Craft Beer in 2020 featuring Nick Scofield of Solemn Oath Brewery | Dinner Plus Drinks Interview 1

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It's a great time to be a beer drinker, man.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hey everybody, it's Nick Fourfegel from Lake Geneva Country Meets here. Welcome to the first episode of our relaunch podcast, Dinner Plus Drinks. This episode is the first in our interview series featuring interesting guests sharing their perspectives on topics in the food and drink world. This episode is the first of a series of four episodes that look back at 2019 and then take a look forward into 2020. This particular episode is focusing on craft beer. And to talk about the trends in 2019 and going forward into 2020, I am joined by Nick Schofield. Nick is the sales director at Salamoth Brewery in Naperville, Illinois. I've got to know him as he's been in the store selling beer, and I think he's a really great guy with an interesting perspective on a variety of topics in the craft beer industry. As you'll hear, Salamoth has their hands in a ton of different areas of beer, so I thought they would be a great brewery to share some light on what's going on in the craft beer world. We did have an internet glitch in the middle of recording this interview, so we had to record the last third or so over the phone instead of over the internet. The audio quality isn't quite as nice, but the words are great. We hope you enjoy the interview. Nick, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

I'm doing real good, Nick. What about you?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

It's just a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Uh talking to you was a good excuse to crack open a beer in the middle of the day. I have one of uh Salomoth's newest beers, an ultra soft uh New England, and uh I have to say it's quite delicious. I really like it.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Nice, yeah. That one that one has gone over really well. We've been, you know, super excited about it. Super nice and like juicy. It's got that nice like kind of pillowiness and everything to it. So glad you're enjoying that.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Yeah, it's a good way to put it. Pillowiness. So,

About Solemn Oath Brewery

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Solomoth, you guys are down in Naperville. Can you tell us a little bit about the brewery, how it got started, and uh you know how you ended up in Naperville, Illinois, in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Yeah, absolutely. So um basically the brewery kind of started on a concept that uh John Barley, our owner, uh kind of constructed. Um he grew up uh in the Wisconsin area, um, actually just uh just north of Milwaukee. Um so was you know very invested in you know beer culture and everything in in the Midwest and Wisconsin. Um and uh when he was in college, his parents actually moved out to uh Belgium. So on breaks and everything, he would he would uh you know go go back to Belgium and stuff, so kind of got inundated with uh the Belgian beer culture and and and everything like that. Um and then um in 2020, 2011, he kind of came up with the the idea of Solomon, um and kind of put put it pen to paper and came up with a business plan and got it funded and started building um and wanted to pick an area that was you know not an area that had a brewery and still to this day um we're still the only brewery in Naperville, uh, which is kind of cool. There's another brewery that's um you know in in process of uh building out um right now, but I mean that that probably is a year or two away, so it's kind of it's kind of cool to still occupy the Neighborville area and and and be the sole brewery right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

So brewery started opening uh actually making beer, selling beer in 2012, right? Mm-hmm. Correct. And won a bronze medal at Great American Beer Festival for Lou, the Colch right away. That's a a pretty big um accomplishment for a new brewery, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we uh that we won um the bronze medal for Lou in 2016 at Great American Beer Festival. Um, that was a beer that we started out making. It was actually uh a draft-only beer and a uh bomber format beer. Um, but as you and I know, bomber format beers um have kind of been on the downturn for five to seven years, probably. Um, and then in 2016 when we uh got our canning line up and running, uh, that was uh our second canned beer um behind Snaggletooth Bandana. But um, you know, it's a super crisp, you know, German style Kolsch that we were really proud of. The name Lou comes from uh our uh old brewer of ours, uh his name was Lou. Um and after his trip to uh Germany, he he uh you know kind of came back and wanted to brew a Kolsch, and we ended up naming the beer after him. And uh kind of kind of cool, and it was a nice, definitely a nice feather in our cap for a a style of beer that was, you know, near and dear to us. It's in every one of our our beer fridges at home, and it's kind of like our you know everyday, everyday drinking beer, and that's what you know kind of like the way we we like to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

So how would you describe the brewery in terms of style or or size to someone that has never m heard of Salomoth, seen your packaging um, or had one of your beers? I I wanted to talk to you about, you know, 2019 going into 2020 because to me I think you guys are a good size small brewery, so you have you're still small enough to to respond to trends and and be uh someone we can talk to, but you're big enough that you're serious, and you guys do a little bit of everything. You talked about the Belgian influence, the Wisconsin influence. How would you describe what Solomonoth does to somebody that has no clue what Solomon is?

