Welcome to our “Meet The Brewer” series! Where we interview brewers in Pennsylvania, from breweries small to large. Let us know if you know anyone who should be featured, email us at info@breweriesinpa.com.
Cartesian Brewing first opened in October of 2021 at 1326 East Passyunk Avenue in Philadelphia, PA. The 3500 sq/ft brewery is within walking distance of Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks and utilizes a 10BBL brewhouse. The taproom has 12 taps, including seltzer water, cold-brewed coffee, and cider, and has space for
Alex Leh is the head brewer at Cartesian Brewing. Read more to find out his introduction to craft beer, where he sees the craft beer industry heading, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
My parents were always into craft beer when I was young. When Dogfish’s 60 Minute blew up and the IBU wars started my dad got a kegerator and always had something new on tap at our house. Eventually, he settled on Hop Devil as his favorite, and then, coincidentally enough, Victory was my first job in the industry! So I was always around craft beer growing up, obviously waiting until I was 21 to try any of it though.
How did you get started as a brewer?
After high school, I got a job at a machine shop and eventually became a machinist (though not a good one). I never loved the job but it paid okay and it was near my house. Eventually, though, I was laid off because the company downsized, and as I said, I was not very good. At that point, I was still young and knew I wanted to change career paths. I saw that a lot of packaging jobs were open at craft breweries. I thought my skill set would dovetail well and went for it. I got the job and realized very quickly why there were so many packaging jobs available. Through that job I really gained an appreciation of, and a passion for, the industry. I still hold packaging and the people who run that department in high regard. It is, without a doubt, the hardest job in any large craft operation.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
Saisons, definitely saisons. The fermentation temperatures alone can yield such diverse flavors and aromas. Add in the wide array of malt, hops, and hopping techniques and the result is such a large gradient of flavors. You have a style that is almost limitless.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
The first beer I brewed professionally was a Czech Pils. It wasn’t my recipe, but I learned that with proper fermentation, pilsner malt, and Saaz hops you can make beer that will blow people away. Keeping it simple is almost always the answer and that style is the best representation. Adding a bunch of adjuncts, fruit, and hops has its place, but I couldn’t believe how the best beer I ever brewed on that system was the most simple one.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
I guess it depends where you are located. I feel like we’re spoiled here in Philly. The beer scene is so vibrant and the customers are so educated, it feels like we can make weird styles and push people’s palates and they love it. I can’t say what it will be like in the rest of the country but at least here in the city it feels like people are getting burnt out on nothing but hops; they are looking for something different, beers with a bit more depth and malt-forward styles. God-willing lagers become the norm.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
It’s great. Our archaic alcohol laws are amazing and I hope someone at the top is happy. On a more serious note, it really is nice that the craft beer scene in PA is so established. The one good thing about our state requiring beer distributors for so long was that it encouraged them to compete with each other by diversifying their craft selection. I remember in the early 2000s you would go to New Jersey or New York and find a few local craft selections in the grocery stores at the most, but here in PA you would go to your local distributor and find 20-30 different breweries to choose from. That distribution method drove this state’s love for craft beer, and now I’d say (completely objectively of course) that we have one of the best craft scenes in the country. By requiring us to buy beer from people who literally only sold beer we made experts out of not just the distributors but also the customers.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
That’s all Evan my boss. I think he gets them from lyrics and books quotes. I’m not good at such things. If you left it up to me it would be just “Lager #1” or “Hazy #2”. I just don’t have a marketing brain like that.
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
Almost an unfair question, so I’ll start inside of the city and get more broad. Besides Cartesian, right now Human Robot is my go-to in the city. If you’ve had any of their lagers you know why. If you haven’t, well it’s time you did. In terms of PA breweries, I think Saint Boniface has the best IPA on the market with 3lbs IPA in Ephrata. Another PA go-to is Ever Grain Brewing Company in Camp Hill. Their hefe and pils are the bomb. To be completely honest, though, if I’m bringing beer to my buddy’s house I almost always bring High Life. I know that’s sacrilegious, but there’s just something about it that I love. And packaged craft beer oxidizes so fast you almost never get the best representation of the beer that the brewer so painstakingly tried to give you. For that reason, a lot of the craft that I do drink is on draft.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
What work ethic actually is. Before I got into the industry I thought I knew how to work, turns out I was a lazy kid. In this industry, you’ll get nowhere without learning how to bust ass first. Putting your nose to the grindstone and showing up ready to get dirty every day is almost 90% of the job. The other 10% is reading and listening to all of the people in this industry that are smarter than you and learning from them, but, honestly, that’s the easy part.
Thank you to Alex for talking with us! Make sure you visit Cartesian Brewing’s website to see all the latest beers, and what they have going on! Also, follow Cartesian Brewing on Facebook and Instagram.
