Chicago's Best Brewers Cut Their Teeth in His Homebrew Shop — Now He Wins GABF Medals (Werk Force Brewing Co.)

How do you build a 3-time GABF-medal winning craft brewery from scratch in 10 years with no investors, and one brewer with no sense of smell?Brandon and Amanda Wright, co-owners of Werk Force Brewing Company in Plainfield, Illinois, trace the 10-year arc of how Chicago Brew Works — the homebrew supply shop they opened in 2012 — evolved into one of Chicagoland's most influential breweries, with multiple GABF medals to show for it. They cover what it's like to build a brewery as a married couple, the next big beer trend, the whole-bean coffee technique behind their stout series, and how Brandon brews award-winning beer without a sense of smell. 0:00 Intro0:45 Welcome to Werk Force Brewing in Plainfield, Illinois2:53 How Werk Force Started as a Homebrew Supply Store in 20123:27 From OfficeMax to a Winery to Homebrewing Full-Time4:45 Brando's House of Awesomeness (And Why Amanda Said No)5:32 How They Started Chicago Brew Works on a Kitchen Table5:59 Building Chicagoland's Biggest Homebrew Supply Store8:37 Why Werk Force Never Took an Investor9:06 Where the Name Werk Force Comes From11:16 What's It Like to Run a Brewery With Your Spouse?15:28 Designing the Taproom (No TVs, Communal Tables)17:07 The Six Degrees of Werk Force Brewing19:15 What Was Werk Force's First Beer?19:55 Why You Can't Call This West Coast IPA Pineapple Express21:57 How West Coast IPAs Have Changed in 12 Years24:10 The Next Big Beer Trend: Under 4.5% ABV25:42 Really Decent: A 3.9% All-Malt Lager27:04 Beer Break27:47 Welcome Back: Meet Brandon's Brewing Team29:36 How Werk Force Won 3 GABF Medals in 2 Years32:38 What Are the Best Bourbon Barrels for Aging Beer?34:44 Where Sleepy Bear Got Its Name35:39 Polar Bear: A Two-Year Bourbon-Barrel Coffee Stout36:24 How Werk Force Designs Sleepy Bear Labels39:16 The Whole-Bean Coffee Trick That Avoids Off-Flavors40:57 How to Decide on Sleepy Bear Variants Each Year44:15 Brian Doesn't Have a Sense of Smell45:37 How Brandon Brews Award-Winning Beer Without Smelling It48:24 What's the Hardest Part of Brewing Without a Sense of Smell?50:18 Does Werk Force Use AI to Design Recipes?53:26 What Makes a Great Oktoberfest Beer?56:08 Marzen vs. Fest Beer: What's the Difference?56:52 Inside the Barrel Den: Werk Force's Event Space58:09 What's Next for Werk Force Brewing?59:43 Final Four: The Beer They'll Never Brew Again62:00 Brandon and Amanda's Off-the-Clock Beer Picks62:33 Final Four: Best Food and Beer Pairing65:11 Final Toast: Calm Down, Have a Beer, Hit the RoadAbout Werk Force Brewing Company: A three-time GABF medal winning craft brewery in Plainfield, Illinois, known for the Sleepy Bear barrel-aged imperial stout series, classic West Coast IPAs, and lower-ABV lagers. Learn more on their website at https://www.werkforcebrewing.com/ —Learn more about Crafty Brewers at https://craftybrewerspod.com Support Crafty Brewers on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/c/craftybrewers Crafty Brewers is a production of Quantum Podcasts, LLC, an enterprise podcast growth consultancy. If your brand would like to capture a loyal audience to drive business results with the power of podcasting, then visit https://quantum-podcasts.com/Our executive producer and editor is award-winning podcaster Cody Gough. He insists that we tell you that in this episode, you’ll learn about: Werktoberfest, Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels for beer, Blanton's barrel-aged stout, Weller bourbon barrels, 10 Drops Coffee Roasters Outsiders Blend, Vireman malt, Rocky Reef Brewing collaboration, Metal Monkey Brewing, Goose Island barrel aging legacy, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Pineapple Express TTB label rejection, DDH double dry hop IPA, Madagascar vanilla and cacao nibs in stout, diacetyl off-flavor detection, wax-dipped 375ml limited release bottles, and U.S. Open Beer Championship gold.