Blank Title
BREWING SPOTLIGHT SERIES
A series focusing on the talented individuals that make up the diverse national brewing scene.
Ten questions that pull back the curtain on the geniuses that make our beer great.
Ten questions that pull back the curtain on the geniuses that make our beer great.
Edmund Oast Brewing - Charleston, SC11/30/2022 Get to know your brewer @eobrewing.
Meet Clint. He’s the head brewer, taproom jester, and magician of malts at Edmund’s Oast Brewing in Charleston, SC. • EOB started as a tiny bottle shop in 2008 as the Charleston Beer Exchange. Scott Shor and Rich Carley helped bring craft beer culture to the state and opened Edmund’s Oast brewhouse in 2014. Their full production facility opened in 2017. • Clint originally started on the bottling line @palmettobrewingin 2009. After reading “The Joy of Homebrewing,” by @charlie_papazian, he started making brews of his own. Wanting to earn Charlie’s fist bump at GABF, Clint finally succeeded winning a bronze in the Fruited Sour category in 2019 with EOB. • His first beer that he brewed at EOB was “Something Cold,” an American Blonde Ale. • Clint brews off of a 30bbl, four vessel brew house with a 15bbl mash lauter. They have three 15bbl, three 30bbl, two 60bbl and eight 80bbl fermenters. In addition, EOB has two 90bbl, two 60bbl, three 30bbl and three 15bbl brite tanks. • Clint loves to brew traditional Lagers. They’re light, sometimes malty or dark, and difficult to hide your mistakes. • His most difficult challenge at EOB was wrangling the beer, “Fistful of Foam,” a Czech-style Lager. It had a double decoction mash, which made the brew difficult, but well worth it. • Future plans include their collaboration with local meadery, @garagistemeadery, called, “Depeche Mjød.” It’s made with California Cab grape must, Turkish pomegranate and blueberries, aged on American Oak, Brazilian Amburana and Southern Bald Cypress. • Best reason to stop by EOB? Their staff. Everyone is knowledgeable and passionate about beer. Also, EOB is in the middle of the brewery district in Charleston! • When he can, Clint prefers sipping Coors Lights on the water when it’s hot. • Clint loves making meads at home—they make great Christmas gifts! He also loves burning calories so he can drink more (which means taking his dog on long walks and taking in the beautiful city). Stop on by Edmund’s Oast for some amazing brews and eats. Or, pick up one or their fantastic beers when on the East Coast. You can’t beat that lovely black & white can art!
0 Comments
Talking Waters Brewing - Montevideo, MN11/14/2022 Get to know your brewers @twbrewingco.
Meet Nick and Phil. This dynamic duo has been crushing brews in Montevideo, MN for the last six years. They’re currently featured @stonearchmsp, so the next time you hit the airport, give them a try! • Talking Waters opened for business in July 2016. • Neither of these brewing geniuses had prior professional brewing experience. Nick started as a home brewer in college and Phil joined in when they started making pilot batches for Talking Waters. • The first beer brewed for Talking Waters was their award-winning Cream Ale, Farmer’s Tan. • Talking Waters brews with a 10bbl @dmesystems brewhouse and six 10bbl unitanks. • Their favorite style to brew would be any of their Lagers and new school West Coast IPAs. They love their clear beers! • The hardest challenge for them has been operating in a small community (population 5,402). Although they have great customers and fantastic support, their taproom is definitely limited by their geography. It’s forced them to move into distribution faster than they anticipated. • Future plans include a potential rooftop space at the taproom and bottle releases of Imperial Stouts and mixed-culture Sours. • A great reason to stop by is their fantastic staff and broad selection of styles on tap. Also, Montevideo is a beautiful town with Talking Waters right in the heart of their Main Street. • You’ll catch these two crushing @schellsbeer Lights and @modistbrewing Supra Deluxes after work. • When they’re not brewing or canning your favorite beers, you can catch Nick golfing, snowboarding, doing a triathlon or spending time with his family. Phil likes to golf, cross country ski, frisbee golf, and spend time with his family as well. Whenever you are looking for a chance to get out of the Cities, make the trip to Montevideo, MN, just two hours west of Minneapolis. Stop into Talking Waters and savor their wonderful suds. 🍻 Lady Brewery - Reykjavík, Iceland10/26/2022 Get to know your brewer @ladybrewery.
