one on one
kc
aaron ogilvie
president and brewer, double shift brewing co. Written by Pete Dulin
KANSAS CITY. by day, Aaron Ogilvie is a firefighter in leawood, Kansas, but he spends his “second shift” brewing beer. So when it came time to name his forthcoming brewery, set to open July 11 in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, he could think of nothing more appropriate than calling it Double Shift Brewing Co.
Double Shift Brewing Co., 412 E. 18th St., Crossroad Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, doubleshiftbrewing.com
PhotograPhy by landon vonderschmidt
What motivated you to open a brewery? After seeing other breweries open in Kansas City and how much of an impact they had on the local beer scene, i realized opening a brewery sooner rather than later was the right move. Kansas City is ripe for new local places, not just limited to breweries. boulevard brewing Co. definitely set the scene in Kansas City. A whole generation started drinking great beer [because of the brewery], yet boulevard was the only player here for a long time. now there is a huge variety of Kansas City beer. Why do pale ales and IPAs appeal to you as a craft-beer drinker and brewer over other styles? i love how balanced a pale ale can be, yet still [have] unique character. that can be true for any beer. Personally, i love a hoppy beer, but it still needs to have balance. Saying this beer has 150 ibus is cool, but if it’s undrinkable, what’s the point? How long did it take to develop your beer recipes? i’m still not sure they’re perfect. i always think a recipe can be improved upon. Almost every time i drink one of my beers, i find something i want to change. the hardest part about recipe formulation is realizing when more changes will just hurt the beer. Many times the first or second run of a beer turns out to be the best. even if there are five more iterations, it’s best to go back to the beginning and remember what the beer was really meant to be. What was the biggest hurdle to ramping up from home-brewing to professional production? Hop usage changes drastically at a larger scale. i’ve done a lot of reading and research on how to scale up hops. Sanitization is always a concern. using equipment that takes up an entire room verses a small corner of the basement is a daunting, exciting venture. Several brewers and breweries are located on East 18th Street in Kansas City – any plans for a beer-focused street festival? Double Shift, border brewing Co. and thou Mayest Coffee roasters are definitely interested. We haven’t really reached out to anyone else yet. Hopefully that will happen this summer after we are up and running. Which of your beers would you designate your “desert island” beer? My one beer would be the white iPA Summer Session. it’s refreshing, easy to drink, a perfect summer beer. Of the five beers we’ll be rolling out, it has taken me the longest to get it where i want it.
Inspired Local Food Culture
July 2015
29