Good Beer Hunting

This week's guest is an artist and commercial screenprinter here in Chicago. We’ve worked with him numerous times through GBH making posters and hosting workshop events. He’s well-known but depending on how you discovered his work, you know him for very different reasons. Myself, I knew him as the guy who did the Dark Lord Day posters, and Apocalypse Cow from Three Floyds. For others, he’s an artist working with bands like the Alabama Shakes. And most recently he took his first gig with a brewery making illustrations for the new cans coming out of Chicago’s Hop Butcher for the World.  He’s also a small business entrepreneur, a dad of two great kids, and he works to balance all that with his creative ambitions, which are so similar to my own. So it was a great conversation, and I’m glad to share it with you all.

I spent the break up in Michigan, with my wife’s family in Grand Rapids like we do every year. But this year the city felt completely different. So many new things are opening, major new projects underway in beer and otherwise. We visited Sovengaard, Rick Muschiana’s new nordic-inspired restaurant and beer garden. Rick used to work at Brewery Vivant, one of our favorites. And he took what he learned there in terms of sustainability and hospitably and applied it to a new concept that really brightens up the Grand Rapids scene for me. He's got an amazing beer list—one of the most adventurous in the city by far. But also great wines, and a unique menus far away form the pub food that GR so often does. This spring the beer garden portion will open up, and I can’t wait to see it.  Across the street from Sovengaard is one of GR’s most ambitious projects, the New Holland brewpub. It towers over the neighborhood, a complex with the brewpub on the ground floors, a set of private event rooms and a cocktail bar on the second, and above that new condo residences. Compared to their original brewpub back in Holland, Michigan, the contrast is stark.  It’s a long way from home, maybe not geographically, but spiritually, from how I perceived the New Holland brand so many years ago on my first visit when Mad Hatter was a stand-out hoppy beer for the region, and Dragon’s Milk was something I could barely wrap my head around. As you’ll hear in this series of interviews, that’s going to change forever—maybe for the entire country.  To paint a full picture of the evolution of New Holland, I decided to talk to a few people in the organization. So this is going to be a unique one. We’re going to hear from the new Grand Rapids brewpub brewer, the VP of marketing, the executive chef who overseas both locations, and the national sales manager who is taking on the challenge of taking New Holland, well, national.

We’re sitting down with Paul Vander-Heide of Vandermill Cider out of Michigan. I first met Paul back when he was a tiny little cider mill in Spring Lake, personally loading a few kegs into his van and driving them to Chicago. He’s always been one step ahead of the cider wave that took off like a shot—and is currently hitting a bit of a plateau—in the U.S., depending on what kind of producer you are. But the reason he's succeeding is because of his foresight, willingness to adapt, opportunistic approach and, frankly, his ability to give the people what they want even as he sets his sights on a brighter future for the category.  In the Midwest, I don’t think there’s a cider company that has opened more doors than Vandermill. And the growth of his company is an indication that his days ahead are even more ambitious. He’s moved production from Spring Lake to Grand Rapids in a beautiful new facility with a tasting room and a kitchen. And there’s a ton of room in there to grow.  So I’m finally sitting down with Paul on what seems like the precipice of his success, but being the pragmatist that he is, he knows that his competition is getting fierce, and the entire category needs room to grow before cider makers start turning on each other.  He’s a great ambassador for cider, and I’m excited to share this conversation with you. Even if I was a little hungover from a bawdy evening at Sovengaard the night before. (I think it was that last Orval or maybe the Rosé that got me.) So pardon any sluggishness in my brain on this one.

