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.
Bitchin’ Kitten Brewing first opened in October of 2021 at 58-B E. Bridge Street, in Morrisville, PA. The brewpub operates in a 2,000+ sq/ft location with an outdoor beer garden. They brew on a 5 BBL brew system and offer a variety of beers across 12 taps, to go with their full kitchen menu. Michael, along with his wife Bridgette, both own the business, with the name influenced by Bridgette’s cat Shadow. Shadow gained the moniker the “bitchin’ kitten” because she was a little picky about who she liked. Truth be told, she only liked Bridgette (and tolerated Michael). But she made quite an impression on both Brigitte and Michael.
Michael Crosson is the co-owner and head brewer at Bitchin’ Kitten Brewing. Read more to find out his introduction to craft beer, where he sees the craft beer industry heading, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
Back around the late 80s, my father had me try a bottle of Corsendonk Pater Dubbel Ale. Like most folks, I was a light American lager guy. This beer changed everything about what I thought beer was.
After that, when I went to grab some beers, I would just pick random 6-packs and try out anything from Colt 45 malt liquor to Sapporo lager. Soon after, Pete’s Wicked Ale, Sam Addams, and Charlie Papazian’s book on homebrewing hit the market and changed my perception of beer forever.
How did you get started as a brewer?
My brother got me into it. He started home brewing and his beer was pretty good. I especially liked tasting styles that, by and large, weren’t commercially available. Porter is a perfect example.
Around 1995, I started home brewing out of my apartment in Levittown. I’d brew up about 5 different beer styles and throw a big beer tasting party with all my friends. People really liked the brews and enjoyed tasting styles that they had never heard of.
I made the jump to professional brewer around 2020 as an apprentice brewer at Tindall Road Brewery in Bordentown, NJ. Dan, Marci, and Gary were so sharing and fun to brew with! Dan showed me the ropes with the big equipment and has a terrific understanding of brewing and the science behind it. Thanks to their guidance, I got the nerve to set off with my own brewery concept.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
Wow… a great question!
Honestly, I find creativity in every style I brew. It’s in the details that make a style unique and taste the way it should. From researching and experimenting with brewing techniques to sourcing ingredients, these are the tasks that force you to think “outside the box” and compile the plan, recipe, and procedures you need to pull off a style.
If I had to pick one style of beer that really allows me to get creative, surprisingly, it’s probably a wheat ale.
First, you can do a traditional German style (about 50% wheat in your base malt grain bill) or an American style (less wheat in the grain bill). We use this as our base for several of our beers: Raspberry Wheat, Sour, and Hefeweizen. Wheat ale works great with fruit and plays well with all different kinds of yeast strains. This allows us to pull off some really fun styles without straying far from a tried-and-true style.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
The first beer I brewed was a traditional ESB patterned after the 1990s-era Bass Ale. I point out 90’s style Bass because the recipes for classic beers like this and Harp have been tweaked, for the worse in my opinion, over the last couple of decades.
I think my biggest takeaway was that it was not as hard as I thought it would be to crank out a decent ale. I had a winner on my first batch!
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
I think you’ll continue to see new breweries popping up and thriving, especially in PA. We love our brew! I definitely see the craft beer consumer getting more educated and receptive to different beer styles, which I think is terrific. Folks come through the doors understanding and appreciating Belgian, German, and uncommon beer styles.
Recently, I brewed an Irish Red Ale. I’ll admit that I brewed it for myself. I love the style but have never seen it available. I was shocked at how many people expressed the exact same feelings when they ordered it! It sold extremely well and gave me the confidence to move forward with some more uncommon beer styles.
But I think I also see some division in consumers’ tastes and their concept of what “craft beer” really is.
While my focus is primarily on traditional beer styles, I see a growing segment that really enjoys the big “pastry” and “dank” beer styles. It’s a loyal sub-set of the craft beer market, and in their eyes, I think they view these styles as next-level craft beer. To their pallet, bigger is almost always better. I think we will continue to see these types of styles/breweries continue to thrive. There is an extremely loyal fan base out there.
Also, I see the female craft beer market continuing to grow. This has been a criminally underserved market with most breweries hyper-focused on the 20-something guy with a beard and skinny jeans sipping an IPA and ignoring the lady standing next to him. More and more women are appreciating beers that lean away from IPAs: Sours, Fruit Beers, Lagers, and Stouts/Porters. This is a market segment that likes variety.
Lastly, I firmly believe that the IPA craze has already peaked in the marketplace. While folks will continue to go “crazy for the hazy”, I think a lot of beer drinkers’ pallets are just burned out by super-bitter beers. I’ve been calling it for 2-years: craft lagers are gonna make a big comeback.
Breweries in PA and a lot of industry publications are also pointing to craft lager being the next big thing. We rolled out our American Premium Lager in May and it instantly became our best-selling beer. Not only did it bump our previous #1 seller, but it also beat it by almost double. We are shifting a lot of our focus to developing and brewing lagers this year.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
It’s pretty sweet! Even though I’ve moved 14 times, I’ve spent the vast majority of my years in PA. I love the state and the people.
The brewery licensing for the state, in my opinion, grants me a lot of flexibility in running my business. And I feel that I have a pretty good support structure with the liquor control board. I think the state sees the value in growing the brewery industry. Also, it’s great to serve PA craft drinkers. They love beer, food, and family/friends.
While many like to point to the West Coast or Vermont, I think PA has a thriving craft beer culture, that I believe, is in the top 5 in the USA…and growing!
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
When your brewery is named Bitchin’ Kitten Brewery, you know it’s all about the cats! Our beer names all have something to do with cats or fun cat-related play on words.
For example, Cait Sidhe (pronounced caught-she), our Dry Irish Stout, is named after the mythological Irish King of Cats. Our American Ale, Honest Abe’s Tabby, is in honor of Abraham Lincoln. He was the first president to have cats, Tabby and Dixey, in the White House. We have a lot of fun modifying the cat on our can labels to reflect the fun beer names.
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
As far as the beers I brew, I’m really enjoying our “baseball lager” called Catter Up. Very easy to drink and clean. I also really like our new IPA called A Pale of Two Kitties. It’s dry-hopped with a hop called Falconer’s Flight which is a composite of 7 west coast hops that all begin with the letter “C”: Citra, Chinook, Cascade, etc. It’s really nicely balanced with terrific hop flavor.
When I’m looking for something different, I keep going back to the line of brews from Workhorse Brewing in King of Prussia. Really enjoy their West Coast IPA, NEIPA, and Golden Lager. The new Hibiscus IPA is a real treat. Check it out.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
Probably the critical importance of thorough research of the industry and sweating the details. I spent over a year compiling a business plan that covered every aspect of my business and projections for the first 5 years before we were confident enough to pull the trigger and move forward. A thoroughly executed business plan answers all your questions and forces you to open your brewery not with hopes and dreams, but with concrete business decisions.
By sweating the details, we had a solid understanding of the industry, and an executable game plan for production and profitability, before we opened our doors.
Thank you to Michael for talking with us! Make sure you visit Bitchin’ Kitten Brewery’s website to see all the latest beers and news. Also, follow Bitchin’ Kitten on Facebook and Instagram.
