Like all good fairy tales, the story of Grimm Artisanal Ales starts with a moment of enchantment. One night in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University students Lauren and Joe Grimm attended a talk on wild fermentation that left them spellbound.
As head brewer at Hampton, New Hampshire’s Blue Lobster Brewing Co., David Sakolsky brews innovative beers that nevertheless remain rooted in classic styles.
In 2012, Troyo Terorotura opened REAL a Gastropub in Honolulu. Included in the establishment’s 24 taps and more than 200 bottles are beers from mainland breweries like Coronado, Ballast Point and Clown Shoes, right beside locals like Kona, Maui Brewing and Big Island.
When Tom Schlafly and Dan Kopman wanted to move the St. Louis Brewery into a former printing warehouse, folks in St. Louis questioned the founders’ business acumen, if not their sanity, especially in light of Anheuser-Busch’s dominance over the local beer scene.
Tod Mott started as an all-grain homebrewer in the late ’80s; after an internship at Catamount, he landed a gig with Harpoon and then joined Portsmouth Brewery. Now Mott and his wife are opening Tributary Brewing Co., in Maine.
Basecamp. Outpost. Those are the two halves of Devils Backbone Brewing Co., one of Virginia’s fastest-growing beermakers. And in their short life span, Devils Backbone’s two brewhouses have garnered 23 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and five more in the World Beer Cup competition.
Joe Pond is a chemical engineer who brews with a decidedly pre-industrial mindset. Olvalde Farm and Brewing Co., the southeastern Minnesota brewery he founded two and a half years ago, is a throwback to the rural, agriculturally focused brewhouses that existed before refrigeration and malt catalogues.
Before Jerry Hauck opened Monks House of Ale Repute in 2007, there was not a craft tap in town in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since then, at least 10 other local bars have developed extensive craft beer selections.
Meredith Heil, who’s 27 and lives in Brooklyn, is calling for the craft beer industry to reevaluate its attitude toward women and members of the LGBTQ community.
Ben Howe opened Enlightenment Ales in Lowell, Mass., in October 2011 with the idea of brewing not an Export Stout, but rather one very special beer style: Bière de Champagne.
James Westphal’s mini-empire of beer-centric establishments in Kansas City began with the opening of McCoy’s Public House in 1997. He launched the Beer Kitchen in 2001, and then in 2008 opened The Foundry in a connected space next door.
When Surly Brewing Co. of Minnesota released renderings of the new, $20 million brewery it plans to build in an industrial area of Minneapolis, criticism of its “Brutalist” design aesthetic began pouring in.
Since 1986, Boston has hosted only three production breweries. If the Tetreaults’ experience with Trillium is any indication, the brewery landscape of Boston proper won’t be changing any time soon.
Even in the midst of the craft beer boom, it’s still easy to separate the suits from the brewers. The guys behind Indianapolis’ Bier Brewery are brewers—a little rough around the edges and fiercely independent—and, surprise: They don’t care who knows it.
As the founding brewmaster of Full Sail Brewing, and the founder and longtime head of Wyeast Laboratories, David Logsdon carries a huge footprint in the craft industry, especially in the Pacific Northwest. But he made a conscious effort to keep his latest venture, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, at a modest scale.
Khyber Pass has seen many incarnations since it opened in the 1850s. These days, it’s a beer bar serving up New Orleans fare (and cult favorite Benton’s Bacon Grease Popcorn); but just a few years ago, the Khyber was a venerable music venue. That rock & roll attitude is still around today.
Annie Johnson, who lives in Sacramento, Calif., became the first woman in 30 years to be named Homebrewer of the Year by the American Homebrewers Association. Her Lite American Lager swept 25 categories at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference.
Sometimes, the transformation of a neighborhood turns on a brewery. That was what Gerald Wyman and Chuck Comeau were betting on when they decided to open Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co. as part of Hays, Kansas’ downtown revival.
The Tree House Brewing Company started with four friends making homebrew in a rural Massachusetts barn. The tiny brewery has grown into the producers of one of New England’s most sought-after beers, Julius IPA.
With a knowledgeable staff to guide patrons through the bar’s 48 taps (Michigan oriented, of course), one cask and around 200 bottles, HopCat is also a friendly place for first-timers.
After Hurricane Irene demolished The Alchemist brewpub in 2011, John Kimmich and his wife, Jen, have focused solely on tweaking Heady Topper at their production brewery, where they’re at capacity brewing 9,000 barrels a year—all of which is sold within a 30-mile radius.
Hops stand in the spotlight at one of the country’s newest brewpubs, Wicked Weed Brewing. There, hoppy American ales are featured alongside Old World Belgian styles, as co-founders and brothers Walt and Luke Dickinson carve their own niche in one of the most impressive beer cities in the world.