Today’s episode is a really interesting discussion with one of the most influential people in international beer—Robert Lobovsky of Pilsner Urquell.  I say "most influential" because he’s the face and ambassador for one of the world’s most famous beers, which has only gone on to embolden its reputation over the years as its shifted from a European gem to an international icon for the Pilsner style.  I had my first chat with Robert a few years ago in the Czech Republic walking around the campus and the caves of Pilsner Urquell. I found him to be a delightful conversationalist and a but of a history nut, both for Pilsner Urquell but also for his country.  So getting the chance to sit down with him in the studio in Chicago was a real treat for me. We dig in to everything from the history of Pilsner, to Robert’s personal journey, to the state of world affairs that make a brewery like Pilsner Urquell such an interesting acquisition for the likes of SABMiller who, in the days following this conversation, actually sold off the brewery to Asahi as part of the monster deal between AB InBev and SABMiIller.  One thing to note: in this interview we try to relate world events like the formation of NATO to the timing of the original SABMiller sale, and honestly, we struggle a bit to paint that picture. Following the interview, we discussed a bit more and came to the conclusion that SABMiller wanted to buy Pilsner Urquell because it was a bit of a  pride piece for the South African conglomerate to own such a critical piece of European brewing history, but of course the signing of NATO certainly helped that investment pay off a lot faster than it otherwise would have. In fact, it helped bring companies like Pilsner Urquell to the world stage.

Today’s guest hails from Wellington, New Zealand. Stu McKinlay—along his business partner, Sam Possenniskie—founded Yeastie Boys in 2008. Stu had also been running a homebrew supply company called Liberty Brewing, but eventually sold it and put all of his energy into brewing. Instead of building their own brewery, the Yeastie Boys decided to focus on their brand. After developing their recipes, they had them brewed under contract at the Invercargill brewery on New Zealand’s South Island. In 2015, they sold equity in the brewery through crowdfunding, raising half a million dollars in just half an hour, with investors from all over the world. New Zealand has a population of four and a half million people. That’s almost half the population of London alone. So in order to make full use of this new found investment, McKinlay relocated his entire family to the UK and began the process of turning Yeastie Boys into an internationally recognized brand. As well as managing exports from New Zealand, Yeastie Boys also began contract brewing their core range in the UK, forming a partnership with BrewDog along the way.  Relocating to the other side of the world to grow your business is a huge deal, so I was keen to speak to Stu about the motivations behind this and how he thinks his brand can find relevance in a foreign marketplace.

Back in April of 2014, I got an email from Jake Koeneman, Josh Hambright, and Chris Bly about a concept they were starting up in Indianapolis called Central State Brewing. They had their collective mind set on being a 100% Brett brewery, they had a plan in place, they wanted help with the branding side of things, and before long GBH was working alongside them to bring the concept to life. Now it's 2016 and, like most brewery plans, things have shifted dramatically from some of that early planning. They’re still a Brett brewery, but after some real estate issues early on, they decided to go gypsy for awhile, which changed the model entirely. Subsequently we helped them open a bar called the Koelschip that serves their beers as well as those brewed by friends or people they admire, and it’s since been named one of 100 best bars in america by DRAFT Magazine after only a few months of being open. These days, they’re on the precipice of getting their own production space and opening a second bar devoted to german lagers. So needless to say, these guys are opportunistic, and some of the most adaptable people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. And through all of that, we’ve been able to build a brand that captures their humor, their seriousness, and their desire to fuck with just about any system that we put in place. So with so much crazy history behind them already, and with them about to take some major new steps into even more unknowns, it seemed like a perfect time to capture their story. These are some of the best people you will ever meet making beer. They’re funny, honest, and not afraid to tackle some of the more challenging questions around brewing beer, being a small business owner, and managing relationships under serious financial pressures to perform. That might sound like a bummer, and they’ll be the first to tell you it can be at times. But what I admire most about these guys is their openness, their ability to article complexities, and a crazy resilience to becoming jaded.  I can’t wait for the year ahead.

This week’s episode is devoted to an entirely different collaboration. This one is between Thomas Larsen of Ska Brewing from Durango Colorado, and Stephan Mance from Half Acre right here in Chicago.  This collaboration, like most, is largely for fun and a trip to Chicago, which Ska founder Dave Thiboldeaux is fond of making. But there’s a special reason that these two breweries are tied together and that’s through the little-known history of some hardware. You’ll often hear people talk about lineage and pedigree in brewing, the influence that a single brewer can have as he or she makes their way through the world working at a variety of breweries all over the country. It’d be one helluva genealogy protect to map out. But long before people were forced to buy new steel to open a brewery, there was a healthy secondary market for used equipment — and many of those brewhouses have lived a journeyman’s life of their own.  So with that in mind, we got together at the studio to chat about the collaboration, but also some of the experiences that have shaped each brewery, and how they’re adapting to the future, each according to their own evolution.

