Sam and Sara Kazmer brought great craft beer to a market they felt was underserved - Atlanta, Georgia when they flipped on the lights at Elsewhere Brewing in 2020.
They wanted to produce award-winning beer in a unique, community-event driven taproom. They wanted to create space, community and memories for themselves and every customer that shared in their dream. And, as we’ll hear in the 4th segment, they were successful.
The whole project was an amalgamation of the experiences they had researching craft beer while traveling the world. Drinking, tasting, connecting and experiencing beer when it’s more than beer in other countries and continents.
In the 3rd segment we’re joined by 6 month-old Sofie as she woke up from her nap. And that’s about the time we really get into the struggles they faced at elsewhere Brewing.
As their fan starts to really fill up with shit, Sam and Sara knew that they needed to throw a Hail Mary pass quickly. So in the Spring of 2024 they hired a new ops manager, built a team and a strategy around her and did everything they could to rally the ATL community around the beer and the vision of Elsewhere Brewing. They set a July deadline for profitability and as you may have guessed, they are a guest on this podcast because it didn’t work.
We learn a couple of handfuls of lessons in this episode, including whether you can change the culture of your community/city/region around how, why and how often they enjoy craft beer as part of a healthy lifestyle. To do or do not to do in regards to having a restaurant in your brewery. The management of multiple tasting rooms. And why you can’t find someone to do the owner’s job for 20K/year.
This was a moving episode and a special one for me. So open up your hearts and ears and maybe you’ll learn something about How NOT To Start A Damn Brewery.
You can reach the Kazmers at
Sarakazmer26@gmail.com
Samkazmer@gmail.com