014 - Contract Brewing and Alternating Proprietorship
07/04/23 • 60 min
Episode 014 explores the business approach to opening a brewery based on contract brewing and alternating proprietorships. Alisa Bowens-Mercado of Rhythm Brewing tells her story of the search for contract brewing, while Phil Markowski of Two Roads and Matthew Osterman of Sleeping Giant share the backstory and intent behind their purpose built contract brewing facilities. Relationships are key, as we learn, and all three guests share tips, tricks, and best practices throughout this episode.
Phil Markowski, Master Brewer/Co-Founder, Two Roads Brewing Co.
Master Brewer Phil Markowski comes from an engineering background. After dabbling in home brewing and winning a few competitions back in the 1980s Phil made the bright decision to go into the craft beer world as a career.
A long career at various breweries has led to dozens of medals from the GABF and WBC, along with many other medals at regional and international competitions. Phil also wrote the book on Farmhouse Ales, literally, and is thrilled to be in his dream job: working with friends to create a brewery from scratch with state-of-the-art equipment.
Alisa Bowens-Mercado, Owner/Brewmaster, Rhythm Brewing Co.
Rhythm Brewing Co. is a New Haven, CT based brewery, founded by Alisa Bowens-Mercado. Realizing the lack of craft lagers on the market, Alisa decided to create her own. Her flagship beer, Rhythm, is a modern American-style lager with an ABV of 5.5%. Brewed with South African hops, Rhythm is unfiltered, flavorful, and has a slight bite that leaves you wanting more.
Music, Dance, and Beer have played a significant role in Alisa’s life. Both of Alisa’s Grandmothers’ were beer drinkers, and on special occasions, they would sip, dance and converse about “Finding your Rhythm in Life”.
Matthew Osterman, President & Founder, Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.
Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. is the result of President & Founder, Matthew Osterman creating the type of contract brewing facility that he and his business partner were looking for when they needed one. Listen for the colorful story of his homebrewing journey in his college dorm through the advent of Sleeping Giant and its current role in the Denver and regional area.
About StartABrewery
StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Episode 014 explores the business approach to opening a brewery based on contract brewing and alternating proprietorships. Alisa Bowens-Mercado of Rhythm Brewing tells her story of the search for contract brewing, while Phil Markowski of Two Roads and Matthew Osterman of Sleeping Giant share the backstory and intent behind their purpose built contract brewing facilities. Relationships are key, as we learn, and all three guests share tips, tricks, and best practices throughout this episode.
Phil Markowski, Master Brewer/Co-Founder, Two Roads Brewing Co.
Master Brewer Phil Markowski comes from an engineering background. After dabbling in home brewing and winning a few competitions back in the 1980s Phil made the bright decision to go into the craft beer world as a career.
A long career at various breweries has led to dozens of medals from the GABF and WBC, along with many other medals at regional and international competitions. Phil also wrote the book on Farmhouse Ales, literally, and is thrilled to be in his dream job: working with friends to create a brewery from scratch with state-of-the-art equipment.
Alisa Bowens-Mercado, Owner/Brewmaster, Rhythm Brewing Co.
Rhythm Brewing Co. is a New Haven, CT based brewery, founded by Alisa Bowens-Mercado. Realizing the lack of craft lagers on the market, Alisa decided to create her own. Her flagship beer, Rhythm, is a modern American-style lager with an ABV of 5.5%. Brewed with South African hops, Rhythm is unfiltered, flavorful, and has a slight bite that leaves you wanting more.
Music, Dance, and Beer have played a significant role in Alisa’s life. Both of Alisa’s Grandmothers’ were beer drinkers, and on special occasions, they would sip, dance and converse about “Finding your Rhythm in Life”.
Matthew Osterman, President & Founder, Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.
Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. is the result of President & Founder, Matthew Osterman creating the type of contract brewing facility that he and his business partner were looking for when they needed one. Listen for the colorful story of his homebrewing journey in his college dorm through the advent of Sleeping Giant and its current role in the Denver and regional area.