Today’s guest is Michael Salvatore of Heritage Bicycles in Chicago. He’s an entrepreneur with a sort of gutsy, intuitive, creative approach to creating things like bike shops, cafes, and other community-oriented places in the city that I’ve grown to love as a customer, and admire as a small business owner.  He’s one of those people that you start chatting with over coffee and walk away with some new insight into your own life and work without even realizing it. At least, that’s what happens to me when I talk to him. And I finally realized how valuable that was — so I decided to bring him in to the studio and record just such a conversation to share with you all.  While his focus is on bikes and coffee, he’s quite connected to the craft beer world here in Chicago. We have a ton of friends in common and he’s always pitching new ideas that are relevant to the beer world too. So I think you’ll take a lot away from this.  And if not, well, you’ll at least know a lot about one of Chicago’s up-and-coming business people, and you’ll probably be inspired to pay them a visit.

Today’s guest has been working in Chicago beer for a long time now, but her journey is anything but typical, and it doesn’t follow a straight line at all.  Yes, she’s a home brewer who now has her own brewery. But here’s how the dots actually connect.  She started as a homebrewer, and was certainly thinking about opening a brewery some day. But her next step was the role of a beer buyer for Bangers & Lace, and Trenchermen, both favorite bars of mine in the city with great lists. Then she started her own coffee roaster and cafe, called 4 Letter Word…in Istanbul. As in, Turkey, bringing third wave origin coffees to a city with it’s own unique history in coffee. Then she returned to Chicago part-time to start a Chicago-based version of the coffee brand. And during all that, she was working on a brewery concept. Like, the whole time. And just this past week, the taproom for that brewery opened to the public, following her first cans getting on to the shelf.  The brewery is called Whiner Beer Co. ad it’s a partnership between herself and brewer Brian Taylor on Chicago’s southside. Their first beers, six pack of 12oz cans, are called Le Tub - a mixed fermentation, barrel-aged and blended sour saison for about twelve bucks. It’s a brave new world folks.  So between her coffee roaster and now getting Whiner off the ground, we wanted to catch up with Ria before she left for Kenya this week for a coffee sourcing trip. We have a great relationship with Whiner — we helped them workshop some things with the team back when the brewery was just a sparkle in her eye — some brand strategy elements that helped focus the concept. But more importantly, their first beer served was a coffee saison for Uppers & Downers this past February, which you can hear more about from our hangover party recording, episode number 72. And at the SCAA expo in Atlanta this past spring, her and I already started talking about this year’s Uppers & Downers as we tasted through some lactic fermentation coffees. Wacky stuff.

We’re only a couple of episodes in to exploring the UK’s craft beer culture on this podcast, but already stories are beginning to emerge that I wouldn’t have heard if we’d never started. Not long after speaking to Beavertown’s Creative Director, Nick Dwyer, I was approached by his good friend, James Rylance of East London’s Redchurch Brewery. Rylance started telling me about his new brewing project at Redchurch. Redchurch just expanded out of its home in East London to a brand new production facility in Essex, just outside of the city. Making them the first of London’s new wave brewers to do so. Redchurch’s owner, Gary Ward, has handed over the previous facility to Rylance so he can devote time to creating interesting mixed fermentations and using herbs and fruit in some truly experimental beers. He’s dubbed the project “Urban Farmhouse.” Rylance himself has come a long way since he got into brewing while he was studying fine art. He cut his teeth at The Kernel before spending two years at Beavertown as they got up and running, which is where our story begins. I didn’t expect this conversation to take the twists and turns that it does. Rylance went on to tell me about how, after leaving Beavertown, he spent two months making wine in Burgundy. We also talk about the six acres of land where Redchurch will be growing their own fruit and herbs, and discuss the relevance that the term "farmhouse" has for a brewery underneath a railway arch in East London.