Hoosier Beer Geek Six Pack Interview: Tristan Schmid, Communications Director, Brewers of Indiana Guild

The Brewers of Indiana Guild is the trade group that collectively represents Indiana's brewers. They promote Indiana beer through advertising, communications, and festivals. The Indiana Microbrewers Festival on July 19th in Broad Ripple is a BIG event. Last week, the Guild hired Tristan Schmid as their Communications Director. You will find him, amongst other places, tweeting from @drinkindiana.

1.) Tristan, how Hoosier are you? Or, where are you from, where have you been, etc.?

I was born in Angola and grew up in Greenwood. After high school, I ventured toward the mountains and lived in Boulder, CO for a year and half (where I learned to love skiing), then went to school at IU Bloomington and IUPUI.

My wife and I have lived on the east side of Indy and in Broad Ripple (where the Indiana Microbrewers Festival takes place), and we're now in Fountain Square, just a few walkable blocks from Fountain Square Brewing.

2.) How beer geek are you? Or, how did you come into the craft beer world, what do you like to drink, etc.?

Not that they're craft, but I had my first beers--Labatt Wildcat and Labatt Crystal--on a fishing trip in Canada with my dad. I still have the cans [will send you a pic]. I started moving toward craft beer when I had Blue Moon while I lived in Colorado. It didn't take me long to find out that Blue Moon's marketing was more crafty than the beer was craft.

I discovered Bell's Oberon when I moved back to Indiana, then drank a lot of Upland Wheat in Bloomington. I started getting into IPAs and the rest of the craft beer world when I tasted Stone IPA at one of Bloomington's beer festivals over a decade ago, and started drinking more varieties from more breweries from there.

I met Clay Robinson, Owner of Sun King Brewing and President of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, when he started Sun King five years ago, and I observed how a combination of great beers, personal outreach and powerful marketing helped them grow rapidly.

Two years ago, I approached Jeff Mease and Mike Fox of Bloomington Brewing Co. to see if I could help them strengthen BBC's brand; they hired me, I drank a lot of their beer and spread the message of how good it was, one thing led to another, and now I'm representing not just them but all Indiana craft breweries.

I'll drink pretty much any fresh beer you put in front of me. But I spend my money almost exclusively on local beer. It's not a cheap habit, but I'd rather buy one premium pint of Indiana craft beer than two or three or four PBRs, for a variety of reasons. When you buy local beer, you're supporting the local economy, local culture, and the environment: Shipping a keg or case of beer across the state takes a heck of a lot less energy than doing so cross-country.

3.) For most, social media is a hobby. For you, it's a profession. Tell us about your experience and your approach.

I couldn't have cared less about social media when Facebook started. I only started using it and Twitter when I became Communications and Marketing Director at the Humane Society of Indianapolis in 2008; I quickly saw the power it had to share stories about things that I love. And it's been an integral part of my professional life ever since.

I regard social media as a professional tool, not as something that you just use for your organization because it's there and it's (for the most part) free. It has the power to reach more people more quickly than any method we've had before, and it's not something to just be handed over to an intern because you don't want to worry about it. I've seen countless examples of of companies or non-profits failing to use best practices on social media, which are not that complicated.

I try to respect my audience, writing to one person at a time and recognizing that they've chosen to pay attention to me as well. When you see a TV commercial or a billboard, you typically haven't chosen to see it. But with social media, people have opted in to your messages; from a marketing perspective, that's an enormous privilege that shouldn't be taken for granted.

So I try to respond to people as quickly as possible when they share a question or concern on social media--we all expect immediate gratification online. A fast response shows that you care, whereas no response implies the opposite.

For example, tens of thousands of people check in to thousands of craft beers every day on Untappd, and many of them tweet their check-ins, too. Breweries can offer "cheers" to drinkers on Untappd or Twitter who like their brewery and check into their beers, but you'd be amazed at how few breweries actually do this. That's too bad, as it's easy to do and shows people that you care and are listening.

Finally, a good website is actually the most important part of any social media strategy. It's the hub that all other messages--social media, email marketing, even traditional media--should radiate from. Different people prefer to consume info in different ways, so if you're putting something important on Twitter but not on your website or in your email newsletter, you're automatically excluding groups of people who might love to hear your message but just haven't signed up to do so on the services you're using.

