EP-403 Neil Fisher and Skip Schwartz of WeldWerks Brewing

Fluffernutter and Oreo Marshmallow pastry stouts. Kettle sours brewed with
"obscene amounts" of fruit. A cream cheese rangoon gose. Depending on your
level of curiosity and adventurousness, these beers may sound exciting or
challenging, but they also have two things in common: They’ve been made by
Colorado’s WeldWerks Brewing and they’re fun beers made with serious
intent.

In this episode, we get into some of the technical ideas, philosophies, and
search for dialed-in joy with Skip Schwartz, WeldWerks’ head brewer and
Neil Fisher, founder and owner of the company. What makes brewing and beer
fun these days? There are lots of answers, and as you’ll hear both explain,
it could be from the never-ending tweaks to make a beer as perfect as
possible or finding ways to connect with new drinkers who would otherwise
turn away from a beer.

Some of the more wild beers created by WeldWerks have gotten attention over
the years, but it’s their flagship hazy IPA, Juicy Bits, that put this
brewery on the map and has allowed WeldWerks to expand into 26 different
markets this year. The runaway success of Juicy Bits has helped the
business gain notoriety beyond Colorado, build out its brewhouse, and set a
goal of modest growth as many companies in craft beer are focused on just
staying flat with their production.

So, maybe you’ve tried some of WeldWerks’ outlandish beers at their taproom
or during a major industry event like the Great American Beer Festival, or
maybe you’ve had their signature IPA and one of its variants. Allow Skip
and Neil to give you some background on what it means to connect with
drinkers today and learn how their approach to beer is setting them up for
2024 and beyond.