Meet Thórey. Brewer. Mother. Feminist. Designer. Artist. And all around badass. She’s the head brewer at Lady Brewery in Reykjavík, Iceland. • Lady Brewery officially opened their current home in Grandi, Reykjavík in 2021. • Thórey started brewing in January 2017 (she remembers this vividly). As soon as she started brewing, she knew it was going to be more than a hobby. • The first beer she brewed is First Lady, a citrusy IPA, hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Cascade hops. It remains one of her core beers. • First Lady is a gypsy brewery, meaning they brew using partner brewhouses (contract brewing). They currently brew next door @aegirbrugghus, a wonderful brewery in itself. • Thórey loves experimenting with local ingredients because Iceland does not produce hops. Her favorite style to brew right now is a Gose with white pepper, lime zest, with wild hand-picked arctic thyme and sea salt. • As an artist, balancing cost and creativity is her most difficult challenge. She prefers to just fuck around with something crazy, expensive, and time consuming, but realizes the business side of it may not always agree. • Future plans include their House of Lady at their current location where patrons can enjoy their tasting station and to-go beers. Their Lady Lab will be getting a 150L brewing vessel and a 300L fermentation tank. • A great reason to stop by is that they are the only female-owned and brewed brewery in Iceland! Located in the Grandi fish district, the views are incredible. • Thórey is a sucker for a good @peroninastroazzurro. It’s so simple and refreshing, she doesn’t have to analyze it. • When she’s not brewing, you can catch her running a creative studio, And Anti Matter, with her husband, Baldur. Ever designing, ever creating. So, the next time you stop in Iceland, give Lady Brewery a visit! 🇮🇸 Schell's Brewing - New Ulm, MN10/12/2022 Get to know your brewer @schellsbeer.
Meet Dave. The man. The myth. The brewing legend. He’s the brewmaster at Schell’s Brewing Company in New Ulm, MN. • Schell’s opened for business in 1860. Yup, it’s the second oldest family-owned brewery in the entire United States (next to @yuenglingbeer). So, just a bit before the Surly bill passed in MN. • Dave has been brewing professionally since 1996. After a career in aerospace engineering, he made brewing stops at Water Tower Brewing Co, in Eden Prairie in the late 90s. He then brewed at Bandana Brewing in Mankato. He’s been at Schell’s since 2006. Dave also used to be the president of the @mncraftbrewersguild. • The very first beer he brewed at Schell’s was the 2006 vintage of Snowstorm, a London Stout. • Dave brews off of a 100-150 bbl system, depending on the beer. Their fermenters range in size from 100-750 bbls. 🤯 • His favorite beer he makes at Schell’s? It’s definitely No Frills, their German-style Pilsner. • The hardest challenge Dave has faced at Schell’s was designing an ultra-low calorie/carbohydrate beer. • Future plans for the brewery include releasing their 2022 edition of Snowstorm. It’ll be a multi-grain Doppelbock. • A great reason to stop by Schell’s this year is their Oktoberfest bash this Saturday. Dave said that if you’ve never toured the grounds, the history and the tours they offer are fantastic. Also, they just recently opened their new, spacious taproom. • Dave’s favorite crushable beer would be @millerhighlife. • When he manages to find time away from the brewery, you can catch Dave riding his bike. Although I doubt you could really catch him. Want to experience one of the best Oktoberfests in this state? Head to New Ulm this Saturday, October 15th, and take in the historic grounds and revel in the sensational suds from this brewing master! Venn Brewing - Minneapolis, MN10/1/2022 Get to know your brewer @vennbrewing.
Meet Ben, slayer of suds and master of the mash. He’s the head brewer at Venn Brewing in Minneapolis, MN. • Venn opened its doors on December 17th, 2017. • Ben has been home brewing for 12 years, with professional stops @tribesbeerco in Chicago and @surlybrewing, right here in MPLS. • The very first beer he brewed at Venn was the Schwarzbier—dark Lager for the win! • Venn uses a 7bbl @dmesystems kit and ten 7bbl unitank fermenters. Magic happens here. • His favorite style to make for the brewery would be…yes, Lagers. What the Helles?! • The hardest challenge he’s faced was brewing 100 unique recipes for their first 100 batches. Wow. Without repeating anything, recipes got pretty thin and challenging after batch 75. • Outside of a few staple beers, the luxury of a smaller system means they can churn out new recipes frequently—a great reason to stop by and see what’s new! • Venn also opened a full-service coffee shop recently, so now you can stop by and enjoy coffee starting at 7am Tuesday-Sunday. Perfect for those noon Twins, Vikings and Gophers games. Just hop on/off the train! • Ben’s favorite crushable beer would be @hammsthebeer or @millerhighlife. • When he’s not brewing double batches, you can find Ben kickboxing or doing Jiu Jitsu, spending time with his lovely wife and daughter, or golfing any chance he gets with his pops. Next time you’re taking the train to the airport or the Mall of America, make sure to hop off the Blue Line on 46th St and pop into Venn for a pint! RVK Brewing - Reykjavíc, Iceland9/20/2022 Get to know the founder of @rvkbrewing.
