This blog will be a place for me to write about Nano-Breweries. Why Nano Breweries? These breweries are small and have little or no distribution, but many make great beer and often have trouble staying open because they don't have the money for advertising or the time to stay very active on social media promoting their brewery.
After visiting a Nano Brewery in North Carolina and spending time talking with one of the owners, I found that their biggest problem is getting the word out about their beer. Most new people found out about them by word of mouth and growler sales is what is keeping them open. I felt like it would be good to spotlight breweries in this category by doing short interviews with the brewers, visting some myself and writing about the experience, and promoting festivals and "brewfests" that feature Nano Breweries.
First of all I guess I should give a definition of a Nano-Brewery. While the Brewers Association gives no specific definition, a loose definition would be something like this, “My working definition is three barrels or less, which essentially makes them large-scale homebrewers,” says Jeff Alworth, author of the Portland-based beer blog Beervana.
I feel that is a good place to start, however, I do feel that a Nano Brewery can be, for instance, a 5 barrel brewery. I have also read articles where it is defined as less than 10 barrels. To me it depends on how the brewery is operated more than the size of their brewhouse. I'm really talking about those "mom and pop" neighborhood breweries or brewpubs that have no real means of distribution other than growlers and may have convinced one or two bars in town to give them a handle. I think you get the idea.
If you know of any Nano Breweries that you would recommend, you can find me on Twitter (@km_craftbeer) or just leave a comment below this post.
Enjoy!
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