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].
Naked Brewing Company opened in spring of 2012 with a 1.5bbl brewhouse. They have since expanded to a 7.5bbl system in 2016 and a second location coming soon to Bristol, PA in early August. Hannah Gohde is the head brewer of Naked Brewing Company, and just started July 1st, 2020. Read more to find out how she was introduced to craft beer, her favorite beer to drink, how she got started as a brewer, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
My first introduction to craft beer was actually a variety pack from Yuengling, back when I was, uhhh, in high school—I was totally 21 in high school… I meannn, that’s how that math works, right?!? Yea, definitely (Hi Mom & Dad! Thanks for not grounding me for my high school shenanigans!) In addition to the lager, that variety pack had Lord Chesterfield, the Black & Tan, and the Porter in it and I remember especially savoring the Porter. My next real “ah-ha” moment came during college when I tried Appalachian Brewing Company’s Water Gap Wheat Ale. Being from Harrisburg originally, I was familiar with the brewery and had enjoyed meals there with my family, but tasting a fresh bottle of that beer, was definitely an eye-opening experience. It tasted soooooo completely different than rhymes-with-“Clue Noon” and I became hooked on seeking out other opportunities to drink craft beer. Granted, my college budget was more in line with a $10 case of Natty Light, but I would scrounge up change and skimp on groceries just so I could buy a 6 pack of something that wasn’t meant to be chugged or poured into a red Solo cup and have ping pong balls thrown into it.
Side Note: I’m not throwing shade at any beer on the market—there’s a time a place for every beer out there and I can still get down on a case of Lionshead Lager BOTTLES because for $12 you get 24 beers AND 24 puzzles—how amazing is that?!?! If anyone wants to have a puzzle challenge, let me know. You’ll probably lose, but we’ll have fun doing it.
How did you get started as a brewer?
Short Answer: Right Place, Right Time. In part, that is the truth, and while I believe in listening to the universe for guidance, it is much more than just a fortuitous aligning of the stars that brought me here.
I started homebrewing during college with different groups of friends. I don’t actually remember if what we brewed was good or not, but it was palatable and I loved the creativity and comradery that went along with it. Around the time that I turned 21, one of the former dive bars was revamped and turned into a craft beer English-style pub, which is where I first experienced and solidified my love of sour beers. I continued to dabble with homebrewing throughout my 20’s, brewing occasionally with my younger brother and friends while I was in grad school. Life post-grad school got a bit chaotic and I found myself abruptly moving from Hershey to Bucks County (Chalfont), with an old friend from undergrad who conveniently enough, also loved craft beer, Scotch (my spirit of choice), and had also occasionally homebrewed with friends. (This old friend, Andrew, would later become my husband) Shortly after I moved in, Andrew and I went to Keystone Homebrew Supply (Montgomeryville, PA) and bought several hundred dollars worth of homebrew equipment and made the full jump into it. It didn’t take long before we were both completely hooked and started nerding out together over recipes and processes. Fast forward about 6 months, and I started working at Keystone Homebrew Supply, learning and absorbing everything that I possibly could from the seasoned brewers that I was surrounded by daily. (Fun Fact: Many people don’t realize that there are several KHS alum that have since gone on to become professional brewers or open their own fermented beverage businesses—John Stemler (Free Will), Tim Brown (Tannery Run), Adam Crockett (Haymaker Meadery), Ryan Seiz (Warwick Farms), Joe Getz (Kurant Cider), Ryan Kelly (Bonn Place), Justin Ferguson (Separatist Beer Project), and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few more).
I started working part-time at Free Will in early 2014, and in July 2015, I joined the team as a full-time Brewer & Event Coordinator. I wore many different hats in the 6.5 years that I was with Free Will. I had some detours and even a year-long temporary derailment along the way, but Brewer is the hat that I always came back to. I have an extreme amount of passion for this industry, and it’s genuine. Much of that passion comes from me having my hand in the product, so when the opportunity was presented to me to be the Head Brewer at Naked Brewing Company, I jumped on it. It is a chance to truly spread my wings and take on a new role, full of new learning opportunities and responsibilities. As of July 1, 2020, I am officially a member of Team Naked (#BrewClothedDrinkNaked)!
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
I think ANY style allows you to be creative. Recipe development is the creative portion of brewing. But if I’m going to truly answer this question and not give you some non-answer, answer, then I’m going to say sour beers (and by sour beers, I am referring to traditional, barrel-aged, long term sours and saisons). The actual brewing process for sours isn’t any different or more exciting than brewing a clean beer—it’s what happens in the barrel, with all the trillions of microbes, that actually makes the beer. I love the blending process. I love tasting barrels and discovering just how different they are from barrel to barrel, even if it was from the same batch.
Producing sours is where science meets art. Science gets you to a certain point, but beyond that, it becomes an art form. Art is subjective, it’s intimate, it speaks a story. I love that part. An oil painter sees a beautiful sunset full of vibrant shades of oranges and reds and purples, and they set out to recreate that sunset using their paint palette and canvas. Barrel blending is much the same way, except my paint palette is actually the barrels and my canvas is my tongue palate—through sensory analysis, we strive to achieve this masterpiece that fully envelops our palate. I’m a creative, and I definitely trend right-brained (though I have a background in science and can channel the analytical side as well), so this type of beer production resonates with me. But for someone who is very left-brained, the idea of blending is completely overwhelming. In any brewery setting, you need people who are the left-brained, black and white, right angles, engineer type to balance those that are right-brained and want to just go la-la-la-la-la, let’s go tip-toe through the daisies and chase butterflies. And if you’ve ever taken a tour or participated in an educational opportunity with me, I’m sure you’ve heard me use this exact same analogy. Usually, it makes people laugh because everyone identifies with one side or the other of this. So if you’re laughing now, congratulations, you’ve successfully completed Hannah’s Sociological Beer Experiment. Next Question…
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
You ready for another story? The first time I had Free Will was in the fall of 2012. I had C.O.B. (coffee.oatmeal.brown) on tap at the Blue Dog Tavern in Chalfont, and it was one of those extremely memorable moments where you know that your life was just changed. I actually said out loud, “Holy F*CK! What is this?? I need more of this in my life!!!” Andrew told me it was from this new brewery in Perkasie and that we’d have to go visit sometime. Fast forward 3 years, and I can’t even make this up, the first beer that I brewed professionally, was C.O.B. It was serendipitous, and completely by chance. Life always has a way of coming full circle.