4.) Communications Director is a new position for the Guild. What will be your responsibilities?

Well, I just mentioned the importance of a good website, so I have to mention that I'll be looking at how we can improve our website, which needs some love.

I'll ramp up our presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and will start using email marketing a bit more.

And I can't leave out traditional media: Print, TV and radio are still very important, so I'll be working to share our message there, too.

I'm helping to improve internal communications on efforts like legislative alerts for our members and welcoming new breweries to the fold.

And last but not least, I'm helping to improve the Guild's brand in general and working on specific campaigns that I'm really excited about, which you'll hear more about soon.

5.) What are your goals for Guild communications? What can we expect to see?

My biggest goal is to use all the tools at our disposal so that the Guild speaks as a unified voice, which will in turn help all Indiana craft breweries. Because my position was basically one that many people shared different aspects of before, it was hard to get a consistent message across. A little bit of dedicated effort will go a long way.

In terms of what to watch for from the Guild: We'll be at the Indiana State Fair in the DuPont Pavilion in August, so stop by and say hello--and don't forget that there will be craft beer for you to enjoy at the Fair this year!

Also, we're working on some special things that will help Indiana beer fans show their state pride while helping the brewers who brew the beer they love.

6.) We know you love @hoosierbeergeek. Who/what are your other favorite Twitter, Instagram, etc. accounts that we should follow?

I don't want to play favorites, so I'll urge you to simply follow your favorite local breweries on the social networks you're on: Even if they aren't very active online yet, there's a good chance they will be in the future. And sign up for their enewsletters; email is still one of the best ways to get the heads-up on new brews and events.

Since I follow thousands of accounts, I'll just point out a few, not necessarily related directly to brewing. I enjoy following visitbtown on Instagram because their photos bring back great memories of the years I lived in Bloomington. On Twitter, I'm a fan of @DenverBeerGuy because he shares all kinds of interesting news from the beer world (and he's from one of my favorite states.) On Facebook, I love Outdoor Indiana: Frank Oliver posts gorgeous photos of the natural beauty across the state, which, of course, you can check out as you explore new breweries and new locales.

Bonus question for an even brewer's half-dozen: Is there anything else that you want the Hoosier beer community to know?

We are ridiculously spoiled in this state when it comes to local craft beer, and we should be proud of that fact. Last summer, my dad and I took our own brewery/distillery tour in Wisconsin. I expected to be wowed by the beer selections, but was surprisingly underwhelmed. And I just got back from southern California, where I visited a number of both small (Strand, Monkish) and large (Stone) breweries. Sure, I enjoyed many fine brews out there, but the variety of local choices we have in Indiana is impressive even compared to that region.

Before Canvitational, Get To Know - Morgan Street Brewery

We are getting pretty excited for the upcoming Canvitational event happening later this month and we are VERY impressed with the brewery lineup.  We want to get to know each of the participating breweries a little bit better.  So, we've sent out a six pack questionnaire to each of them and we wanted to share them with you. 

First in our series is Dustin Chalfant, brewer at Morgan Street Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Morgan Street brewery is housed in the Schoelhorn-Albrecht Machine Company building, one of the oldest on Laclede's Landing in St. Louis.  Their offerings include mainly lager-based beers (see Commandment VII), along with other seasonal options throughout the year.

Look for them and the following beers at the event.  

Black Bear- This light flavored black lager is our version of a classic schwarzbier. 

Honey Wheat – This American style unfiltered wheat beer is great anytime. The aroma is pleasantly grainy and sweet with a touch of honey.

Golden Pilsner – This Bohemian styled Pilsner is rich and malty. The hop character is spicy due to the use of Czech Saaz hops.

Oktoberfest/Marzen – This classic German lager is noted for its smooth, clean, and rather rich malt character.

Now, without further ado, here's Dustin - 

1. What music do you hear most often on the brew deck?  

We listen to Pandora a lot.  We have a Sublime station that plays a lot of roots-rock-reggae.  The Dirty Heads, Simplified, Ballyhoo, etc.  However, whenever we feel like rocking out we usually just throw on some Death Metal.

