Chicago's Best Brewers Cut Their Teeth in His Homebrew Shop — Now He Wins GABF Medals (Werk Force Brewing Co.)

How do you build a 3-time GABF-medal winning craft brewery from scratch in 10 years with no investors, and one brewer with no sense of smell?

Brandon and Amanda Wright, co-owners of Werk Force Brewing Company in Plainfield, Illinois, trace the 10-year arc of how Chicago Brew Works — the homebrew supply shop they opened in 2012 — evolved into one of Chicagoland's most influential breweries, with multiple GABF medals to show for it. They cover what it's like to build a brewery as a married couple, the next big beer trend, the whole-bean coffee technique behind their stout series, and how Brandon brews award-winning beer without a sense of smell.

0:00 Intro

0:45 Welcome to Werk Force Brewing in Plainfield, Illinois

2:53 How Werk Force Started as a Homebrew Supply Store in 2012

3:27 From OfficeMax to a Winery to Homebrewing Full-Time

4:45 Brando's House of Awesomeness (And Why Amanda Said No)

5:32 How They Started Chicago Brew Works on a Kitchen Table

5:59 Building Chicagoland's Biggest Homebrew Supply Store

8:37 Why Werk Force Never Took an Investor

9:06 Where the Name Werk Force Comes From

11:16 What's It Like to Run a Brewery With Your Spouse?

15:28 Designing the Taproom (No TVs, Communal Tables)

17:07 The Six Degrees of Werk Force Brewing

19:15 What Was Werk Force's First Beer?

19:55 Why You Can't Call This West Coast IPA Pineapple Express

21:57 How West Coast IPAs Have Changed in 12 Years

24:10 The Next Big Beer Trend: Under 4.5% ABV

25:42 Really Decent: A 3.9% All-Malt Lager

27:04 Beer Break

27:47 Welcome Back: Meet Brandon's Brewing Team

29:36 How Werk Force Won 3 GABF Medals in 2 Years

32:38 What Are the Best Bourbon Barrels for Aging Beer?

34:44 Where Sleepy Bear Got Its Name

35:39 Polar Bear: A Two-Year Bourbon-Barrel Coffee Stout

36:24 How Werk Force Designs Sleepy Bear Labels

39:16 The Whole-Bean Coffee Trick That Avoids Off-Flavors

40:57 How to Decide on Sleepy Bear Variants Each Year

44:15 Brian Doesn't Have a Sense of Smell

45:37 How Brandon Brews Award-Winning Beer Without Smelling It

48:24 What's the Hardest Part of Brewing Without a Sense of Smell?

50:18 Does Werk Force Use AI to Design Recipes?

53:26 What Makes a Great Oktoberfest Beer?

56:08 Marzen vs. Fest Beer: What's the Difference?

56:52 Inside the Barrel Den: Werk Force's Event Space

58:09 What's Next for Werk Force Brewing?

59:43 Final Four: The Beer They'll Never Brew Again

62:00 Brandon and Amanda's Off-the-Clock Beer Picks

62:33 Final Four: Best Food and Beer Pairing

65:11 Final Toast: Calm Down, Have a Beer, Hit the Road

About Werk Force Brewing Company: A three-time GABF medal winning craft brewery in Plainfield, Illinois, known for the Sleepy Bear barrel-aged imperial stout series, classic West Coast IPAs, and lower-ABV lagers. Learn more on their website at https://www.werkforcebrewing.com/

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Our executive producer and editor is award-winning podcaster Cody Gough. He insists that we tell you that in this episode, you’ll learn about: Werktoberfest, Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels for beer, Blanton's barrel-aged stout, Weller bourbon barrels, 10 Drops Coffee Roasters Outsiders Blend, Vireman malt, Rocky Reef Brewing collaboration, Metal Monkey Brewing, Goose Island barrel aging legacy, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Pineapple Express TTB label rejection, DDH double dry hop IPA, Madagascar vanilla and cacao nibs in stout, diacetyl off-flavor detection, wax-dipped 375ml limited release bottles, and U.S. Open Beer Championship gold.