What did I learn from that experience? I learned that my heavily calloused hands from kayaking didn’t stand a freaking chance against that dirty hoe and having to mash in and grain out 800lbs of grain. I also learned that as much as I LOVED drinking C.O.B., I now hated brewing it. My thumbs were ripped to shreds. I still have a permanent callus/scar on my right thumb from that first brew day. I also learned that there’s a 50/50 chance that the moisture soaking my shirt and dripping down my face was sweat, but it might also be steam. Who’s to say?!? But that first summer brewing sure did make my pores happy!
My first brew day at Naked was just 1 week ago, and I learned that after taking 7.5 months away from a brewery due to surgery/medical leave, that this girl STILL HAS IT! I taught myself the brew system and knocked out a damn near perfect brew day (albeit slower than I’d like). Regained some confidence, and am stoked to see what else the future holds! Stay tuned because there are some really fun projects in the works.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
Oh man, what a loaded question… okay, here goes… I think we are going to continue to see the expansion of the industry. I think we are going to continue to see new breweries opening, but I also think we are going to see breweries diversifying themselves more and more to include producing other types of fermented products. We’ve already seen it with hard seltzers (personally, I’m a fan of hard seltzers so this is fine by me), but I think consumers want to keep pushing and exploring new products. (Hard) Kombucha, Mead, Cider, Spirits, and even non-alcoholic beverages—these are the things I think we will see breweries starting to produce, especially as legislation changes to allow for these things.
I also think (and this is the part that REALLY excites me) that we will see more of a diverse workforce within the beer industry. For as much of a dumpster fire as 2020 has been, it has certainly propelled the topics of diversity and inclusion to the forefront of everyday life. In my opinion, the national push for STEM-based learning curriculums has been a huge springboard for craft beer. More marginalized groups (women and people of color) are being exposed (and at a younger age) to these fields of study that were once considered to be predominantly white males. I think that is HUGE! Not only for the advancement of STEM-based technologies but for normalizing diversity and inclusion. The beer industry is hugely STEM-focused, so as more women (and others) are being exposed to these disciplines, I think we will see a shift in the race and gender split. To some extent, we already have, but we can certainly do better. Education is the key to all of this.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
Ummm, well I don’t know what it’s like to brew in any other state, soooo…?!?! Next question! Just kidding… I’ll answer it. PA is rad. It gets such a bad rap because of some archaic laws that have since been *mostly* changed (i.e. selling beer in grocery stores and Sunday sales to name a few). But what people don’t realize is that Pennsylvania is actually a really, really great beer state. Philly has the BEST beer scene in the whole world. You can try to argue, but it really is the truth. We get things like Cantillon and Russian River (we are the only market they distribute to the east of Colorado) and have local powerhouses such as Yards and Victory and Troegs who have helped to pave the way for younger craft breweries.
Everybody wants to gain distribution in Philly, which is super great as a consumer, but makes for some tough, yet awesome, competition as a producer. Thanks to huge producers in PA like Sam Adams and Yuengling, we have some pretty active lobbyists and interested politicians that support the advancement of craft beer within the state. They recognize the revenue that the craft beer industry brings into the state, so there is some definite support for breweries. And then we have the consumers—PA has become a beer destination, and with the tireless support of volunteer-run organizations such as Breweries in PA, beer tourism is becoming more and more popular with information being more accessible.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
Inside jokes. Tongue in cheek references to the name “Naked” (which has nothing to do with the level of clothes that clad your body, and instead has everything to with the lack of ego and being stripped down to the fundamental level that beer is beer and beer is fun). Song lyrics. Movie references. Pretty much the world is our oyster when it comes to beer names. Have any fun names? I’m taking suggestions, send ‘em my way!
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
Genny Cream Ale. That’s my forever answer. Everyone who knows me knows that’s my favorite beer. But if you want a PA produced craft beer, I’ll go with “Bane of Existence” from Hitchhiker Brewing in Pittsburgh. It’s just a really solid hazy IPA (no lactose) that quells my desire for something hoppy without assaulting my tongue with hop burn or yeast bite.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
Play nice in the sandbox. Prepare to look like a homeless bridge troll 90% of your waking hours. But you can still rock some bold lipstick despite the schmutz smeared on your face. It’s all about balance. Ask questions. Never stop learning. Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel. You can still have ingenuity without having to start from scratch. Keep an extra pair of pants at the brewery in case you happen to rip a huge hole in the crotch region of your overalls while you’re brewing and there is a church fellowship meeting happening 10’ from where you are… not to be specific or anything. Be inclusive. Listen to your peers. Listen to your consumers. Strive every day to be 1% better than you were the day before. Even if you take a step back, you can find the learning moment in that step and try again tomorrow.
Thank you to Hannah for talking with us! Make sure you visit Naked Brewing Company for all the latest beers, news, information, and special events. And also follow Naked Brewing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
