484: Matt Gallagher of Half Acre and Suncatcher Believes Small Can Be Sustainable

To some, Chicago’s Suncatcher must appear to be a typical neighborhood brewery. The bar is classic Midwest, salvaged from a midcentury tavern. The patio is expansive and inviting, thanks to the plant nursery next door. And the beers come without clever names—just the style, often defined by color, spelled out in plastic letters pressed into the sign board. But when you consider that it was the cofounder of Half Acre who designed and built this neighborhood brewery, it takes on a different meaning.

The simplicity that Matt Gallagher has infused into Suncatcher extends from the environment to the beers themselves, and while he’s back on the brew deck as the sole brewer, he’s chosen to intentionally limit himself. But that doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or flavor—in fact, by simplifying, he’s able to focus on what the brewery needs to be, and what the beers need to be, and nothing more.

In this episode, Gallagher discusses:

• designing Daisy Cutter so you could smell it from the other end of the bar
• early challenges in sourcing the hops they wanted
• the vastly improved growing and processing conditions for today’s hops
• testing the thesis that a small brewery can be sustainable
• building simple beers with beautiful and expressive ingredients

• focusing on hospitality and service as much as the beer itself

  G&D Chillers
  You know the pain—warm fermenters, stressed yeast, and that sinking feeling when the repair quote lands in your inbox. With refrigerant regulations changing and the cost of obsolete refrigerants skyrocketing, sometimes the fix costs more than the unit’s worth. G&D Chillers is there to help, whether you're a small brew pub or large full-scale production brewery. Don’t throw good money at bad equipment. Invest in a solution that grows with your brewery—and keeps your tanks cold when it counts. Big thanks to G&D Chillers for supporting this podcast since 2019, reach out to them at gdhillers.com/podcast to learn how they can support your next six years of growth.

Berkeley Yeast
Berkeley Yeast just launched Dry Tropics London! Our best-selling liquid yeast strain, now with all the ease-of-use benefits of dry yeast. Dry Tropics London delivers the soft, pillowy mouthfeel and juicy character you’d expect from a top-tier London Ale strain, but with a serious upgrade: a burst of thiols that unleash vibrant, layered notes of grapefruit and passion fruit. A lot of brewers love the clean passion fruit you get from Tropics, but they don’t want every IPA to be a tropical-fruit bomb. At the dry yeast price point, you can pitch and ditch without breaking the bank. Or, you can co-pitch with your house strain to adjust the intensity of the notes. And with nationwide free shipping, there’s never been a better time to try Dry Tropics. Order now at berkeleyyeast.com and experience the ease and impact of Dry Tropics London Yeast.

PakTech
This episode is sponsored by PakTech—delivering craft-beer multipacking you can trust. Our handles are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping breweries close the loop and advance the circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, our carriers help brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, we offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com.

Indie Hops
Oregon hop country is heaven to world-class lager varieties, and Indie Hops is proud to have introduced Oregon’s newest lager hop, Lórien, in 2022. Lórien is in a growing list of beers that have found their way to the podium and—more importantly—into the hearts of lager lovers across the country. Discover Indie Hops Lórien. (Side effects may include rampant festivity, sales bumps, and exceeded expectations.) Indie Hops—Life is Short. Let’s Make It Flavorful.

Midea 50/50 Flex
If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today. Cheers!

Old Orchard
If your brewery is using fruit juice concentrates, purees, and blends, then why not source everything from a one-stop shop? Old Orchard might be best-known for flavored blends, but if you need 100% purees or concentrates, then Old Orchard can likely help—even with options not listed on their website. Let Old Orchard know what you need at oldorchard.com/brewer.

Encompass
You know the pain all too well. You're guessing at market trends, left in the dark about how your liquids are performing on the shelves. You can't tell if your distributors are actually executing the objectives you gave them. But now there's a faster, more real-time, and value-packed way to get the full picture instantly and strengthen those distributor partnerships. Introducing Orbit by Encompass. Orbit Data & CRM connects your production performance directly to the wider beverage market. Orbit Data provides real-time visibility into retailer data, sales, and inventory so you can make faster and clear decisions. It's also a CRM for your supplier sales team that brings total transparency to your distributor relationships, keeping them accountable to what they need to sell and how. Orbit empowers producers to drive decisions with accurate data, discover new profit streams, and pivot faster than ever before. Go to encompasstech.com/launch-orbit for more details.

Arryved
Running a brewery means juggling a lot—managing production, serving guests, selling online, and keeping everything moving behind the scenes. That’s where Arryved comes in. What started as a point-of-sale system has grown into the technology your brewery runs on—built specifically for the teams behind great beer. Unlike generic systems, Arryved brings together taproom service, online sales, brewery management, payments, reporting, and growth tools into one complete platform. So instead of bouncing between systems, you can brew, serve, and sell—all in one place. See it in action at CBC 2026, Booth 1626, or visit arryved.com to learn more.

Ss Brewtech
Pumps are critical to any advanced homebrewing setup. From mash recirculation to wort transfer, and even for cleaning, a quality pump is a key part of every brew day. The Ss Brew Pump from Ss Brewtech is engineered to tackle even the messiest brew days. Featuring an IP55 water resistance rating, an easy-to-use DIN head with 360-degree rotation, and a flow rate of up to 11 gallons per minute, it has the power to keep your brew day moving. Visit www.SsBrewtech.com/Pump to learn more about how the Ss Brew Pump can upgrade your homebrewery.

And more.