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Yeah, so I mean we're when the brewery originally started out, we were definitely uh very Belgian influenced our our head brewer at the beginning. His name was Tim Marshall. He came over to us from uh Rock Bottom Brewery, um, helped helped build out the brewery and kind of come up with a concept with John of the styles of beer that we were gonna do and everything. Um, you know, we still do some some dabbling here and um here and there with Belgian influenced beers. Um we have a year-round beer that we just keep close to home called uh Butterfly Flashmob, which is a Belgian-style IPA, like 6.7% alcohol. Um, really nice like West Coast style hops in it, so you get that nice grapefruit and pine. And then it's also got you know that nice Belgian yeast in it, so you get that real cool like clove banana um aspect. And then we do a couple other um, you know, we have a Belgian pail that we do every once in a while. Um, we have a white ale called white van that we do. Um from there, you know, we kind of we experiment, you know, we do a lot with the in the IPAs and the hazy IPAs. Um one of our flagships is snaggle tooth bandana, which is a American style eye paste, a nice grapefruit pine, sort of bitterness and everything. Um do barrel aging. Uh we just brewed a Schwartz beer. So, you know, we're kind of all over the all over the the realm. Um, but like you said, we're we're a nice, like, you know, small, medium-sized brewery that we can adapt and and you know, if we have a month notice, we can brew a beer that satisfies the need of a customer or needs uh of us or what we see happening out in the market. Um size-wise, uh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Go uh yeah, how big are you? I mean that's something every always wants to know is how big are you?

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Yeah, so we started um when the brewery started, we brewed on a 15-barrel system. Uh so for non-beer people, um, a beer barrel is 31 gallons approximately. Um and then in 2016 we upgraded to a 30-barrel system, so doubled our size. Um, so a 30-barrel system, we're brewing about 950, 980 gallons at a time. Um, and then we have uh 14 fermenters. Uh, we have a bunch of we have eight sixties and six uh 30 barrel fermenters, so obviously the 60s, two batches of beer go into those. So um, you know, we have a a pretty good footprint and we're near capacity. Uh overall barrelage will be in the you know about the 7,000 barrel range um cap uh output this year. Um, you know, that's always yeah, always in the back of our mind we want to hit the 10,000 barrel mark, and we every year we're like saying 10,000 barrels, 10,000 barrels, but um, you know, we've been growing very consistently for the past seven going on eight years, and um, you know, it's been continual growth, and so we can't complain about that.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

So you're very knowledgeable about the beers. Obviously, you're the sales director, it's your job to

About our guest, Nick Scofield

SPEAKER_00 10:10

know about them to sell them. But were you always into beer, or is being sales director something you just kind of fell into? How did you end up at Solomoth and and this position? Did you start there or did you work your way up?

SPEAKER_02 10:21

So I worked my way up. Um I've been in the beer industry um since 2008. I originally started just um on breaks and everything when I was in in college, uh, coming back working for a local beer distributor on the trucks and doing some merchandising and building displays and everything out in stores. Um that led into when I graduated a uh sales position uh with another uh uh distributor in the area. We sold a lot of a lot of domestic brands and then had um you know some local and regional and and um national craft brands. Um and then from there uh kind of worked my way up there from uh uh basically route sales up to a key accounts manager where I dealt with all the high volume accounts and everything. Um from there I went to Stone Brewing Company out of uh San Diego area, California, um, was the Chicago and Wisconsin uh regional brewery rep for them. So I covered uh Illinois and Wisconsin. Uh we opened up the the Wisconsin market or reopened the Wisconsin market in 2016. Um so that was really cool, and that's kind of how I got involved with with Wisconsin a little bit more and in familiarizing myself with what was going on there. Um and then from there, um, so like I said, I worked for them for about three years. Um, and I had always been a huge fan of silent mouth since the beginning. I mean, we were my wife and I would always go over to the tap room. I was always following their releases and everything like that. So it was it was you know, timing was right. Um our vice president and now COO, uh Eric Hobbs, and I had been friends in the industry for a long time, and we had always you know been talking in in passing and stuff, and he had always been asking me when are you gonna make the move over to Solomon Oath? And um, you know, the timing was the timing was right. So um I'm coming up on my two-year anniversary with them uh in February. So I'm you know super excited to be here. I'm very happy to be growing the brand and and being able to have a brewery to call my call my home and and everything. Um, you know, working for a local brewery has always been my kind of dream job and what I wanted to eventually get to. So it's kind of it's worked its it's worked its course well in the beer industry.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

