Today we’d like to introduce you to Brennan Greene.
Brennan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with my degree in Philosophy I knew I wanted to do something artistic. The problem was that I have no natural artistic talent. Working at Camp Nebagamon in northern Wisconsin opened my eyes to how great the small local breweries in Duluth were, specifically how good their beer tasted. I thought to myself this is the way I can be artistic while utilizing my scientific skills and ability to work hard. I attended the World Brewing Academy in Chicago, Il, and Munich Germany.
After graduating with my International Diploma in Brewing Technology I moved to St Louis and got a job at Schlafly Brewing. After 9 years at Schlafly, and working my way up to Head Brewer I decided it was time to move back home to start my own brewery like I had always planned. In 2015 we rehabbed the old Billy’s Lighthouse space and opened Birch’s on the Lake in September. We have grown ever since, and I still get to brew whatever beers I feel like, serve them fresh, and make them taste as good as possible, which was and is my only goal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Having 1,000 people come through your door per day takes a big toll on the building, and I have had to become the facilities manager. I have also had to put my finance skills to work and have become the CFO. Lawsuits and lawyers in general make this business almost not worth doing.
Completely baseless claims still cost tremendous amounts of money to defend and really make being a small business owner very hard. We have no way to protect ourselves from these attacks by lawyers who are just trying to milk as much money out of us and their clients as possible.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
All of Birch’s beer is only served in-house, as we are a brewpub which means we cannot distribute our beer. The upside is that our beer is always extremely close to the source and therefore always fresh.
Fresh beer is always best, most imported beer is months old by the time you get it home and just doesn’t taste as good as it would if you were in Europe, or wherever the beer is from.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Working at a brewery for 9 years before opening my own has made a huge difference. It has given me lots of contacts in our industry who I can lean on anytime issues arise.
Also seeing what works and doesn’t work in other breweries including Schlafly really helped me set up my vision and lay the brewery out in a very efficient manner.
Contact Info:
- Website: Birchsonthelake.com
- Instagram: @birchsonthelake
- Facebook: @birchsonthelake