About StartABrewery
StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Previous Episode
013 - Equipment and Infrastructure Part II
Episode 013 continues the discussion with Chris Leach of Wild Goose Filling, Alex Smith of ABS Commercial, and Brian Mollohan of Ruby Street Brewing about all things equipment. Where 012 was more shopping information and considerations, 013 takes us further into customized equipment, the entirety of costs associated with brewing equipment, and all things cans....including growlers vs. crowlers. Listening to both episodes will give you confidence in both shaping your vision and searching for the right vendors to work with to get you there.
Episode 013 is sponsored by ABS Commercial.
Brian Mollohan, Owner, Ruby Street Brewing
Brian Mollohan founded Ruby Street Brewing after years of homebrewing and building custom brewing systems for friends. Ruby Street is a family owned manufacturing business that specializes in building small scale nano and pilot brewing equipment. Ruby Street is unique in that all equipment is built to order with flexible designs, customizable options, competitive pricing and unrivaled customer support.
Alex Smith, Midwest Sales Consultant, ABS Commercial
Alex’s first foray in to fermentation was actually at a wine growers internship through the University of Georgia Sustainable Ag program. Realizing he had neither the patience of palate for wine, he soon pivoted to beer and never looked back. Since then he has worked in almost every aspect of the beer industry from retail to production and everything in between. Over 5 years ago, he helped open our sister company, Raleigh Brewing Company, where he served as yeast manager, head brewer and productions manager. Now with ABS commercial he wears just as many hats, covering sales, technical consulting and on-site brewing support. Alex resides in Denver, CO and heads up the Colorado wing for ABS Commercial. When not in the office or on the brewhouse, Alex can be found roaming the mountains with his wife, Natalie and their two dogs, Gracie and Wren. He also enjoys wrenching on and riding bikes, fermenting foods and tinkering with whatever needs tinkering.
Favorite Beers: A roasty schwarzbier, a juicy IPA or Schlenkerla Urbock
Chris Leach, Regional Sales Manager, Wild Goose Filling
Chris Leach is the East Coast Sales Manager for Wild Goose Filling. He comes from a background in the hospitality industry, attending the Culinary Institute of American and working in all facets of the restaurant industry. Chris shifted course in 2006 to the beer industry brewing at Keegan Ales in upstate NY before moving into consultative sales. His sales experience includes off-premise retail, distribution, cidery/distillery representative and packaging equipment. Chris has been working with breweries to design, configure and implement over 300 packaging lines over the past 5.5 years.
About StartABrewery
StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Next Episode
015 - Contract Brewing and Alternating Proprietorship II
While podcast episode 014 focuses primarily on Contract Brewing, 015 takes us down the path of Alternating Proprietorships. Jamil Zainasheff shares his experience brewing his recipes for Heretic in an Alternating Proprietorship arrangement before he had his own location, and Candace offers a wider lens with regard to contracts and the legalities of different Contract/Alt Prop combinations of services, licenses, and facility usage. Chock full of tips, tricks, and best practices, this episode is an extremely practical and useful way to expand your perception of what it takes to open a brewery.
Guests
Jamil Zainacheff, award-winning homebrewer, author, beer judge, and host of “The Jamil Show” and “Brew Strong” shows on The Brewing Network, and Founder of Heretic Brewing Co.
Candace L. Moon, Co-Founder of Start A Brewery and Founder/Attorney at The Craft Beer Attorney
Candace L. Moon is a San Diego-based attorney who handles many different legal areas including alcoholic beverage law, contract review and trademark law. (also Co-Host of the podcast)
About StartABrewery
StartABrewery is a collaboration amongst a fun group of craft beer industry veterans who are often invited to speak at beer business / brewing education programs. Each has offered to share their knowledge and experience to support the craft beer community as a whole by helping fledgling breweries in planning.
Conceived and coordinated by Candace L. Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney, and Laura Lodge of Customized Craft Beer Programs, StartABrewery is provided as an educational resource for those dreaming of opening a brewery, those who are taking steps to make their dream a reality, and those who are opening their brewery doors and living it.
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Positive Fat Bass Intro Loop by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6093-positive-fat-bass-intro-loop
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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