Say hello to Siggi. He’s one of the co-founders of RVK Brewing in the heart of Reykjavík, Iceland. A home brewer by trade, Siggi helped design a lot of the beers you enjoy from RVK today. • RVK opened in May of 2018 and their taproom opened in July of that year. • Siggi has been home brewing since 2012. Even though he is the co-founder and has designed a lot of the recipes in use today, RVK has a dedicated team of brewers to carry out the day-to-day activities. Siggi concentrates on the business side. • The first beer launched at RVK was a Mosaic-driven IPA appropriately called, “Deput IPA.” They haven’t brewed it again since, but may bring it back. • The original brewery, located next to the taproom, is a 5HL (metric sizing) brew system with 40HL fermenters. In July of this year they opened their new location next door, with a 15HL system and 300HL fermenters. • RVK prides themselves in making great beer for everyone—from Lagers to big, barrel-aged Imperial Stouts. Siggi is particularly fond of their IPAs, whether they are sessionables or triples. • The hardest challenge they have faced is coping with demand and not enough capacity. They’ve had to outsource brews which has created all sorts of problems. Now, with their new brewhouse, they hope to increase their capacity eight-fold. • Since opening the new location, the challenge now becomes coming up with styles that have a broad acceptance and will utilize their new canning line (just installed the day I was there). To go sales have just been legalized in Iceland, so that is something else to look forward to. • A great reason to stop by RVK is their great beer and atmosphere. They’re converting a mid-century movie theater into their new taproom! • Siggi’s favorite beer to crush is their Hrím Pseudo Lager. • When he’s not running the place, you can find Siggi hiking, biking, snowboarding or just chilling at home listening to a good vinyl LP. Next time you’re in Reykjavík, make sure to stop in at RVK and sample their amazing array of brews. Brewing Collab - Shakopee, MN8/27/2022 Get to know your brewers of this epic collab @shakopeebrewhall.
Ben from Shakopee BrewHall, Randy from @liftbridge, and Matt from @forgottenstarbrewing all used to work together at the recently closed @theherkimerpub. Ben had the idea of getting the band back together for one epic brew! A few weeks back these guys braved the weather to collab on an amazing rice Lager. It’s a take off of one of their signature beers they used to brew at the Herkimer, slightly inspired by fellow restaurant/bar @motoisake These guys just like having a good time and joking around and it’s nice to see them go on their separate journeys to become some bad-ass brewers in this state. This beer will release during Shakopee BrewHall’s anniversary week of September 12th-16th. Stop on by to these what these three wizards put together! Inbound Brewing - Minneapolis, MN8/10/2022 Get to know your brewers @inboundbrewco.
Meet Rob and Dennis. These two are responsible for keeping your favorite beers flowing @inboundbrewco in downtown Minneapolis. It just so happened I was there for batch #999! • Inbound opened its location, nestled next to Target field in the heart of downtown MPLS, in 2016. You may have known them before as Lucid Brewing. • Rob started homebrewing in 2013 with a Mr Beer kit. He then moved on to extract brewing, then brew-in-a-bag, and finally the 5-gallon cooler mash tun. He started as a brand ambassador at Inbound, worked @townhallbrewery, and then became a full time brewer back at Inbound in 2017. • The first beer he brewed at Inbound was their hibiscus Saison, Petal Pounder. His first solo brew was their 2018 Hallucidation. Dennis helped train Rob in on the brewing duties! • Inbound brews off of a 15bbl, two-vessel system. They have four 15bbl, five 30bbl, and three 60bbl fermenters. Also, they have a 15bbl and 60bbl Brite tank. • Rob’s favorite style to brew would be any of their sours. The variety they can achieve while adhering to their normal practices make it simple, yet exciting. • The hardest challenge Rob has faced as head brewer has been time and resource allocation. Also, hoses. If you can figure out where to place hoses while transferring liquid around it will vastly improve your work. • Future beers? Shhh…that’s under tight wraps. Keep checking their website or social pages for new and exciting releases. • One great reason to stop by is their proximity to Target field. A two block walk will save you on $14 stadium beers. Try their Contains Bees: a peanut butter and honey Blonde Ale. It’s absolutely delicious—and half the price of a Bud Light in the stadium! • Rob’s favorite crushable lawnmower beer would’ve been Busch Light. He’s actually been sober for four years! They do have a pretty fantastic NA beer on tap. • When he’s not brewing, you may find Rob helping out with his wife’s successful empanada business. He also loves to play hockey, golf, fish, and of course monitor his stock options. Head to Inbound this Saturday for Nershfest! A huge block party celebration of 10 years as a business! Elm Creek - Champlin, MN7/28/2022 Get to know your brewer @elmcreekbrewing.
