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Wee Humble Advice on Starting and Running a Brewery

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Senior Vice President of Professional Brewing Division

Paul Gatza is the Senior Vice President of Professional Brewing Division at the Brewers Association. Paul’s origin in the beer community started when he took up homebrewing in 1990. He worked on the bottling line at Boulder Beer and would sneak over to the brewhouse when opportunity allowed. He owned a pair of homebrew supply shops in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado from 1994 to 1998. He served as director of the American Homebrewers Association for seven years and is in his 23rd year as Brewers Association director. Paul is ranked as a National Beer Judge by the Beer Judge Certification Program. Paul is also a former judge director of both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup, before moving to the judge panels for these elite competitions.

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A standing-room-only crowd—including dozens of breweries-in-planning along with well-established brewers—reaped the benefits of the years of experience of Tom Hennessy of Colorado Boy Pub in Ridgway, Colo. at Thursday’s Craft Brewers Conference.

Presenting “A Wee Humble Pub: A Simple, Less Expensive Way to Own, Start and Run Your Own Brewery,” Hennessy offered nuts-and-bolts advice on topics such as raising money for the venture, finding the perfect location (“Buy an existing restaurant,” he urged), doing paperwork, putting together equipment, branding, creating the right environment, ordering schwag, planning business systems, choosing the right employees, and training.

Hennessy, who has been brewing professionally since opening his first brewpub, IL Vicino, in Albuquerque, N.M. in 1993, also offers a one-week immersion course in his Colorado brewery for individuals. His practical advice (“Don’t do anything less than 5 barrels.” “Position the brewhouse as close to the bar as possible.” “Have a checklist for everything.”) resonated with conference attendees who are planning to start their own breweries.

Jill Redding
Editor

Link to author biography
Senior Vice President of Professional Brewing Division

Paul Gatza is the Senior Vice President of Professional Brewing Division at the Brewers Association. Paul’s origin in the beer community started when he took up homebrewing in 1990. He worked on the bottling line at Boulder Beer and would sneak over to the brewhouse when opportunity allowed. He owned a pair of homebrew supply shops in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado from 1994 to 1998. He served as director of the American Homebrewers Association for seven years and is in his 23rd year as Brewers Association director. Paul is ranked as a National Beer Judge by the Beer Judge Certification Program. Paul is also a former judge director of both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup, before moving to the judge panels for these elite competitions.

See Paul Gatza's Articles