2. What's your brewing mission? What are you trying to accomplish with your beer?

Due to the fact that we are a 'lager house,' our mission is blow peoples minds with what lagers can be.  Sure we strive to make perfect examples of traditional lager styles, but we do a lot of ale styles with lager yeast, imperial pilsners, oak aging in stainless, etc.  As far as what we hope to accomplish, well that's easy, we want people to smile big when they try our beer.

3. How many beards can be found in the brewery on any given day?  

We are a staff of 3, two guys and a girl so 2/3 isn't bad right?  I am pretty sure Rachel appreciates not being the bearded lady in the brewery. 

4. Which beers outside of your own do you enjoy? What beer do you wish you came up with? Why?

Too many to list.  It is an ever changing thing.  That is the best part with so many breweries around, you can have tried one particular style of beer a bunch of times and then you come across a twist to it that you never saw coming.  I don't think that there are any beers that I wish that I had come up, there are some names but no particular beers. 

5. What's your go-to shift beer after a long day brewing?

In house its hard to say since we rotate quite a bit, but if I am out and about you would usually find me with Lagunitas IPA.  Its always consistent and always great.  

6. What do you drink when you aren't drinking beer?  Are you on #teamradler?

I stick to unsweet iced tea.  Its my other thing.  There used to be a massive amount of soda consumption in my days, but I am trying to just stick to things 'brewed' these days.

Many thanks to Dustin and the Morgan Street crew.  We look forward to having your beer at the event!

What is the Canvitational?

On Saturday, September 28th, 2013, the inaugural CANvitational will enlighten patrons to sample craft beer from award winning breweries from across the USA, enjoy local Indy eats provided by food trucks and music (DJ Helicon and DJ Action Jackson), in an urban downtown atmosphere.

Tickets are available and the event will feature some familiar breweries, as well as many out of state.  You can find more information about them and the event at http://canvitational.com/.

Hoosier Beer Geek Sixpack interview with Hawcreek Brewing Company

In the years I've been writing for Hoosier Beer Geek Indiana beer has far exceeded my expectations in a very few short years.  What was once just a handful of better beer bars and even fewer breweries is now filled with great beer on tap all over the state and now over 50 operating breweries and twenty more in the permitting stage.  One of Indiana's newest breweries is Hawcreek Brewing Company in Hope, Indiana.  I grew up not far from Hope, and I am very excited to see them open up near my old hometown.

1) Who are you and where do you work? The four of us are Josh & Nicole Bontrager and Abram & Jacquie Carman. We collectively own/run the brewery but our day jobs are scattered across the spectrum. Josh works in the auto industry, Nicole in childcare, Abe is currently serving our country in Kuwait and Jacquie is a freelance photographer.

2) For people who are unfamiliar with Hawcreek Brewing Company, can you give us some background about the company? How did it start? What was the inspiration? As I mentioned above, HBC is owned by the four of us. Josh and I (Jacquie) are brother and sister and our spouses round out the partnership. We initially became interested in home brewing and discovered a love for great beer and the making of it over the course of about 18 months of experimenting with a turkey fryer and a big ol’ cooler. We jumped straight into all grain brewing when we started our home brew journey and really developed a passion for crafting excellent tasting and interesting recipes.

Over time, we realized we were spending a lot of time and, let’s be honest, money on our beers whilst receiving a lot of positive feedback from friends and family. The four of us began dreaming about turning our passion for brewing into something greater – into more of an investment - and one November evening decided we would put our hopes and dreams for the future down on paper. This eventually turned into our business plan.

Our inspiration is our family. Working collectively on this brewery and brainstorming ideas for making our beer better have really drawn the four of us, aw well as our two young children, closer. We spend a lot of time together! Fortunately, we all get along great so you won’t hear us complaining about pulling long hours.

3) Can you talk about the brewing process for Hawcreek Brewing? Do you have a mission or a theme around your beers? How does your creative process work when thinking about brewing a new style?

Brew day starts by getting everything organized - while the water is getting to temperature we sanitize all of the brewing and fermentation components, crush all the grains and weigh all of the hops. We do an all grain mash, boil the wort and then cool. Everything is transferred via a pump system. After cooling, into the fermenter it goes and the yeast is pitched.

