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].
Cave Brewing Company was founded in 2015, and is the dream of longtime home brewer Jeff Bonner and his wife Alison. Bonner is a former Nuclear Engineer, and 26 years ago he started to brew beer. He read a lot of books, and played around with ingredients to dial in the process. Fast forward to 2015, he opened Cave brewing’s original location, and then June of 2018 when he expanded the brand to a taproom in the South Mall.
Read more about Jeff Bonner, including the first beer he ever brewed, where he sees the industry heading, his favorite beer to drink right now, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
My very first craft beer was Grants Russian Imperial Stout by the Yakima Malting and Brewing company out of an old railroad station in Yakima WA in 1991. I had just moved to the Pacific Northwest from Arizona and was thirsty! Very thirsty. I was already successfully duplicating various European beers (English, German, Belgian, etc.) as a relatively new homebrewer. When I tasted Bert Grant’s Imperial Stout, I was speechless (which is hard for me). It was a big black beer weighing in at 8% abv and had all the notes of a great Russian imperial stout but…….Mr. Grant had hopped the hell out of it with cascade hops! It was definitely not to the style guidelines BUT……..it was so damn good! It was then that I made it my mission to speak to him. When I finally did get to meet him, I asked him what he thought of style guidelines to which he replied to me, “Jeff, it takes the same amount of time to brew a great beer as it does an average beer. A great beer has more malt and more hops! I don’t concern myself with guidelines.” That was my “ah ha” moment that forever changed the way I thought about and enjoyed craft beer!
From then on, I decided that styles were important guidelines but it wasn’t going to be MY measuring stick of perfection. I had to find my own “voice” within the style. Since then, I have created my own interpretation of a given style. Basically, understanding what was it’s “personality” then evolve it.
How did you get started as a brewer?
From NJ, I moved out west (Arizona) to finish my engineering studies and was a big English and German beer lover. In NJ, my local grocery store had an huge selection of shelf beers from all over the world. The landscape in 1989 in Tucson AZ consisted of Bud, Bud Light, Miller, and the Premium of all beers…….wait for it……Coors! Many of those brands literally gave me a headache after drinking them (I’m talking 2 or 3 beers not a half rack)! My lovely new bride saw I was suffering for lack of better beer choices and surprised me with a home beer making kit and book. Not knowing anything about homebrewing but motivated by the “dry” heat of the Arizona summer, I opened the book and the kit.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
Lagers 100%. A good lager is a great base to build a great beer. Technically speaking, a lager is the most difficult beer style that we brew, hands down! Precise temperature control, ingredients, sanitation protocols, and art all play a HUGE role. You cannot hide any mistakes with hops, juice, lactose, crunch berries, chocolate fudge ice cream swirls, etc. etc. etc. Once we nail the great base, we can create great beers around it by adding different grains or fruits; tweaking brewing techniques, etc. which opens a whole new world of flavors. I hope people will think about lagers in a new way. Our motto at Cave is, “Lagers need love too!” We strive for balance and subtly. There are no punching people in the face with one flavor or another. I’m not criticizing that type of beer as I KNOW that a lot of people enjoy that style and more power to them! I occasionally do drink them but we strive to make ours a bit more balanced and hopefully, allow its unique beer personality to come out more.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
The very first beer I brewed was an English style pale ale from the homebrew kit my wife bought me. By pale ale, I mean, old over exposed and never refrigerated hops that smelled more like cheese than flowers, dry malt extract, corn sugar, and a packet of yeast somewhere between bread yeast and English ale yeast. I can only say that, technically, I produced a beer but I couldn’t drink it. My next-door neighbor, however, loved it. I gave it all to him as long as I got all my bottles back! I got them back by end of the week and brewed my very next batch with much better ingredients!
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
Locally, I definitely see consolidation occurring in my local market. There are only so many craft beer drinkers in a market and only so much space in customers’ refrigerators! Breweries should seriously consider their expansion plans as we are quickly reaching saturation. Plus, we are fortunate enough to also have local distillers, wine, and mead makers. In the alcohol landscape, the choices available to our customers are abundant which is great news! It also means that every brewer needs to step up their game each and every day to provide high quality, differentiated products at a value to our consumers. A new beer should be something more than your base IPA with different hops but that’s another rant entirely.
In other parts of the country and/or state, it really depends. If there isn’t another brewery around, there is room for more a lot more growth. I guess my answer is….it depends. If you are in a crowded marketplace, I see consolidation and more contract brewing opportunities for the larger brewers that might be losing market share to the guys out of their garages (garage brewers need love too!) and the 5B and 10B brewers. For areas not well served, I see continued growth in the industry. Nationally, I see the number of craft breweries increasing for the next few years but at a slower growth rate. The most interesting threat, I see, is the legalization of pot and how this gives consumers another option in lieu of alcohol. Again, consumers have choices so make great beer, not good beer!
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is a great place to brew! We have a LONG tradition of brewing and the brewers in the commonwealth have probably the best guild in the country (shout out to Brewers of PA). Cave is pleased to be selling our beer during Musikfest in the garden of the first brewer in Bethlehem (John Sebastian Goundie) who built his house in 1810! What a nod to historic and we truly appreciate it.
In addition, PA brewers have lots of shared technical resources, great legal support, and lawmakers that enjoy craft beer as well as wanting to grow jobs. Pretty much the trifecta in my book and it shows as PA now has the highest craft production in the county.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
I used to spend hours trying to name my beers after Cave inspired themes that highlight aspects of the beer only to find someone else already has it! After the hassle of a “cease and desist” letter from another brewery, I decided there’s not enough time in the day for that annoyance so I keep it simple. Cave Lager, Cave IPA. See the pattern here?!?
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
I get that question a lot especially at the taproom from some customers and I find it impossible to answer. Of Cave beers? How do you pick your favorite child? You can’t! I love them all as they are but differently! Summer time I find myself crushing Cave Lager and Cave Haze. But then again, I enjoy a nice nitro Drew’s Hand Stout in the summer heat as well. My motto is that it’s always the right time for beer! No favorites or favorite styles for me! Beer equals, “Yes!”
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
I’d say, it’s not so much of a lesson but advice to others from life experience. Don’t pretend to be something or someone you’re not! Don’t hire an advertising company to pick out your branding only to tell you what’s hot and what’s not in order to sell into the wave of what people are buying today and definitely DON’T chase after the latest trend in craft beer. Be yourself and brew the beers that you love. Chances are, there are people just like you out there that want the same thing but can’t find them among the hundreds of different choices available. That is, be stubbornly authentic! Celebrate who you are and follow your passions; don’t be someone you’re not! Some people are going to hate you just because and they will NEVER get what it is that you do! “Haters got to hate” as they say and I don’t spend a nanosecond thinking about what others think we should be nor should you! Some will criticize your business plan, taproom décor, and many other aspects of your business. The overwhelming majority of people, however, will appreciate that you are who you say you are and trust your brand because you are true to it and come back again to see what is new and delicious! Always be true to your brand.
Thank you to Jeff Boner for talking with us! Make sure you visit Cave Brewing Company for all the latest beers, news, information and special events. And also follow Cave on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
