GRABBING A BEER WITH MASTER BREWER TODD DiMATTEO
The word is OUT and the word is GOOD on Good Word Brewing (and Public House). We grabbed a beer with master brewer and owner Todd DiMatteo to chat about their “crowlers” and what makes their beers so unique!
TELL ME WHY YOU DECIDED TO JUMP INTO THE “BEER-TO-GO” INDUSTRY.
We are a brewpub, meaning we have a brewery as well as a full-service restaurant. Offering beer in “crowlers” (can version of growlers) was something we have done since the beginning. We fill draft beer straight from the tap into a can and then seam the lid. Beer this way is exposed to oxygen so it’s not meant to be kept for very long; I recommend consuming it in less than a week, and best within 48 hours. We aren’t able to crowler many cans in a day, so it’s very limited, as the process is laborious.
SOOOOOO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF BEING ABLE TO SIP A GOOD WORD BREW FROM HOME AND HAVING IT LAST LONGER THAN TWO DAYS?
We recently had a mobile canning line come in and can several batches of beer. They canned Die Todd Die (5 percent pilsner) and Never Sleep (7 percent hazy IPA). In about five hours they were able to can 140 cases of Die Todd Die and 80 cases of Never Sleep. We plan on canning with the mobile canner again very soon (watch our social media for a release date!), and we have new beers that will be canned including Anna Fantastic, Moose Traxxx!, The Universe Says, SleepWalker and Face For Radio. Hopefully we will have our own canning line at some point, which would add a lot more flexibility.
WHY CANS INSTEAD OF BOTTLES?
Cans are what I typically drink; no glass breakage of course, and canned options are growing in popularity.
THE NAMES OF YOUR BEERS ARE FUN AND MANY HAVE A PERSONAL CONNECTION; HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR BEER NAMES?
I dunno. I’m a songwriter, so lyrical things are what I’m into—they just come, you know? My partner
Ryan named Anna Fantastic (it’s one of my favorites.) Come to find out, she’s a real person. Prince (the famous Purple one, not from a fairy tale) gave her that name, and we tagged her recently in a post and she reached out to us. Once we realized who she was, we were like ‘Oh this is neat!’ Hopefully she lets us continue to use the name. It was a happy accident.
ANYTHING NEW FOR AUTUMN THAT WE CAN ANTICIPATE BEING A PERFECT BREW FOR FALL LEAVES AND FOOTBALL WATCHING WEATHER?
Sure, we have some events coming up at Good Word! We will also be showing all the Georgia games, Falcons games and we always show Atlanta United! While we aren’t necessarily a sports bar, we are a bar that enjoys sports. We hide the TVs once the games are over so we don’t disturb your dinner (unless the game is on late).
CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 7th: Next Breakfast Club
September 21st: Good Word Oktoberfest
October 5th: Duluth Beer and Wine Fest
November 23rd: 2nd Anniversary