SL-002 So, you opened a brewery. Now what?

What does it take to open a brewery these days? And what happens after you
do?

These questions are at the center of two conversations we have in this
Sightlines addition of the podcast.

First, we hear from Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire, co-owners of
Maryland’s Sapwood Cellars. I sat down with the pair for episode #144 from
October 2017, and have been tracking their progress since. Back then, they
were working on recipes and trying to perfect an approach to New England
IPA, all while finding the physical space for their business. They opened a
year later, and when I caught up with them in January, we took some time to
reflect on their first three months in operation. You’ll hear about
challenges and triumphs and the changes that have occurred at the brewery
and in their lives.

After that, we check in with Scott Wood, who opened New Orleans’ Courtyard
Brewery a little over four years ago, and also happened to be featured on
Good Beer Hunting in the fall of 2017, just weeks before the guys from
Sapwood. Scott just announced a second, larger production space for his
brewery that aims to open in 2020, and even though he’s been in business
for years, this is a big step for his business. It’s one that he admits in
our conversation took a long time to get ready for personally and
professionally.

Here we have two breweries, years apart in experience, but still learning
and changing. What does it take to operate a brewery in 2019? Let’s get an
idea.

This is Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire of Sapwood Cellars, then Scott
Wood of Courtyard Brewery. Listen in.