013 Fermenting Better Beer, with Tony Morrell, Brewer

In this episode, Tony Morrell discusses one of his obsessions, home beer brewing, how his process has changed over the past eight to nine years to assure regular brewing awards, and how he is thinking about turning his past time into a commercial venture.

Tony Morrell received his first home-brewing beer kit eight to nine years ago. Excited to try it out, the results were pretty terrible. It could take a few weeks to taste one of his concoctions, and the results were often close to what brewers call “drain pour”—so bad that you have to throw it out. The learning curve was steep, and the ingredients that came in the initial kit were not the best quality. Tony was so discouraged that he stopped brewing for about a year. However, as Tony and his friends continued to test local options, he knew that he could do better. He also enjoyed drinking seasonal beers but have a wider window when these would be available. So, he studied up, bought new ingredients locally, and tried again.

One game-changer over time was access to a new yeast, from Norway, that speeded up the fermentation process. Tony no longer had to wait six weeks to test the results of his experimentation. Instead, he could try many of his beers after only four to five days, cutting the wait time by 50 to 70 percent. This miracle yeast also brought rich new flavors, called esters, that created exciting new flavor profiles. The new yeast and other procedural changes helped Tony create beers that have consistently won awards in local competitions. He is definitely on to something.

Tony enjoys brewing so much that he is contemplating opening one or more breweries. His latest two Brewers Choice awards will give him the opportunity to test his interest at scale, as he will have a chance to brew his Guava Strawberry Sour Ale in large quantities at the Pour Man’s Brewing Company. Tony will be able to use this experience and ongoing conversations with other brewers to see if he will enjoy turning his hobby into a career. He is already thinking about locations, combining a new brewery with another passion, outdoor living, as well as branding.

Tony discusses these issues as well as other thoughts about how he would set a new business up for success—some of which might seem in contrast to the advice of previous guests. Why, for example, might Tony think about starting larger brewery initially instead of a micro-brewery at a smaller scale?

You can find out more about Tony’s award-winning beers on his Instagram feed, at (https://www.instagram.com/tmorrell1/).

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