What is it about beer and being with a local brewery that because you drive a lot of miles, you see a lot of accounts, uh, you're doing this podcast with me. It's not, you know, it's not like you're shoveling barley into fermenters, but there's a lot of wear and tear with this job. What is it that keeps you invested in this job and keep wanting to grow and hit that 10,000 barrel mark or whatever your goals are?

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Yeah. Um, so you know, I would say it's really working for a local brewery. I mean, I get to walk into the brewery every day and and I have direct input with our brewer, brewers and production manager and our packaging team and our marketing team. Um, you know, I have direct input of what I see working out in the market, um, you know, what isn't working, what beer styles are are hot, and I get to provide input, and that keeps me going because I know that uh, you know, I have to sell the beer so that inevitably everyone gets paid. So I mean that's kind of what that's what keeps me going. And you know, I we're we're a small tight-knit crew. We only have 14 full-time employees and about seven or eight uh part-time employees. So I mean, I know everyone, everyone knows me, so it's it's really cool, you know, family atmosphere.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

It's actually kind of a small crew for for a brewery of your size and and to have the tap room and everything too. That's that's gotta be good to be able to work with a crew like that.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Yeah, everyone wears definitely wears multiple hats.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Same thing here. So talking about what beer, how beer is now, what we're looking at in the future, something you said while you were describing the brewery

Craft Beer in 2019

SPEAKER_00 14:40

was you're a little all over the realm of styles with, you know, whether it's barrel age, Belgian styles, west coasts. Is that what being a brewery, a small brewery in 2019 is all about is being a little all over the place with the styles you do, or do you think you can be a brewery and only concentrate on one style?

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Um I mean I think it's it's it's both it's both ways. Uh, you know, we have we have three beers that are are year-round beers for us and and always available, and those three beers make up probably about 50% of our total production. And then another 50% of our total production is the experimental and new you know, new hot shiny toys um that we're always cranking out. So I mean I think I think you have to be able to do both.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

So the phrase in the beer world is rotation nation, what's new, what's next? You guys have seemed to to master the four-pack of 16 ounce pint cans, different IPA styles. Um, a lot of them riff on each other, they're they're similar in overall flavor profile, but a little bit different. Was and that probably started in like 2017, that really hard rotation nation thing. And to me it seemed like it it almost slowed down a little bit this year compared to 2018. Are you guys and you guys are famous for just pounding out new new recipes and and new uh what's the skews, uh new items. Did you see that slow down in 2019, or do you think it's just still alive and well? New skews, new flavors, what's next, what's next, what's next?

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Um Yes, I mean we we've definitely in you know, 27-2018, we we we released a lot of beers. We've probably released too many beers, and we recognize that. Um so we definitely dialed it back. We went back to some of the favorites that did well.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Um and I think that's industry-wide. I don't think that's just you. As a retailer, it was interesting because I planned for we're gonna have new beer every two weeks. Let's only buy a case or two of this, get it out, and then we'll bring in a new one. And it was interesting because the pace slowdown, which is probably for the better, but then sometimes you're like, oh man, I didn't buy enough to last for the month.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's it's it's finding that balance, and you know, we don't want to oh uh us personally, like we don't want to contribute to retailers being overburdened with too many packages, and you know, you don't want to have four beer stack up in a week or two, and uh so you know, I think with the mass amounts of breweries that there are out there, I think it's definitely finding that balance overall in the industry.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Do you think you mentioned the massive amount of new breweries, and it seems like one's opening every day? Do you think overall it's a good thing for the industry that there's more and more breweries, or do you think it's a challenge for consumers to figure out what they like, what's good, and to eventually find a brewery or a style they like and stick with that?

