February 25, 2025

225: From Enterprise Engineering to Owning a Small Manufacturing Business Featuring Amorphic Brewing Founder Ron Hockersmith and a BROADcast For Manufacturers, Live from Milwaukee, WI

44 minutes

What happens when a former engineering leader decides to open a brewery?

In the true spirit of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we talk all about beer in this episode. Recorded live from Amorphic Beer in Milwaukee, WI, we sit down with the Founder, Ron Hockersmith, to learn about what makes their beer special and the company a success even as the hype around craft beer fades.

We’re also joined by the brilliant hosts from A BROADcast for Manufacturers, Kris Harrington (CEO of GenAlpha) and Lori Highby (CEO and Founder of Keystone Click), for a 4-way entrepreneurial chat about manufacturing, engineering, leadership, and of course, beer.

In this episode, we take a look at the early days of Amorphic Beer and Ron’s career background before he stepped into the brewing world. Ron has taken all the great parts of leading a team from his engineering days and applied them to his business today, and it’s safe to say that’s been a great move for Amorphic. We hear about the team, the operations, the scientific approach to margins and recipes, and some surprising beer facts along the way.

In this episode, find out:

A little background on Ron’s career and how he came from healthcare manufacturing and defense contracting to start his own brewery
Introduction to the hosts of A BROADcast for Manufacturers podcast
Why Ron opted for lean manufacturing principles without the formality to run his brewery
What a background in engineering taught Ron about leadership and why he runs Amorphic Beer like an international engineering organization
What makes the leadership and management of Amorphic Beer different and successful even as the hype around craft beer dies down
Why trust in your employees is key to success
Ron shares the main differences he’s experienced since working for himself vs. as an employee in a major organization
Facts on beer, music, plants, and sports for the “I just learned that…” segment
How recent tariffs on Canadian aluminum may have a huge impact on Amorphic Beer in the future

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

"We run this like it's an international engineering organization."
"Don't try and hire for the perfect team because you'll never find the perfect people to fit into the perfect cogs... Find what your people are very good at and then build your organization around that.”
"No-one's ever worked for me that I don't trust. Doesn't matter if I'm working in defense contracting for GE or at the brewery, trust them, empower them to do the right things.”

Links & mentions:

Amorphic Beer, Milwaukee WI brewery where beer is “engineered through scientific experimentation”
A BROADcast for Manufacturers, a podcast run by Lori, Kris and Erin exploring stories and manufacturing insights that challenge the status quo

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

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By Chris Luecke

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