Meet Nick. He’s the head brewer at Elm Creek Brewing in Champlin, MN. This fantastic brewer is getting married next month, so wish him the best! • Elm Creek opened its doors in June of 2020 and Nick came aboard in August of 2020. • He’s been brewing for 11 years, seven of them professionally. Nick previously brewed @56brewing and also had a stint at Northstar Mobile Canning. • The first beer he brewed at ECBC was their Raspberry Kettle Sour—the beginning of their Rare Candy series. • They currently brew off a 5 barrel electric system with three 5 bbl and eight 10 bbl fermenters. • New England IPAs are always the most fun beers for him to brew, but his heart belongs to making Lagers. I’m sensing a trend here with brewers, and I like it! • The hardest challenge he’s faced as the head brewer at Elm Creek has been scaling up their production to meet the demands of the taproom while simultaneously pushing the limits on their cans and kegs for wholesale. They brew in a small space and it’s a constant shuffle. • They are currently working on an expansion of their brewery to meet the growing demand. Part of this expansion includes horizontal lagering tanks so they can output the crispiest Lagers! • A good reason to stop by ECBC is their diverse selection of brews and their newly expanded patio. Also, who loves a good cornhole tournament? • Nick’s favorite crushable lawnmower beer would be Coors Banquet. It’s the coveted Lager. • When he’s not brewing, Nick loves spending time with his future wife and their dogs. He loves duck hunting and fishing. In addition, he dabbles in bee keeping and gardening, albeit they’re both a work in progress. Stop on by Elm Creek and say hey to Nick and enjoy some of their crispy beers this summer! Badger Hill Brewing - Shakopee, MN7/7/2022 Get to know your brewer @badgerhillbeer. Rock out with your Bock out because we have one heck of a brewer! Meet Chris. He’s the head brewer at Badger Hill Brewing in Shakopee, MN—right across Hwy 101 from ValleyFair. • Badger Hill first started brewing in 2011 out of a shared facility with Lucid Brewing (which would become @inboundbrewco). The current taproom opened in 2014. • Chris started brewing in 2011 as well. He was on the packaging crew @uplandbrewco in 2017 and moved to Badger in December that year. • The first beer he assisted brewing at Badger Hill was their Dortmunder Lager. His first recipe at the brewery was for their Dopplebock. • Badger Hill currently brews off of a 30bbl system. • Chris loves brewing Lagers. A clean, elegant Lager is both technically challenging and process-driven with its creation. He loves full-flavored and exciting sessionables that fall in the 3-4% ABV range, if not lower. • The most difficult challenge for him has been, you guessed it, navigating the pandemic as head brewer. He became the head brewer in February of 2020. Ever since then, the brewing landscape has completely changed—consumer habits, supply chain issues, and the world economy in general. • Badger Hill will be going through a transformation and a “New Badger Hill” will be born. More on this down the road. But for now, Chris would like people to come out and experience the “Old” Badger Hill—their 10 year anniversary party will be July 23rd! • Some great reasons to stop by the brewery are the release of two old standard brews: the Foundation Stout and High Road Everyday Ale. And Three Witches Pale Ale from @linedhel will be making a return. • Chris’s favorite crushable lawnmower beer would have to be PBR. He says that’s his Indiana roots pushing through. • When he’s not brewing, he dabbles in hobbies (that’s how he got the brewing bug). He even started a backyard beehive with his fiancée. Next up is getting a smoker and venturing into the art of low and slow cooking. There’s plenty to get excited about at Badger Hill. Try to make it out to Shakopee and check out their diverse selection of brews and upcoming events! And Bock out! |
Site powered by Weebly. Managed by Bluehost