The Beginning of the End…
Slow Beer for Fast Times...
From the Brewer…
Wit’s End Brewing is the crazy scheme dreamed up by founder Scott Witsoe (and tolerated by his super-cool wife Heather!). Scott moved from his hometown of Seattle to Heather’s hometown of Denver just at the turn of the millennium. After a difficult time acclimating to that strange glowing thing called the Sun, Scott was elated to see there was such a thriving craft beer community in Denver much like in Seattle. What’s more was his discovery that the Great American Beer Festival was a real event, not some made up infomercial award he saw on TV from that famous brewer in Boston. After attending his first GABF, it was immediately in this moment that Scott called Denver his new home and the barley seed was fatefully planted. Scott is the head brewer, manages the overall business operations (i.e. everything) and tends to get lost going down rabbit holes. Heather’s role is being awesome and helping where and when she can.
The Next Episode…
We Like to Think that Our Brewery is not Small, People are Just Big…
The Next Episode…
Just as Batman needed Robin, Scott soon realized he needed help in fighting the thirst of a growing number of craft beer fans coming through the door. Enter Pat McNerney, stage right. Pat came into the beercave one fine spring day with a smile and two mason jars to fill up with beer. After making that fateful mistake of volunteering to help out in the taproom, we clubbed him, brainwashed him, and he has been drinking our Beer-Aid ever since…In addition to being an avid homebrewer, Pat has worked at such pioneering breweries as Boulder Beer and Breckenridge Brewing Company. Pat has been with us since the beginning, and we hope he will be until, ahem, the end. In true sidekick form, Pat has taken on every role we can throw at him—from the taproom, back to production. He has recently taken on the role of padawan brewer with the proud distinction of being the first person to brew beers outside of Scott. We knew from the beginning that the force was strong with this one…no cockamamie midi-chlorian tests needed!
Wit’s End Brewing Co. is what is becoming a more accepted (or tolerated) classification in the craft beer world called a nanobrewery. Does this mean we are 1000 times smaller than a microbrewery? Sorry, our understanding was that there would be no math. Let’s just say most people get a smirk on their face when they see how small our equipment is…but as everyone knows, it is not about the size, rather how you use it! The original thought was…why must a brewery be some large scale production facility? Isn’t it better to start out small rather than not at all? (hey that rhymed). There are artisan bakers, cheese makers, etc. who successfully operate on a small scale, a brewery should be able to so as well (plus we can’t afford the big equipment yet).
Slow Beer for Fast Times...
We brew 1 barrel (31 gallon) batches of beer at a time. This small scale allows us to be very intimate with the brewing process as well as flexible in trying out new recipes. Everything we do is intensely manual—so when we say handcrafted, there is no euphemism in that statement, it is literally handcrafted. We will self-distribute our beer to just a handful of beer-centric stores, restaurants, and bars, as well as hold some limited tasting room hours at the brewery. Our goal is to create a sustainable business and grow at a comfortable pace that never compromises our quality, but will meet with the growing demand.
From the Brewer…
I knew the instant I heard that wonderful fizzy sound come out of my first bottle-conditioned homebrewed beer that this was to be my destiny. Much like the reaction Tom Hanks had to making fire, I proudly proclaimed…“I-MADE-BEER!” So, like many home brewers, I often dreamt about starting a so called nanobrewery on the side, but things like raising a new family and working a day job sidetracked me a bit. This all changed in March of 2011 when I finally felt the brunt of the weak economy and was laid off from my job. After dreaming a lot, and panicking even more, my wonderful wife and I decided to take a chance and pull the trigger on this crazy idea of owning a brewery. Well, as what was once said to Tom Cruise before he started jumping on couches and obsessing over E-meters… “Joel, sometimes you gotta say what the f*ck, make your move…” The rest as they say is history…Cheers!
Scott
From the Sidekick...
I could tell you about how brewing runs in the family or about how transfixed I was by my first bubbling airlock and the amazing aroma emanating from it. I could tell you about the grapevine in our backyard that had me thinking about making wine every fall or about how tedious it is to load bottles onto a packaging line for 8 hours a day. But I won’t—that would be boring. I don’t recall how nice of a spring day it was (see the above mentioned brainwashing), but one spring day I walked into Wit’s End and after a couple pints, Scott waved his hand and I knew: these were the beers I was looking for. Ever since, I’ve been receiving an apprenticeship in all things Witsoe. I look forward to the day I finish my training and build my own brew paddle. My brewing philosophy is variously guided by anthropology, Zen Buddhism, The Godfather, Wu-Tang Clan, post modernism and punk rock.
From the Sidekick...
I could tell you about how brewing runs in the family or about how transfixed I was by my first bubbling airlock and the amazing aroma emanating from it. I could tell you about the grapevine in our backyard that had me thinking about making wine every fall or about how tedious it is to load bottles onto a packaging line for 8 hours a day. But I won’t—that would be boring. I don’t recall how nice of a spring day it was (see the above mentioned brainwashing), but one spring day I walked into Wit’s End and after a couple pints, Scott waved his hand and I knew: these were the beers I was looking for. Ever since, I’ve been receiving an apprenticeship in all things Witsoe. I look forward to the day I finish my training and build my own brew paddle. My brewing philosophy is variously guided by anthropology, Zen Buddhism, The Godfather, Wu-Tang Clan, post modernism and punk rock.