When art and science collide, you get Crooked Stave. It's a delicate balance between creativity, exploration, precision, and hyper technical attention to detail that sets Chad Yakobsen's beautiful project apart from the pack. Chad, if you didn't know, is an expert on all things brettanomyces. He's written a dissertation on it, he's brewed countless beers with it, and he's quite frankly, one of the most proficient users of wild yeast and bacteria in the country. If you couldn't tell - I am in love with his brewery and have the utmost respect for what he's able to produce there on a consistent basis. On a personal level, the brewery is inspirational and thought provoking - but on a global scale, Crooked Stave is incredibly important to the wild and sour beer industry, as they put their phenomenal beers on shelves across the country and pushing the styles forward into the mainstream for all to enjoy. Sit back, relax, and enjoy our chat. You even get a small tour of Chad's house in the process!

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Unique. Unapologetic. Creative. Magic.

Forest and Main is a wonderfully complex brewery. This complexity is not only found in the beautiful liquid that has garnered Gerard and Dan, the founders, critical acclaim and fandom across the world. You can find it in the labels that Dan paints himself and which tell a story that evolves as time moves forward. You can find it in the beautiful Victorian house Forest and Main calls home. You can find it in the two owners and their band, their love for Belgian and English beers, their desire to fully immerse themselves into any and all endeavors, and finally in their execution of the "split house" which is Forest and Main.

Things like creating vintages of beer through the use of locally foraged yeast, captured every year, act as a snapshot of their community. Forest and Main relies upon the community which surrounds its taproom to survive. They're in love with the romantic idea that they can supply their neighbors, family, and friends with this piece of the puzzle of their lives. As Dan put it during our chat, as much as the brewery was theirs as they planned, brewed, and built it, it has since become their community's. That's one lucky community.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Chad Yakobsen - Founder Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project

Gerard Olson & Daniel Endicott - Founders of Forest & Main Brewing Company