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Um you know, I see it in both ways, it's good and bad. Um, you know, new breweries popping up always uh kind of I mean competition is good for you know everyone upping their their overall quality and and and experience and everything, but I've also found that like you know there's some breweries that aren't up to snuff, but they're still taking you know tap space and shelf space and everything like that and putting on an inferior product. So I feel like that that hurts hurts the the overall brewing scene, but you know, eventually I feel like it it'll you know it'll run its course as as in anything in life. I mean the the the strongest will rise to the top.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

So to me, one of the interesting things too about all these breweries opening is not all of them are the traditional we want to open a production facility, sell our beer to a distributor who sells it to restaurants and retail stores and bars, and then you can drink it at home or you can drink it in your favorite establishment. There's a lot of what's called own premise in the industry where people go to a tap room and drink it, and you guys have a huge tap room, and you fought to change the laws in Naperville that you could have a tap room. How important is the tap room to to breweries in terms of being able to survive, make it? And do you think that's really changing people's drinking habits?

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, for us personally and and for a lot of breweries, I mean, you just being a customer at a brewery, you know, you get that personal connection with you know, seeing the tanks and seeing the bartenders who are passionate about it. Maybe you'll catch a glimpse of uh you know the uh a brewer or production worker like after their shift, like hanging out and having a beer. And I think that's it's really cool to kind of get that down-to-earth, like grassroots, grassroots feeling of you know, you're you're part of it and you're kind of immersed in it. Um, I think obviously we make our best money. You bet you guys make your best money at at the tap room when you don't have to um you know keep keep do uh spreading out the spreading out the how much money. So I mean I mean obviously obviously you want to have um you know your own retail. Um here in Illinois, we're allowed to have up to three retail locations on our brewer's notice. So we're actually in the process of uh building a tap room in uh the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. So that'll be our second location. We're hoping to have that open by uh early early 2020. Um and then eventually, you know, in the two to three to four year plan, we're probably gonna we're gonna be looking for a third retail uh location to kind of kind of get that because you see uh definitely a halo effect of of business um you know kind of booming around uh around the brewery. I mean our best accounts are right around the brewery, and I always hear people talk about how oh, you know, it's turning people the taproom is is pulling business away from restaurants and liquor stores and stuff like that. But I honestly don't see that. Like all our strongest accounts are right around the brewery, and we're hoping that kind of spoken wheel kind of aspect will happen with other retail locations for us here in Illinois.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

I agree. I would love to have you open a a brewery uh right across the street from me. I'm sure my p package sales would skyrocket. That's also my skyrocket. Were there some beers that you guys released new this year that really went well, maybe to some of the trends that people were facing that you saw industry-wide? Or were there some beers that you were like really disappointed in? Just kind of curious what you thought people were looking for in 2019 in the beer.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

So it was for Wisconsin Burreys, we did one with Third Space. Yeah, that one will be coming up. That's called Hug Fight. It's a double New England IPA, about 8% alcohol. It's got some new experimental hops in it, and then some Hellarato blonde hops and Sabra. So it's really nice and like kind of coconutty and woody, and got that nice like kind of juice juice note and everything to it. So we're real excited about that. But um, you know, and back in our home market, we've done some a lot of collaborations. We've collaborated with uh PipeWorks Brewing out of Chicago, um, yep, yep. So I think it's you know kind of uh I think the collaborations help bridge customers. Um you know pe people find their their at least you know what I what I've seen is people kind of find their breweries that they trust and and go with. And you know, we may not be in that circle of the breweries that they that they normally drink, but if if you know we released a a beer and they released a beer that um you know we collaborated with, we I I I feel like it kind of opens up people's eyes to uh um something different and something new and and and maybe we'll I've seen it kind of get them to branch out and and then maybe just pick up something from us or try us on tap if they see us on tap and they're like, oh, I really like that beer collab. So I think I think the collabs have really gone over really well for us this year. Um you know I'm I always get super excited when we do some more of the traditional beer styles. Um you know, we we've done uh German style Alt beer, which is really cool, really nice, like kind of multi-biscuity beer. Um we did a quartz beer, which we all of us at the brewery love. Um obviously Lou is always a favorite of ours and continues to do well. So, you know, I think I mean I'm pretty happy with it with how everything has gone this year for us.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