We do our best to make every batch exactly the same as the time before. We stay true to all of our recipes and make sure that everything we can control stays the same so it is close as possible to what we have designed.

Our mission is to simply make really good beer that is clean, flavorful and enjoyable to the palate as well as visually appealing. We don't really have a theme to any of our beers other than trying to make what we would want to drink and what we think other people will also enjoy. When trying a new style we really do our research on how to attain the intended style. Of course,  we love trying as many beers in that similar style as possible.  We try to figure out what we like and don't like in the other beers we try and then attempt to put our own little spin on it.

Our main focus is making a very drinkable beer that everyone will enjoy.

4) What should people know about Hawcreek Brewing Company?

What a question! I suppose we want everyone to know that we are all about family, having a good time and enjoying what life has to offer. Of course, we believe everyone should also enjoy great beer!

5) Opening a brewery certainly isn't easy, but can you talk about some highs and lows for Hawcreek Brewing to this point?

Some high points have been sharing this experience with family and friends. We have received so much support and so much cheering on. We have been able to work on getting this brewery going with our best friends and it has certainly brought the four of us closer. Of course, a high point is the satisfaction of receiving that teeny tiny piece of paper, the brewer’s permit, in the mail one Wednesday afternoon. What a great moment!

In all honesty, there haven’t been many lows. Building the system was sometimes frustrating and, well, irritating, but there wasn’t any point at which we felt we should give up. The licensing process was somewhat painful but, again, not enough to deter us from this dream of ours.

6) What beer are you proudest of? Which of your beers is your personal favorite? Why?

Each of our four flagship beers (Four Founders Wheat, Doghouse Pale Ale, Chaos IPA, Little Town Brown) is a source of pride for us. These are recipes we have fine-tuned over the course of the last 18 months and we are really proud of each of them. I think each of the four of us would say we are most proud of a different beer – Josh would likely say Chaos; Abe would say Four Founders; Jacquie would say JPA (Jac’s Pumpkin Ale – look for it next Fall) or Little Town Brown; Nicole would say all of them. Since I, Jacquie, am writing this I have to say my personal favorite is Little Town Brown. It is a subtle marriage of two of my favorite flavors, beer and coffee, so naturally I could drink a few pints.

BONUS: While we are new to the industry, we have felt so welcomed already. We are incredibly excited about learning more about the ins and outs of the industry, making connections and enjoying the great beer our state has to offer. We are proud of the progress we have made thus far and are really looking forward to growing as a brewery over the coming months and years. 

We want to thank the people behind Hawcreek Brewing Company for answering our questions, and we wish them the best in the future.  

The Hoosier Beer Geek Six Pack: Joe Short, Short's Brewing Company

Among the can't-miss tables during our recent trip to the Great Taste of the Midwest was that of Short's Brewing Company out of Bellaire, Michigan. Short's has a lineup of what you might call "regular" beers, but it's in their lineup of "Specialty Beers" that the creativity of Short's Brewing Company really shines. This year's highlights included Bloody Beer (a lighter bodied beer with an appealing ruby red glow and aromas of spicy tomato juice), Carrot Cake (an experimental beer w/ carrot, marshmallow, vanilla, maple syrup, orange zest, walnuts, pecans, and spices), and Spruce Pilsner (which served as the inspiration for Sun King's polarizing Norwegian Blue).

For this HBG Six Pack we contacted Joe Short to find out a little bit more about Short's Brewing Company, and what's behind their success.

1) Who are you, what's your age, where do you work, and what's your job title?

Joe Short - 32 - Short's Brewing Company - Everything: (Creative Engineer - Director of Operations)

2) Your bio is pretty standard stuff for a professional brewer: Discovered Bell's beer, got inspired and started homebrewing, found a job at a brewery, bounced around a bit learning the business, and then you finally opened your own brewery. How much of your current success would you attribute to "paying your dues" with other breweries?

I suppose I attribute my time at other breweries more or less the "fundamentals of brewing beer". I think our success at Short's is largely due to how we apply those fundamentals to the way we make beer and the philosophy of our company which is embraced by the staff. We have several philosophies and mission statements all surrounding attention to detail and the relentless quest for quality. Quality not only in the beer but everything that exists within the globe of Short's Brewing Company. It could be anything like how we stock a cooler or clean a toilet to our festival display. We sweat the small stuff.

