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].

The Englewood opened in July 2020 in Hershey, PA. Set in an old barn that dates back to 1861, it has been restored into a listening room-style concert venue, restaurant, and brewery. Jesse Prall is the head brewer at Englewood Brewing. Read more to find out his the first beer he ever brewed, where he sees the craft beer industry heading, and more!

What was your introduction to craft beer?

When I was around 17, I would go on a regular weekend camping trip and play Wiffle ball. The guys there would sling me some beers… one year a guy gave me some homebrew and I guess that would have been the first introduction to “craft” beer. It was a blueberry stout.

How did you get started as a brewer?

I started out serving at Appalachian Brewing Company in ’99, and always found myself peering through those windows at what the brewery crew was up to. Our Head Brewer, Joe Scheffey, noticed me and asked if I wanted to start helping out by cleaning and stacking kegs as an apprentice. I was like, “hell yeah I’ll help out.” I was always interested in the science and creativity of brewing.

After the grunt work, Scheffey eventually had me doing more and more brewing. And after almost a year I was then hired on as a brewer and worked my way into the Head Brewer position at the OG ABC in Harrisburg.

Then after only a few months at ABC, I decided I wanted to push myself creatively and explore other brewing styles, so a few months later I started at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery working and learning with Sam Calagione and the team. Also, who wouldn’t want to brew beer at the beach? I spent about 15 years at Dogfish Head, discovering the true meaning of “niche-brewing” and worked my way up from Cellar Supervisor eventually to Research & Development Brewer.

What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?

I think you can be creative with any style you want. There are so many options or plays on styles. Everyone is pushing the boundaries these days. I generally like to brew “true to style” though.

What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?

The first beer I brewed by myself was the Mountain Lager at ABC. I remember it like it was yesterday because it took me 14 hours to brew and it was Valentine’s Day. Needless to say, there was no date that night.

I called Joe to tell him what was going on and he said “you can either start over or stick it out” I should’ve just started over… I chose to stick it out. It was a long night.

Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?

Being a brewer for over 20 years I have seen a few things in that time. These days, with Covid, the industry has taken some hits, like draft sales being down with restaurants having to be closed, and that volume has had to transition into packaged products. And there are places that have had to close their doors b/c of it all. The whole supply chain is affected by it all. I just want to see brewers and brewery folk survive and thrive, and to keep the creativity going in the right direction.

Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.

I love being back brewing in PA. It’s been a few years and some new breweries have obviously opened in that time. I have a lot of friends in the brewing industry here in PA, so it’s nice to see them again. There are good things happening here in the keystone state, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

What is the inspiration behind your beer names?

Sometimes humor, like our Up To No Good IPA was born out of a 2Pac reference, from his song California Love. (Although it’s really spelled Inglewood in 2Pac’s mention) We keep ’em rockin’.

Inside jokes, like SSIK Mexican-Style Lager, came from some fun I always have with a friend of mine and our sons. We catch footie games together when our teams play each other. (Go, Liverpool!) We go to Tres Hermanos which is this rad, all-in-one taco joint and bodega in Harrisburg, that also sells random stuff like Mexican wrestling masks. Tres has several screens so they play the games for us, and we have this thing where we each have a mask and wear them to cheer on our teams, eat tacos, and drink Cerveza. The boys really love it. (No, they don’t get Cerveza, they get Jarritos)

Some are a little educational like our Ghost Note IPA comes from music writing. A Ghost-Note is a musical note that has rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch. It’s fun to play with this idea of what we can teach people about the music side of our venue.

We have a little extra fun sometimes too, like our Misheard Lyrics series that we’ve just started with, “Sammy and the Whale” for “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root. Just like it sounds (or maybe not!) these beers are named for lyrics that people might get wrong and sing incorrectly. We all know one of those folks.

And sometimes they’re personal, like Lefty At Large Black IPA was named for my troublemaker dog, Lefty, who’s a black labrador. He’s always into mischief, getting into trouble, so we named it as though he was on the lam.

We’ll soon be pairing beers with bands that come in too, which will be fun.

What is your favorite beer to drink right now?

I get asked this question all the time, and it’s tough to nail it down to just one. My beer drinking is definitely a seasonal thing. I’m partial to the wheats during the summer months and then the higher abv beers during the winter months. But, if I had to pick a “go-to” it would be the SSIK Mexican Lager—I’m a sucker for a good lager. And SSIK will be one of the first in 12 oz. cans.

What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?

It’s more like something I learned about myself. I don’t follow trends for the sake of following trends. As I said, I like to brew “true to style.” It’s not my goal to bring people in with a thousand hazy IPAs. As an example, I might do one (which I haven’t yet here), but I’m not going to go overboard because of a craze.

My intention, and passion, is to be creative and test out new ideas that I or my team come up with. I push creativity, flavor, uniqueness because something sparks an idea for me.

Thank you to Jess for talking with us! Make sure you visit Englewood Brewing for all the latest beers, news, information, and special events. And also follow Englewood on Facebook and Instagram.