So the collaborations went well. You guys still like the traditional styles, but I have to believe IPA, pale ales, hazy pale ales, that's still gotta be a big part of the sales, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean we we definitely the traditional styles, we do a little bit more, you know, we we do on a smaller scale and we we spread it out between our markets, or or we keep that mainly tap room and just release a little bit of it. I mean, we definitely go go much bigger on the the hazy's and the the pale ales and the IPAs and stuff like that. I mean those are always those are always the one ones that go through really quickly and we don't have to worry about.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

So you previously were at Stone and they're well known for arrogant bastard, um some pretty aggressive West Coast style, very dry, very pine needly type of high IBU beers. Was that a strange transition for you going from stone and that style to Salomose, who is doing a lot more of the hazy, and to me what I really know Salamos for are uh Lou and then like these beautifully soft, delicious, hot forward, but not super bitter, IPAs. Was that a bit of a weird transition for you?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Yeah, absolutely. I mean I they they still kind of make fun of me of um for for some beers that I want to do and everything like that, that are definitely like West Coast style IPAs and and everything. Um we do we do a couple beers that are are big kind of West Coast style bruiser IPAs. Um we do a beer called Pink, which is like a 9% double IPA. Um we do a beer called Wreckage Master, that's like all the classic kind of like West Coast uh sea hops like uh Cascade Centennial Columbus. Um we do Death by Viking, which is a big like 10% um imperial IPA. So we definitely do some stuff that satisfies like my my West Coast uh style of uh you know, I still love uh super bitter piney um IPAs as well. So um but no, I mean I think all of our even our hazies have uh they still have some bitterness to them so that you know that they're uh they're an IPA, it's not just like orange juice or something like that like like some other stuff that I've had. So I appreciate that and I I I appreciate our brewer putting that you know, still putting a nice bittering hop in there.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yeah. That's a delicate balance, but actually I do think you guys get that because that is something that is a challenge with that hazy style. So moving forward to twenty twenty, something you released

Looking forward to 2020

SPEAKER_00 27:45

at the end of twenty nineteen. Um seltzer. Hard seltzer. Yeah. So twenty nineteen and beer may have been the year of collab. But in the overall beverage industry, twenty nineteen was kind of the year of seltzer. Um Solomoth's doing a little something in that field now.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

Yes. So we um the end of October uh we released uh City Water Hard Seltzer, so it's kind of like a it's still um brewed and packaged by Solomon Oath. Um we're just kind of putting it under its own umbrella. We're calling it our inner groove, so kind of like the the hidden tracks on a record. Um it's still Solomon Oath, but it's kind of something something different. Um but you know we saw it as a as something that we kind of dabbled in when you're out on the boat or we're on the golf course or something like that, and we wanted to make uh a hard seltzer that kind of resonated with with us and mattered to us, so that was kind of the tagline that we we took with it, hard seltzer that matters. Um and in that we we have a real uh real fun community give back program where we give three percent of revenues to um some different uh charitable contributions and stuff like that. So we're pairing with one percent for the planet, which um works with conservation for our planet here. Um we give one percent to arts where we pick different art programs and everything like that to to give back to, um, and then one percent for the Great Lakes, which is our water source. Um so we kind of want to challenge people um you know who are drinking big seltzer um to if they're so if they're so yeah, yeah, if they're so uh drawn to that, um, or if if there's something different that they're they're willing to try. And I think n right now people are still experimenting a lot with seltzers and a lot of trial and error, and we're we're gonna kind of approach our selt hard seltzers like we do our beer. Um, you know, we're we're working on some different uh flavor profiles um and everything. And you know, we came out of the gate with four flavors. Um Mixed Berry is definitely our the front runner, um, followed by our Valencia Orange Cranberry. Um but you know, we're working on some different flavors and some different ideas for the spring and summer months too. So it's been a fun project. Um we've been working on it for going on about eight, nine months now, so um, and it's been it's gotten some really good feedback really quickly out of the gate. So we've been we've been happy about it.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

I'm not a huge seltzer guy. I tried it with you, and I think my feedback to you was this doesn't completely suck. So for me that was I thought some some good feedback. Do you think seltzer's gonna keep growing? What is it about seltzer that you think is just this like incredible behemoth right now?