3) Where does Short's fit in the general scheme of Michigan breweries? Would you consider yourself a large Michigan brewery? What sort of distribution do you do? Any chance of Indiana?

Our focus is Michigan. We call it the "Short's Brewing Company Michigan Stimulus Package" - we want you to come to us. So growth wise, we aim to feed the demand of the State of Michigan. So no, probably not likely to enter Indiana - sorry. I think because we're solely Michigan focused we're kind of the black sheep of the Michigan beer scene. Also, we make a lot different of beers annually and we're not afraid to try anything. I like to think the creativity of our beers matches the quality. I'm not really sure where that puts us in the general scheme?

4) While I think that a lot of the attention Short's receives is due to what you call your "specialty beers", you've also got a pretty nice lineup of regular or annual beers. What are your most popular regular beers? Why do you think they're your most popular? Do you think your audience starts with the more traditional stuff and then finds the specialty stuff, or the other way around?

We make something for everyone. Our most popular annual beers are the Huma Lupa Licious IPA and Bellaire Brown. Both are kind of beefed up versions of the classic styles (American IPA and American Brown Ale). I think people are all over the place so offering traditional, specialty and experimental covers a lot of bases. You might get a die hard IPA drinker who loves our pale ale or IPA and then get someone who doesn't drink beer at all to really like the carrot cake or bloody beer. It's a win win.

5) Long Question: The beers you list as "specialty" are all over the map - from pretty traditional stuff like Beach and Snow Wheats (which are Hefeweizens) to your Key Lime Pie beer (with fresh limes, milk sugar, graham cracker, and marshmallow fluff) - When it comes to the wacky stuff, were you doing this before you owned your own place?

I've always had outrageous ideas, and I wasn't brewing long enough at another brewery to try them. I'm guessing that the majority of my former employers would have turned down the 55 gallon drum of tomato puree or the pallet of marshmallow fluff.

How does the creative process work?

There is no rhyme or reason as to how our ideas make it to the brew kettle. Now that we have a lot of people working for us we have a lot more ideas and everyone has a different creative process. The idea for the gambler was born after having a cigar while drinking a huma, so a bourbon tobacco IPA beer was put on the list. Bloody beer and black licorice lager were born because of my fondness for black licorice and Bloody Mary's.

What was the first one that worked?

I actually think it was black licorice lager.

Was there any point where you surprised yourself?

Most of the time. That's why it's fun to keep doing them.

Do you look at ingredients or does it start with food?

A little of both.

How many batches of these beers do you make before it ends up where you want it?

Most of the time the first one is pretty good and we'll continue to make adjustments to them as needed.

How big are those batches?

Those are seven barrel batches (200 gals or so). We usually do them a few time before they go into production (pending they make the schedule cut)

How often does it go completely wrong?

It seems like every day there is some kind of emergency or challenge to overcome. Beer specific catastrophes are thankfully really rare. I'd say maybe one in a hundred...

How long before you give up?

Most of the time we don't - we'll figure out a way to make it work. The only beer I gave up on was bananas and blow after 4 or 5 tries. Someday day I may take another stab at it.

6) Has owning your own brewery turned out to be what you thought it would be?

Yes and no. I always figured it would be a lot of hard work and I'd live happily ever after as a pub brewer. Once we started distribution and the risks became greater, I had to learn how to run a growing company (I'm learning every day). I do a lot of things I don't really care for and I do a lot of stuff I love. Unfortunately I am rarely making beer, which I miss a lot. Is there anything you'd do differently in hindsight? Not really. All the mistakes I have made have really helped me grow and learn. I suppose I little more research on the Elk rapids property and production facility design would have saved some headaches, but at the same time I'll be able to use those experiences for the next facility.

What's next for Shorts?

Our growth is still pretty crazy so keeping up with demand, improving and maintaining quality are the number one priorities. I also have a lot of improvements I still want to make to the Bellaire pub and pub brewery. Our Elk Rapids facility is also undergoing some transformations and lastly we are also starting to plan for the next production brewery. As commonly heard around the plant: "lots of action, lots of action".