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].
Downriver Brewing Company opened in November of 2019, in Stroudsburg, PA. They are Strousbrug’s first brewery since 1937, over 80 years! Matthew Dussor is the head brewer of Downriver Brewing, read more to find out how he was introduced to craft beer, the first beer he ever brewed, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
It’s been awhile but I believe my introduction to craft beer was drinking a pint of Blue Moon at a local pub or purchasing a variety pack from Flying Dog, Sam Adams or Dogfish Head. At the time, I didn’t understand that most of those breweries were making craft beer or that they were considered craft beer and truthfully, I didn’t care, I wasn’t really interested in beer. It wasn’t until I ordered a random pumpkin beer at Barcade in Brooklyn while visiting a friend when I started coming around and noticing. I think it was a pumpkin beer from Harpoon.
How did you get started as a brewer?
My good friend John Connors started home brewing and turned me onto the idea of brewing as I was just starting to branch out into the craft beer consumer culture. That coupled with the emergence of several local breweries in my hometown of Binghamton, NY piqued my interest even further, one of which was The North Brewery, owned and operated by Zach Pedley in Endicott, NY. Zach had this incredible way of bringing the craft beer community together and invited my friends and I, to his weekly private bottle share on our first or second visit. It wasn’t long after attending weekly for several months that I wanted to start officially making my own beer. Not only did I have the luxury of trying the most amazing beers from around the world but I learned a lot about making beer and eventually got my first all-grain brewing equipment.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
Without question, Sour/Wild Ales, whether blended, open-fermented or mixed cultured, these beers savagely leave all other styles bloodied up with the complexity and levels of flavor they create. These styles allow the yeast to be the most creative but unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance yet to experiment with them much. I did a series of Berliner Weisse style beers last year for the Sherman Theater Winter Beer Fest which required a very complex fermentation schedule that was very interesting and rewarding to brew but the style that allows me personally to be the most creative right now are Stouts, Hazy IPA’s were a close second. Stouts are rich, complex and hard to mess up. Even the worst Stouts I’ve drank to some degree have interesting and unique flavors that set them apart from all the others I’ve tried. The style is diverse and brewing them is fun with unlimited variables available to brewers.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
It was a Chocolate Pepper Stout. I brewed it on my birthday in Brooklyn on a vacant lot behind my apartment under a shack that previously housed a traveling hobo. I had to run a hose through the window of the apartment, over the alleyway 20 feet to the shack so I could chill the beer. I learned that Lautering for an hour after every step of the mash was madness and that It shouldn’t take 8 – 12 hours to brew beer. It’s still one of the best beers I’ve ever made and I still haven’t been able to recreate exactly.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
The craft beer industry will continue to grow locally, spreading like wildfire into every small town across America. Unfortunately, you might start seeing the breweries we grew up with struggling to stay relevant and find the right distribution that makes sense. I think it’s fair to say that a majority of people will eventually stop buying beer off the shelf that’s been sitting around (Shelf Turds) when they can drive around the corner and get fresh beer on tap to go. Of course, what am I saying, you’ll never be able to defeat your Uncle Lager who will continue to roll deep with a couple 30 racks of crispy boi’s, God bless their soul.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
It’s been one of the most profound and interesting experiences of my life. The Pennsylvania beer community is strong and houses some of the most important Brewers, Breweries, Craft Beer Pioneers/Voices in the entire world and I’m proud to be a part of it and make history.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
The owner Steve Brancato and I love taking the time to find the right balance of meaning or humor. I think it’s always important not to take ourselves too seriously so, for the most part, we’ll pick whatever sounds funny or badass with personal meaning that we pull from all aspects of our lives. For example, our Coffee Oatmeal Breakfast Stout on tap right now is called “Masters of Nothing” and it’s our humble way of reminding ourselves and others that anyone can brew beer so don’t be intimated, you’ll make mistakes. The important thing is to have fun, learn and become your own personal master of anything.
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
My current arsenal of goodies I enjoy drinking at the moment are as follows:
Abomination Brewing Co. – Wandering into the Fog/Hop Roulette
The North Brewery – Big Bad Leather Daddy/God Complex
Beer Tree Brew Co. – Cloudy Haze/Salute Your Shorts
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
That making mistakes or bad beer is erroneously associated with failure in the craft beer consumer culture. When, in fact, making mistakes should be celebrated, for it is elevating everyone in the beer industry to a new level of understanding, furthering awareness of how good beer is made. What we consider commonplace today, would have been unimaginable in the past. Likewise, the future will contain technology, realizations, and consumer trends that we cannot even fathom today. For example, beer might start getting packaged in translucent crystal balls that you can pick up and drink without having to open anything to help the environment and cut down on the manufacturing of raw materials.
Thank you to Matthew for talking with us! Make sure you visit Downriver Brewing Company for all the latest beers, news, information and special events. And also follow Downriver Brewing on Facebook and Instagram !
