According to the brewery’s Web site, “The inner battle of good and evil was never more apparent than when one takes that first cleansing sip of Holy Brew.” With that in mind, I sat down with partner Warren Brown to discuss the semantics of Holy Brew and how you sell 30 cases of beer in less than four hours.
Where did ‘Holy Brew’ come from?
A few years back, when we had this idea, we thought of what to call the brand and Holy Brew jumped out as the only option. "Holy" meaning what is true to you personally. Creating an environment of open and honest communications, expressing one's true ideas and emotions in a fun atmosphere is what the Holy Brew experience is all about... i.e. "Liquid Confession".
Your beer is brewed in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., so why base your business in Loudoun County?
This is where we all call home. We wanted to develop a company that not only benefited the U.S. (we use all U.S. based products and labor), but moreover would benefit the town and county we live in.
Is the brewery your only job?
All of us come from various high-tech industries and are still involved with other businesses within those environments. We have all launched, built, managed and sold various levels of companies in the past so we are bringing a very strong, realistic business approach to this endeavor. We didn't just decide one day, ‘Hey, wouldn't it be fun to brew some beer and sell it?’ We realize the challenges of the industry and the complexities of the market. We approached this as we would with any other business, with a lot of research, development and good old fashioned hard work.
How long did it take to start producing and selling?
A little over a year and a half. In addition to the time it takes to really fine tune the flavoring and mixture to have a beer ready to hit the market, there is an intense amount of market issues to go through.
I’m curious if it’s ‘worth it.’ Is the cost to make and produce the alcohol less than the amount of money you make?
This is more about doing the right things as we build the brand and less about making money quickly. We do project the company being profitable, but I think anyone coming into a new market like this would be wrong to think they would be profitable overnight. We went into this with long term goals in mind and so far we are surpassing our expectations for initial uptake in the market place.
Your Web site is hysterical. Whose idea was it to play off religious themes?
John Krahulec pulled the Web site together and based it all off of the themes that were built from the beginning. The themes were really about creating a pure, i.e. ‘Holy’ brew, and the rest began to fall into place with creating an open and fun environment for our patrons to express what is unique to themselves, hence the ‘Liquid Confession’ theme.
Where can I grab a Holy Brew?
We have locations all over Virginia. In Loudoun you can go to places like the Downtown Saloon, Tuskies, Lightfoot, Hooked and Vintage 51. You can also buy it at most Total Wine stores and Wegmans stores in Virginia.
I spoke with managers at the Leesburg Wegmans, they said you recently sold 30 cases of beer in less than four hours?
That was incredible. We were all obviously excited about that. What is exciting to us is that we really wanted our customers to make the brand their own and embrace it. That seems to be happening in a big way and we are gaining quite a large following of fans. We have great customers, just come to one of our events and you'll see the excitement they generate around Holy Brew.
For more information on Holy Brew, including more “Places of Worship” (locations for purchase) visit www.holybrew.com.
Liquid Confessions
Purgatory Pilsner
A Deluxe American Lager brewed with an infusion of domestic 6-row barley, corn and a combination of Pacific Northwest hops. After a controlled fermentation is complete, this high-gravity brew is aged until a trained tasting team deems it suitable for cellaring and finishing. Finishing with a straw-yellow color, this malty/sweet lager is accented with a low hop aroma and slight bitterness. ABV: 4.3%
Heavenly Light Pilsner
A light American Lager, brewed with a combination of domestic 6-row barley, corn and a touch of hops from the Pacific Northwest. The pale straw appearance presents a malty sweet background, with a crisp flavorful tone. Highly carbonated and light on the body. ABV: 3.8%
Love your beer!