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Yeah, I mean I think yeah, I definitely think it's gonna keep growing. Um I was in a uh store the other day and he said he said last year, because I you know I kind of equated, I thought seltzers were very gonna be very seasonally um relevant. And when he was he said like the drop-off last winter um in seltzers was about seven, eight percent during the winter months. Um he said this year he had like a 0.2% drop-off. So I think I think people are definitely if they're a seltzer drinker, they're gonna they're gonna continue to pick it up. Um but I feel like um you know, I I feel like it's here to stay definitely with like people being more help becoming more health conscious. Um, you know, we want to we designed ours to be uh sugar free. Um it's got like less than one carb, 110 calories and five percent out all. So I definitely think it's something that, you know, as people are kind of coming around and and wanting something a little lighter and less filling, um, but not wanting to go to you know hard liquor or or wine or something like that. I think it's definitely a a good in-between. I mean I I know myself personally, like I'm a beer beer guy first and foremost, but like I'm definitely down to to mix it up and and try those. And I'm definitely probably more seasonably drinking them um during the hot months and everything when I don't want to be weighed down with beer.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

So cell tear's gonna keep growing. I mean I think you explained why pretty well. What about with pale ales, which is the big driver of craft? You mentioned with the collaboration to Hacienda, you're using some of the experimental hop varieties. Do you think you're gonna see people differentiating themselves with different hop varieties or different styles? Are we gonna stop with the hazy train and go back to the uh very classic West Coast style? What uh what are you seeing with the pale ales?

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Um I definitely think hazy beers are are here to stay. You know, I think they'll always do that niche. Um I mean still some of the best selling IPAs are, you know, American style, West Coast IPAs. I mean, you got your your Bells Two Hearted, which is like a huge, huge beer. I mean Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I think those are all and people still love those those styles of beer. Um I just think, you know I think definitely like the the days of line I mean people used to line up for Pliny the Elder um Russian River. And so it's yeah, exactly. And you know, I think I think hazy beers people will stop lining up for them and it'll just become it'll just be another IPA on the shelf. I mean it's it's it's something that you know it's here to stay. Um and talking about hops, I mean I think I think it's still on the verge of of what can be done with with hops and in extracting different flavors out of hops. I mean just the experimental hops that I've had the chance to do hop rubs with and and trying different beers and and taste other breweries using these different hops, it's it's amazing what's coming out and and and and the flavors and intensity that you can get from those hops. So, you know, I think experimentation and and everything is gonna continue um in every style of uh every style of of beer that you can impart those with.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

So I had one last question for you uh or thought, and then I wanted to turn it over to you a little bit. The other thing that I've been interested in and seeing is uh barrel-aged beers. Um more people are making them more available. Uh in 12 ounce cans, you think of staying in line for Bourbon County, uh is you know obviously the the the huge one that everybody knows. But it seems like a lot more breweries are getting into barrel-aged stouts in particular, building up some barrel stock, and releasing them in a little bit more accessible formats. I was able to get for the first time ever some of your barrel-aged beer. It's almost a barrel-aged Goldman, which is delicious. Uh, I would just like to put this on the record. It has it's a Mexican hot chocolate style and creo stout aged with vanilla, chipotle peppers, and cinnamon, uh, and then aged and bourbon barrels. It's it's amazing. But uh do you think there's more barrel-aged beers cut in the market? Is that slowing down, speeding up? Um, I feel like people putting them in cans and making it m more available to people has been a huge plus for somebody that uh doesn't want to drink a twenty-two ounce bomber at a time or you know, have five friends over, um, maybe just drink one a night. Um what do you think the barrel age stuff's looking like?

SPEAKER_02 35:57

I mean, I I I definitely think I mean we've seen it, um, you know, we talked about earlier, just kind of the the slow death of the bomber format, the 22 ounce format. Um and you know, we we've talked about this. I know a lot of other breweries have have have talked about it and kind of releasing it in smaller format, more single served stuff. I mean, I've seen uh you know, we we do some stuff in 12 ounce can format. Um we've I've seen some some breweries do some like eight ounce format uh cans for some barrel age stuff, and I think it's cool because it gives, like you said, it gives you a chance to to drink the beer in a sitting and not have to not have to have a bunch of people over to to finish the bottle.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Or feel terrible about yourself. So, you know, it's it's important for me.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Or feel terrible about yourself that you drink twenty-five ounces of uh of uh you know, fourteen percent stout. But no, I think I think the barrel aging um is definitely I mean it I I see a lot of like adjunct y stouts with you know fruits and spices and everything like that, and I think that's um what people are you know gravitating towards. Yes, definitely beers like Bourbon County kind of open the door and open people's minds to all these different beers and um but I mean I there's a ton of really cool barrel-aged and sour and and you know those those varieties out there and I mean it's a great time to be a beer drinker, man.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Yeah. I guess that's the other category we didn't really kind of touch on is is wild and sour. You guys do a scosh of that, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 37:47

