FEATURE
CHRIS’S TOP TIPPLES As Chris continues his R&D work in the US, he recommends beers from three breweries based on the west coast.
Almanac Beer Company is a San Francisco, California contract brewery that makes farm-totable beers in small batches using fruit, grains and herbs purchased from local family farms. Oak-aged beers have been the company’s primary focus since early 2014. almanacbeer.com
Russian River Brewing Company is a brewery and brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa, California. The company makes strong India pale ales and sour beers. russianriverbrewing.com
Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996, San Diego-based Stone Brewing Company is the ninth largest craft brewer in the US. Stone has been described as the “all-time top brewery on planet earth” by BeerAdvocate magazine. stonebrewing.com
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and develop openness with our technology.” That openness has drawn Brewbot Stateside where there is a much more advanced craft beer market, not to mention the opportunities for further investment. Their journey in the US so far has seen them tour dozens of breweries across the country as well as present Brewbot at the Techstars accelerator programme in Austin, Texas. As recent as October 2015 Brewbot raised $1.5m in seed funding, with the round led by Bebo founder Michael Birch, alongside a number of other angel investors. McClelland and Brewbot can now call San Francisco their second home. “We’re out in the US because a majority of our customers reside here and we are also at a time and place where we are looking at how we can distribute and manufacture out here,” says McClelland. McClelland hasn’t forgotten his roots however. At Brewbot’s headquarters in Belfast, the company has opened its own brewpub to satisfy the thirst for craft beer in the capital. “The bar is great,” he says. “From a licensing point of view, when looking for new office space it was important to find a place we could legally serve our beer. We want to understand what the customer’s perception of the beer is, testing it basically. It could be thought of as a big research lab in some ways. It’s a very technology driven bar. We’re looking at scaling that part of the business as well.” So Brewbot, which began with five employees and has expanded to 30, the company certainly has no problem with scaling fast, nor has it struggled to attract the right investors. But who is actually buying the product right now? According to McClelland, half are residential
customers and half are commercial. Over 100 units have been pre-ordered at the introductory price of $4,000 each. A growing number of commercial brewers have also expressed an interest including Galway Bay Brewery who own nine bars in the Republic. It’s still early days for Brewbot but the venture is certainly growing at a rapid pace. So where would McClelland like to see the company in five years’ time? The Belfast native doesn’t lack ambition. “Let’s say we sell 10,000 brewbots and are one of the largest breweries in the world by volume. If we get to that point.” He interrupts himself. “We will get to that point, and we’ll have an interesting opportunity to connect the dots. We have a huge opportunity to have an impact on the environmental side of brewing. Thinking about carbon footprints, these are things we are always aiming to improve with our products. There are stories about grains being shifted from the west coast of America to Ireland. The point is there is better grain in Ireland or even Germany. So for us it’s also about having a more ethical approach to brewing and to look at that would be an important position for us to be in.” The question is ‘does McClelland and his team have the wherewithal and alcohol tolerance to see these plans through?’ “I don’t drink as much as people think I do, although it is important for R&D,” he laughs. “There are incredible breweries here in the US and the standard of beer is inspirational. That’s the whole point of beer, it’s hugely versatile. There’s a vast spectrum of beers available to meet everyone’s taste buds. There really is a big world of beer out there.” It looks as though Brewbot might play a big part.
The Brewbot team
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