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].

Tannery Run Brew Works opened in Ambler in March of 2019, with a 7bbl system. Tim Brown is head brewer of Tannery Run Brew Works. Read more to find out how he was introduced to craft beer, his favorite beer to drink, how he got started as a brewer, and more!

What was your introduction to craft beer?

German Hefe’s. I won a contest many years ago that included a kegerator full of Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse. Once I realized that beer could have flavor, unlike most of the American beers available to me in the late ’90s, I dove deep into various German classics. After extensive “research” into some of the more uncommon styles (i.e. Alt Bier or Kolsch), I stuck with the more yeast driven beers and moved my focus to Belgians. Their penchant for deviant flavors and devilish marketing easily piqued my curiosity. Then on to English beers that are more malt driven and finally back to US beers where I fell in love with hops. Not long before the famous beer writer Michael Jackson passed, I met him and The Beer Fox (Carolyn Smagalski) at the now-closed Drafting Room in Ambler. I asked Mr. Jackson “Of all the regions in the world that you have traveled for beer, who does it the best?” Without missing a beat he confirmed my long-held belief. “Being a nation of immigrants, the United States has the most diverse beer culture in the world. We use our global heritage to replicate other beer brewing regions while creating a unique culture of our own.” What he actually said was a bit longer and more affluent than I can reiterate, but this is the essence of what I got out of our chance encounter. This concept from a sage of the industry has given me a great deal of pride to be an American Brewer.

How did you get started as a brewer?

Homebrewing. When I first got into beer, there were not nearly as many flavor options as there are now. I wanted a Hefe with more banana. A wit with honey. An IPA with real citrus. These types of hybrid beers are common now but non-existent in the early 2000s.

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

I’d say it’s more of our brewing technique that supports my creative side. The fact that we do SPLATCH (split-batch) brewing allows me to create two similar but distinctly different beers simultaneously. When you look at the grist of a German Pilsner and a Belgian Tripel, they are nearly indistinguishable but for the amount of grains. As I run off the wort from my single mash tun into two separate kettles, I can adjust the amount of sugars going into the pilsner and the Trippel. By using different yeasts and some candy sugar, I can get two hugely different beers in one brew day. By using the parti gyle method I can make a DIPA and a Blond or a Wee Heavy and an American Amber. The possibilities are almost limitless.

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

DME Hefe with Bananas. It was awful but I had undiscerning roommates at the time so it didn’t go to waste. A larger boiling pot was my first step forward but every beer that I brewed for the first couple years taught me something new or exemplified another technique or piece of equipment that needed to be added to my arsenal. Before I made the leap into pro brewing, I had all the same, but much smaller, equipment then I do now… Expect floor drains. I love dumping stuff on the floor! As long as it’s not beer…Thankfully I haven’t had to do that but once.

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

It’s hard to say. Personally, I’d like to see more lagers and less high-calorie gimmicks. I am going to brew what I like and also what sells. Often they are similar and that makes me happy:) What we are trying to do is bring our SPLATCH brewing to the canned distro market. Although SPLATCH packs (4-packs of 16oz with both sides of a SPLATCH, two each) are labor-intensive to assemble, they offer more variety in a smaller format, thus lowering the monetary risk consumers are willing to take on new concepts or brands.

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

I love the beer scene in PA. I don’t feel much in the way of competition. More a sense that we are all in this together. I don’t find myself thinking that I need to fight for space on the shelf at my local supermarket, I find myself thinking that my beer will stand for itself and I’m not trying to take anything away from my peers. Also, the Brewers in PA and BOP are great organizations that help brewers to band together to make even greater things. The more we work together, the greater things we can achieve!

What is the inspiration behind your beer names?

Pop Culture references are great. I love it when someone gets my Avatar (not the blue people) references. We had, before COVID, a group of people that would meet here to play Magic the Gathering so I naturally had to name some beers after some of the more iconic cards. One of my favorite SPLATCHs has been the Green Ribbon Trail SPLATCH. Some great friends of Tannery Run would hike a local trail down to us every Sunday for lager and bring different friends every time. I named two beers, one SPLATCH, after them in their honor. Zibi’s Delight, a Bock, and Kasia’s Grace, a Dark Mild. And of course Dragons. Every IPA that we make is Dragon themed. Our most recent DIPA was named via a social media contest. The winner, as voted by our fans, ended up being The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo. Fun stuff!

What is your favorite beer to drink right now?

I’m drinking other local stuff at home. I try to support a different small brewery each week. Last week it was Levante. This week is Ambler Beer Company. Next week I want to try Odd Logic. We actually played against them on a game show that was a whole lot of fun. We’d have won if they hadn’t brought a ringer in Eddie Gallagher, a local comedian, and all-around great dude. This is what I love about being a PA brewery!

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

Being a brewpub, I’ve learned that my beer is not just who we are. It is a very important part of who we are and our food is fan-freaking-tastic too, but the most important lesson that I’ve learned is that people, my co-workers, and patrons, are our greatest asset. We have amazing people working with us that we treat with equality and respect. They are the face of Tannery Run and I am proud of every one of them. Even Ian 😉

Thank you to Tim for talking with us! Make sure you visit Tannery Run Brew Works for all the latest beers, news, information, and special events. And also follow Tannery Run on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.