditto for the Ooze special chicken that brought in rolls of chicken wrapped around a chilli. Fiery enough to make you gulp the beer.
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Decatur Clears Way for Craft Beer Brewing
The ordinance that now allows craft beer brewing in Decatur may have to be amended to allow a craft distillery.
Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne said Monday night that someone who wants to open a distillery has approached the city.
It’s not allowable now under city ordinances but that’s the kind of business Decatur wants to encourage, she said.
“It’s the new trend,” Menne said.
The city commission voted 5-0 to amend the city zoning ordinance to allow craft beer brewing in the East Decatur Station area. Three Taverns and Blue Tarp Brewing want to start making craft beer there.
These breweries want to sell beer on the retail level. The amendment will not affect Twain’s, which is a microbrewery and does not sell off premises.
Unruly Brewing Co. to launch ‘community brewery’ while Russell Block Market … – Muskegon Chronicle
MUSKEGON, MI – Muskegon business attorney Jeff Jacobson said he and his partner Mark Gongalski must have looked at every available commercial building in Muskegon County seeking a home for their “community brewery” business.
In the end, Jacobson said they found the perfect location in downtown Muskegon at the Russell Block Market, 360 W. Western. The retail incubator being developed by Gary Post is expected to be open by the Christmas holiday season.
The Unruly Brewing Co. will take up nearly half of the 5,000 square feet of space on the Russell Block Market’s first level. Operated by the nonprofit Muskegon Retail Incubator Inc., the Russell Block Market board is now looking for tenants to fill the remainder of the retail space, especially with food outlets that would complement the new microbrewery.
“We are about to create another exciting destination location for downtown Muskegon,” according to Terry MacAllister, president of the MRI board. “Unruly and the other food businesses we are lining up will offer customers and patrons something different – a place to come hang out, drink some microbrews, choose among different food offerings, browse related shops and enjoy an all-around fun experience.
“This will be one hopping place,” MacAllister said.
Unruly Brewing Co. was announced in February as the two home brewers and business partners began looking for a location and secure investors.
“We are extremely excited to be having this building after a six- or seven-month search,” Gongalski said. “We were looking for a location to provide us a beer garden atmosphere and at an economical rate. It was tough to find but this is awesome news. We are glad to be going downtown.”
Muskegon downtown promoters and economic developers said they are thrilled to have Muskegon County’s first microbrewery in the heart of the central business district. Muskegon is one of the untapped markets in West Michigan for the craft brewing boom that is going on around the region, said Andrew Haan, head of Downtown Muskegon Now – a downtown development and marketing organization.
“We are ecstatic to hear the news that we are bringing into our downtown a use into the mix that we have been seeking for years,” Haan said of craft beer and culinary tourism being the largest growth areas in the travel market. “We are an unserved community but West Michigan is a hot bed of microbrewing and the region is known throughout the national. Now we join that industry.”
As a “community brewery,” Unruly Brewing Co. will open with a four-barrel brewing system and a taproom for tasting, the owners said. Another business partner is Eric Hoffman, who will be Unruly’s head brewer, they said.
To create the “beer-garden” atmosphere, Unruly Brewing will have an outside seating area in the space between the Russell Block building and the Hines Building to the east, the owners said. The company hopes to have its liquor license good for the entire building and outdoor beer garden, the owners said.
The concept of a community-based beer-making business is to cater to the large home-brewing movement in the Muskegon-area, Gongalski said. Unruly will offer up to eight taps for different kinds of beers. Of those, three or four will be Unruly house brands that will always be available, while the brewing company will have specialty beers that rotate.
Also being offered will be beers created by home brewers on the Unruly equipment. Gongalski said that Unruly will announce the community aspects of its business as its opening date approaches.
“The sky’s the limit on what we are going to be able to offer from this location,” Gongalski said.
Jacobson said the business will be licensed as a microbrewery, which will allow production up to 30,000 barrels of beer a year. However, Unruly will begin at a much more modest level of production, he said.
The brewing company will sell its beers on site by the pint and in “growlers” – half gallon containers to go. The company hopes to bottle its most popular brews for sale in six-packs in the Muskegon area, Gongalski said.
Gongalski and Jacobson were both raised in Muskegon. Gongalski is a 1997 graduate of Whitehall High School and has a home remodeling business, MG Modern. Jacobson is a business attorney with the Parmenter O’Toole law firm and is a 1990 graduate of Mona Shores High School.
Post, who also has developed the next door Century Club Center of retail shops and the nearby Heritage Square Townhouses, now must complete the Russell Block Market construction and MRI fill the rest of the space. The incubator organizers said finding tenants wanting to join Unruly Brewing isn’t going to be a problem.
“Ideally, we would like to see specialty burgers, homemade sausages and brats, artisan breads and rolls, specialty coffees, desserts, herbs and spices, kitchen gear — anything that has to do with eating and preparing food,” said Eileen McCormick, MRI executive director.
Jacobson and Gongalski said talk of other brewing businesses in the Muskegon area is exciting.
“The more microbrewers we can have in Muskegon the better. That would be awesome,” Gongalski said. “The craft beer industry is a big community. It’s like a family.”
Email: dalexan1@mlive.com
Facebook: Dave Alexander
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