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.
Levity Brewing is located in Indiana, PA, and is the first brewery in the area since 1939. It was created by 3 local friends who knew the area needed a craft brewery. Levity brewery has also won Breweries In PA’s March Madness brewery bracket TWO years in a row now!
Jared Herman is the head brewer at Levity Brewing. Learn how he got started in craft beer, where he sees the industry heading, and much more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
I must confess that I did indeed have a beer or two before I was 21. Shocking-I know.I remember really enjoying the taste of Dundee Honey Brown and Killian’s Red. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon those beers but they were way better than the Zima that was at those late 90’s parties. Once I was of age, I quickly fell in love with most stouts and the Sam Adams variety packs at the time. I still hadn’t fallen for IPA’s though until I had a Troeg’s Pale Ale at the Hershey Hotel and the rest was history.
How did you get started as a brewer?
My sister-in-law Beth purchased a home brew kit for her husband John for Christmas in 2002. I was a newly married teacher living in the DC suburbs on the Maryland side while Beth and John were living over in Fairfax, Virginia. I quickly fell in love with the stout John had brewed and knew I needed to be doing this myself. I purchased a kit sometime in 2003 and brewed a beer I absolutely loved. I was hooked but brewed a lot of really bad beer after that until Luke, Erich, and I really invested the time, money, and energy into doing it well because we wanted to do it professionally. That would have been sometime around 2013 when we first had a vision for Levity Brewing Company. We purchased much better equipment and studied the process a lot more.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
This is a tough one for me… As a hard core science guy the word creative means breaking the rules and coloring outside the lines. I’m certainly not opposed to a little bit of rule breaking but for the love of everything good and sacred-COLOR BETWEEN THE LINES! 😉 As a biologist I find the most creative aspects of beer are on the wild side. Harnessing microorganisms for the diversity and depth of flavor they can produce in a variety of conditions and over relatively long periods of time is where I can get creative.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
Both personally and professionally the first beer I brewed was a stout. As I reflect on not just those beers specifically but the journey of brewing any beer since then, I realize I will never stop learning all there is to know about these four basic ingredients and nearly infinite possibilities from them. Brewing is certainly an endeavor where the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know. That fits my personality quite well.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
I don’t think there is doom and gloom as some would speculate and I don’t think there will be bubbles bursting. There are roughly twice as many breweries today as there were when Levity first opened its doors, so that sort of growth in an industry is going to take notice. But there are roughly 100 times as many alcohol serving establishments in this country as there are breweries. There are still more wineries in the country than breweries. No one speaks of that bubble bursting… I do think the days of taking a 10 gallon home brew set up, turning professional, and growing into a large regional brewer within 5 years are well behind us. At the same time I think we will see continued openings of brewery taprooms and satellite locations of existing breweries. I think more and more communities will continue to be served with locally made beer.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
We have an incredibly strong industry in this state with a ton of cooperation between brewers. Coming from academia, I love the collegiality that exists in a private industry between companies that-on paper at least-should be competing with one another.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
Most (but not all) of our names draw from musical references, educational references, or local references. Music and education are nearly universal experiences (both good and bad) and we at Levity believe there should be a beer for everyone too. We try to put a little spin on a name in the hopes of generating a smile too. Spel Czech Pilsner comes to mind…
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
Of our beers I’ve been flying to our recently released Medulla Oblangata. It’s a 6.1% IPA we brewed with loads of Bravo, Amarillo, and Centennial hops in the whirlpool and dry hop schedule. It’s very orange, lemon, and pineapple forward. Like most beer consumers these days I also love the local beer I haven’t had yet too. Although, I also recently had a 2013 Gouden Carolis that a regular customer brought me that was incredible.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
Probably that skinny jeans aren’t for everyone…
Thank you to Jared Herman for talking with us! Make sure you visit Levity Brewing for all the latest beers, news, information and special events. And also follow Levity on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
