For many people outside of the beer brewing industry you might not be aware of just how close knit local breweries are with one another. My personal belief is that this closeness stems from when we were all home brewers and just wanted to hang out with other brewers to drink the great beer we were creating.
The Camaraderie Of Breweries
As people transitioned from the “home brewer” status to “commercial brewer” status, the camaraderie remained intact. This is very evident in the way local breweries still work with each other to build a stronger industry for our patrons to enjoy. Even more, we collectively feel the pain when a brewery shuts down because we understand how much time, effort, sweat, and tears goes into operating these businesses.
(...don’t even get me started on the money aspect…)
Along with working together to create the best experience for our clients, there are thousands of stories of how brewers help each other when in need of various ingredients. Oftentimes there will be a social media post from a local brewer who didn’t get their yeast or hop order in time and need to borrow some. In my many years of beer brewing, I have yet to see where several breweries haven’t responded within minutes to help them out.
I’ve even seen social media posts where breweries are looking for someone to help them brew because their brewer quit suddenly! Once again, several breweries will step up to help them make beer until they are able to find a new brewer. What other industry helps their “competitors” out in this way? What does that say about the people who make up an industry that will volunteer on their one day off to go help another brewery?
It’s a culmination of these things I see everyday that makes me proud to be part of the craft beer brewing industry. We work together, we’re resourceful, we’re creative, and we’re passionate about what we do.
“The Beer Sign”
Because of this camaraderie within the industry, we have developed many wonderful friendships with other brewers over the years. As a creative way to show that we’re all in this together, we’ve created a unique sign which is made up of stickers from various breweries we’ve visited, breweries that our patrons have visited, craft beer supporters and many others. Additions to the sign are always welcome!
While creating the sign, I wanted to use a backing for the stickers that we could take with us when the day comes that Blue Wolf Brewing expands. As the sign fills up, there will be more signs so we can continue to add more stickers of breweries across the nation! This is my version of a quilt, and this quilt makes up the fabric of the brewing industry.
We could all fight and work against each other, but isn’t it more fun to enjoy a great beer with one another instead? If you’re located in the Twin Cities, MN area and for this experience, come visit Blue Wolf Brewing