Yeah, so we um kind of started a project. We have um some did a couple collaborations with a couple different breweries um to kind of kick start our our sour program. Um but that's definitely much more of a longer play. Um we've had them probably in barrels probably about 15, 18 months right now. Um you know, we've been tasting them on a regular basis to see kind of how they're developing and everything like that. But um, you know, I would expect to see something come out probably like mid-summer. I mean it'll we'll definitely that probably will not see distribution. It'll probably just be uh tap room type stuff for us to start out. But um it's definitely a long, a long project. Um you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Yeah, it seems like Wild and Sour had kind of a moment maybe two years ago. Everybody was trying it. And it seems like some people said, you know what, I don't really like sour beer. Even though the uh you know, Illuminati, the beer Illuminati are telling me I should like it. Do you see the sour stuff getting more acceptance or maybe you know, five percent of people in the world like it regardless, and it's just more of that five percent's discovering it. How how do you see that going?

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Yeah, I mean, I think it's a very niche niche group of people who who appreciate the sour sour varieties. I mean it's I I feel like it's the same way with with you know the the more exotic types of wines and stuff like that too. I mean it's you're definitely brewing it to cater to a a a a small group, but it's I think it's also like, you know, the biggest like fear nerd type groups people that you want and and uh people that want to, you know, get the get the nuanced the different nuances of of of what barrels can do and what different fruits and different yeasts and and everything can do, which is cool.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

So are there any other things you're really looking forward to in 2020, big plans or uh things you think are gonna catch on?

SPEAKER_02 39:57

Man, I don't know. I don't know. Um I I definitely see, I mean, we've talked about I definitely think the resurgence of some more sessionable, drinkable styles is coming back around. Obviously seltzers um are gonna continue to be huge. Um you know, we're we're just really looking forward to uh you know our having our Chicago chap room opening, um filling out our dis some more distribution. Um we just opened up Indiana, um and then uh we're just filling out kind of the rest of the state of uh Illinois. We're up until now we've only been in kind of the counties surrounding Chicago and everything like that. So we're um you know, exploring and meeting with different distributors in the state area. Um so we're gonna try and get our beer to all of Illinois and also open up uh the rest of the state of uh Wisconsin um because currently we're just in kind of the Milwaukee area and then over to Madison and kind of in between everything in between there. Um so we're we're gonna open up the rest of the state of Wisconsin too. So um, you know, very calculated and and and thought thought about growth um that we're looking to do. So, you know, just keep chugging along.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

That's awesome. Well, Salomose Brewery, stop by the tap room, look for Logan Square Tap Room coming up, 2020. Um otherwise stop by Lakes U Country Meets, whatever fine beer retailer or bar you like. Um if you see a Salomose handle, it's gonna be good, I promise. And um love the beers. Thanks so much for your time, Nick.

SPEAKER_02 41:48

Yeah, I appreciate it, Nick. It was great talking with you, and like I said, we always we always like coming up to your place and picking up some of your your beef sticks and jerky and everything like that. So it's always uh it's always a highlight.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

It's a good uh you have some of what I want, I have some of the you want.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Alright, talk to you soon, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

All right, talk to you, talk to you.

SPEAKER_00 42:21

I really appreciate the craft. And there are definitely on my bucket list, but every set of combinations of art form function and Chicago. And I'm sure it's gonna be awesome. If you're not in the area, want to check them out, online at style notesfree.com, or you can find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Instagram, so we've got links to StellNot's website, so if you just prefer to link it, you can check that out there. If you want to see some of the file predictions for 2020, just go to the skill page for the file predictions there. So if you like that or leave us, strength.com so fast. Just click on the steps. So, if you're female, female first strength.