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 [email protected].
Helicon Brewing first opened in November of 2016 at 102 Union Avenue in Oakdale, PA. Located in a former dog food factory, they brew on a 15 BBL brewhouse. What’s in the name? According to their website, “Oakdale was originally part of a 400-acre plot of land that was granted to Judge Hugh Henry Brackenridge by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April 11, 1778. This plot of land was named ‘Mt. Helicon,’ which in Greek mythology was the home of the muses. Paying homage to this history, the Helicon logo is a Greek harp with a stem of barley.”
Chris Carr is the head brewer at Helicon 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?
After High school I was self-assured that Yuengling was the “Nectar of the Gods” and I was so proud that it was from PA. That was my go-to beer for a while. I was a bassist for a local band and whenever we practiced, we would scrape up some extra cash (which was usually $20 or so) and always snagged a case of Yuengling for the evening. Around this time, I was in school for electrical technology. One of my classmates was this guy from California and he was talking about how good Yuengling is. He was surprised something good could come from PA, so I joined in the conversation. He was bragging about California’s Microbreweries and told me I had to try Arrogant Bastard from Stone. He said that it would ruin any “easy drinking” beer that I was accustomed to.
I remember buying a single bottle of Arrogant Bastard with a 6-pack of Yuengling. The person ringing me out had a look on his face wondering what underage kids the six-pack was for. When I got home, I immediately opened the bottle of Arrogant Bastard, took a sip, and then I dumped that shit out so fast! I thought he hoodwinked me, so I opened a Yuengling and couldn’t drink that either. I was beginning to think that maybe my Cali friend was on to something. That opened the floodgates!
Luckily for me, PA’s laws on beer had just changed and I didn’t have to buy a full case of beer to know if I liked it or not. I found myself buying a different six-pack or two every week to figure out what I liked, and it only got better and better. I soon began inviting friends to beer shares and they would start bringing different beers over and we would try everything under the sun.
How did you get started as a brewer?
I was always someone who wanted to do things for myself and wanted to start brewing my own beer. That’s when I invested in some homebrew equipment. I was up all night researching and piecing together the best brewing equipment I could buy on my “full-time student income”, which wasn’t much.
After I finished school, I was an electrician for 2 years. I was still homebrewing and trying every single beer that I could. It was enough time for me to realize that I didn’t want to go down the path of being an electrician. I decided I wanted a career in a lab at a brewery. I wanted to get paid to drink beer and not put my body through the wringer. Sounds great right?!
I went back to school and got my Chemistry degree. I was offered an internship at a local Pittsburgh brewery who later hired me after I graduated. The first few months, I ran the lab and would test for microbes and beer spoilers throughout the brewing process, from grain to glass.
After some time, one of the brewers quit and I was asked if I wanted to learn how to do cellar work. I thought this would be a great way for me to better understand my lab work. This is where my career really started to take off.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
We brewed a lot of German lagers, which is one of my favorite beer styles to brew. There’s no room for mistakes! Brewing these traditional styles allowed me to look back on the different histories and methods of brewing. I always felt a connection with the original brewers of these liquid time capsules.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
The first beer I brewed on this “highly sophisticated” homebrew system was an extract brown ale. It was okay, so then I went straight to brewing a lager. I found myself spending more time focusing on beer than I was at school. This is when I knew I wanted a career in the beer industry.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
I am starting to see, and maybe this is a bit biased, but I can see craft lagers taking a bigger chunk of the future craft beer market. When I’m with my family for weddings/parties/holidays etc. a lot of them are drinking cheap, commercial beers. I think this is due to what was available years ago, and how it was being sold. You had to risk buying a full case of beer that you didn’t want to get stuck with if you didn’t like it. So, you always drank the same beer. Now, there are many ways you can buy beer with so many options available to the consumer. I get asked frequently about what beer my relatives would enjoy, and I take pride in helping them expand their palate. Beer builds communities and brings people together.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
I’m not 100% sure how it is in other states, but PA brewers have been extremely helpful in creating a community for the industry. If you need something, then someone nearby will absolutely help however they can. I’m very grateful to be part of this growing community.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
Between Aurochs and Helicon, a big reason why we don’t name our beers other than what the style of the beer is, is that way you know what you’re going to get. At Aurochs we had customers who weren’t able to have any beer style other than the dreaded “gluten free sorghum based horseshit” until they came to Aurochs. So we wanted to be cut and dry with our beer names and get straight to the point.
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
One of my favorite styles to brew/drink are German-style lagers, including Pilsners, Helles, Doppelbocks, and Oktoberfests. I was able to replicate some of these styles without most people knowing it was a GF beer. Now that I’m with Helicon, their goal is to offer a line-up of brews that will help make craft beers approachable and appealing to a wide variety of customers.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
One of the most important lessons I learned was more so about the consumer and how beer can be polarizing. When I was with Aurochs, I was pioneering the science of Gluten-Free beer. There wasn’t much out there about GF beer other than the negative stigma. I was brewing fundamental styles with ancient grains. In retrospect, every time I brewed a new style with these grains, I was creating something that never existed before. When a GF customer came in to enjoy our beers it was the first time that they were able to try that beer style. The hardest part was brewing a true-to-style beer with not so “true to style” grains, but I made it work. We had a ton of regulars who weren’t gluten-free, they just really liked the beer.
Thank you to Chris for talking with us! Make sure you visit Helicon Brewing’s website to see all the latest beers, and what they have going on! Also, follow Helicon Brewing on Facebook and Instagram.
