Reuben's Sightglass

It has been three months since we last checked in with our friends John Dantzler (Torch and Crown Brewing, New York City, NY), John Harris (Ecliptic Brewing, Portland, OR), and JC Hill (Alvarado Street Brewery, Monterey, CA), so we rang them up to see how their breweries and their communities are faring during the last quarter of 2020.

Adam Robbings, co-founder of Reuben's Brews in Seattle, speaks with each brewery owner about the unique challenges in their cities and the state of their brewery since we last spoke. Common questions emerge through the conversations: Have we seen the end of line culture in craft beer? How have we prepared for the third-wave of COVID knowing what we learned from earlier surges? What are we most looking forward to when things return to "normal"?

Adam speaks with the founders of one of his favorite local bakeries, located walking distance from his and Grace's home in Seattle. Kit and Jesse got their start around the same time as Adam began brewing, and the stories of how both family-owned businesses based in fermentation got off the ground are similar. The three explore the world of yeast and fermentation, the importance of process, and the magic of repeating high-quality products. Ultimately, what’s the secret? Time.

Just 50-some miles up the road from Reuben's Brews is the Skagit Valley, an important agricultural region in Washington State and home of world-famous tulips. Adam and Matt speak with Dave and Will from Skagit Valley Malting about their unique role in the brewing, distilling, and baking industries. This fascinating business is leading the way in Washington State malting from developing their own malting technology to their philosophy of a "two-handshakes away" relationship between farmers and the folks using their grain to make great artisanal products.

Seattle's Westland Distillery was founded in 2010 and has quickly made its mark on the worldwide whiskey scene. Westland's Co-Founder and Master Distiller Matt Hoffmann and Director of Marketing Steve Hawley sit down with Adam and Matt to walk through their unique vision of American Single Malt Whiskey. We dive deep on the specifics of their processes and their ingredients, and explore the wonderful overlap of malt flavors that exist between their distillery and the beer community.

At this year's Texas Brewers Guild annual meeting, held just before the shutdowns, Adam met John Holler, of Holler Brewing in Houston, TX. John and his wife Kathryn's journey to starting a brewery echoes our own origin story. Adam and John also discuss the unique challenges of being a brewery in Texas, which existed even before the pandemic arrived.

In this fifth installment of our series of the impact of Coronavirus on breweries we connect with our friends in Oregon, California, and New York City to see how life at their breweries is progressing now that all areas have begun reopening in phases.

A continuing discussion emerges around the issue of margins: while sales of packaged beer are up (often times by a lot) this comes at the expense of higher margin keg and on-premise sales. How are breweries getting by in this new climate, and what does it mean for their bottom line in 2020.

All four markets (Portland, Monterey, New York City, and Seattle) have seen regression in the local reopening plans, and the four breweries discuss how the ups-and-downs of reopening are affecting their teams and their short-term business plans.

In this episode Adam and Matt speak with Aaron Lindstrom and Steve Popplewell of Theo Chocolate in Seattle, WA. Steve is the senior chocolatier and Aaron is the chocolate ambassador for one of Seattle's most successful chocolate brands, and we bond over the creative process of developing flavors and recipes, the importance of sourcing to creating a unique product, and the benefits of rolling industrialized processes back to an older way of doing things.

In this episode Adam speaks with Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill, the founders of Fort George Brewery in Astoria, OR. The conversation ranges from the history of the brewery and the influence of brewing at the mouth of the Columbia River, to the extraordinary changes in brewing and restaurant operations that Fort George has implemented. How does a brewery maintain its culture and mission amidst the changes brought by COVID-19?

This week co-founder of Reuben's Brews Adam Robbings sits down with Annie Johnson (2013 AHA Homebrewer of the Year), Larry Rock (Sales Representative, Reuben's Brews), and Rodney Hines (co-founder of Metier Brewing) for a panel discussion about diversity in the brewing industry. How can we all effect a lasting change in our industry, to ensure that we don't let the momentum and opportunity of the current moment pass us by?

Bryan Roth, editor of Sightlines by Good Beer Hunting, has a unique perspective on the Coronavirus crisis in the brewing industry. He has close relationships with breweries nationwide but doesn't work at a brewery. Adam talks with Bryan about his 30,000ft, writers-eye view of the landscape while covering a wide range of topics from the impact of retail sales, the White Claw behemoth, the acceleration of contemporary trends and consumer habits, to thoughts for new breweries in planning.