Interview Questions

John Savard

Background and Biography’s:

Wilmington Homebrew Supply is owned and operated by John and Michelle Savard. They are Wilmington natives that have fallen in love with the craft beer and wine culture. They both went to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The unexpected education that came from living in Asheville was the knowledge gained by being surrounded by professional breweries and home brewers. Quickly they began to brew beer and wine for themselves. Living in Asheville, which has been awarded, “Beer City USA” inspired their passion for home brewing and teaching how to home brew to all of their family and friends.

            They once took a trip to Europe touring many different breweries in 7 different countries. One of their favorite experiences was touring the Cantilion Brewery in Belgium and meeting the head brewer. They also took a private tour in a German regional brewery named Farny.

            At this time, John decided he wanted to be a professional brewer. He started working at a packaging brewery in Asheville, but quickly figured out he wanted to brew more varieties than a professional was capable. While working at the brewery, he had an opportunity arise that led to a great opportunity for both John and Michelle.

            John was offered a job at the local homebrew supply store in Asheville, which is one of the best homebrew supply stores on the east coast. He was working and learning about the industry as fast as he could. He gained a great deal of knowledge about home brewing and what was important in order to succeed as a homebrew shop.

            John graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a degree in Business Administration and Michelle with a degree in Mass Communication, but most importantly a passion for brewing.

            They moved back to their home in Wilmington and opened up their dream: Wilmington Homebrew Supply. The home brewing community in the Wilmington area is one of a kind, and they offer all levels of brewers the very best supplies. Now John and Michelle are in the final few months of opening Wilmington Brewing Company.  

1. What is your favorite type of beer and why?

2. When did you know you wanted to open up a brewery?

3. How difficult was it for you to secure this location?

4. What do you find the most difficult about opening up a brewery in today’s society?

5. What are the biggest struggles you have had to overcome through the process?

6. How vital has community support been to you in opening this brewery?

7. Why do you believe so many people are willing to support you in opening this brewery?

8. How important is a college presence to you for your brewery?

9. What is your relationship with Mike Barlas?

9. How are you managing your current business as well as focusing on opening a brewery?

10. Why do you feel microbreweries are important in a city?

Michelle Savard

1. What is your favorite type of beer and why?

2. How did you and John meet?

3. How long have you owned the old brewery?

4. What made you want to open up a brewery when you already had a store?

5. What have been the most struggles in opening a business?

6. How important has a community effort been in your success so far with the brewery?

7. How have you managed keeping your current store open, while trying to open the new brewery?

8. What has surprised you about the difficulty in opening a business in Wilmington?

9. Why should people support microbreweries?

10. Was the college university an important factor in deciding on the location of the brewery?

History & Growth of Craft Breweries

Below are articles I've found about the history and evolution of craft beers in the United States. I went ahead and highlighted some of the key quotes from each article so that you can understand the basics!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101124259

“The Brewers Association reported mid-year 2013 growth of 15 percent in dollar sales and 13 percent in volume for craft beer. If these trends hold up, it will mark the fourth-straight year of double-digit growth.”

“There are breweries opening somewhere in America every day, and to me that's good," he said. "Competition makes you strive to improve everything you do and to innovate and push the envelope to make better beer. I think that's a great thing.”

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/nanobrewing-does-size-matter/

“This generation tends to seek out ways of personal expression and creativity,” he said, “and, people are looking to do things more locally in terms of beer, and you can’t get any more local than brewing at home.”

“Nanobrewing on this scale is just one step up from homebrewing.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/21/craft-beer-movement-comes-to-a-head/2847217/

“There is a craft beer movement afoot, one that cultivates a culture of independence and — at least for now — a spirit of bearded idealism.”

“Today, there are more breweries in the United States than at any point in the country's history. And this year, more than 1,600 are in the planning stages.”

“Through the first half of this year, American craft brewers accounted for about 6 percent of the beer produced in the United States, according to a recent report by the Brewers Association, a not-for-profit organization representing much of the U.S. beer industry.”

“Currently, more than 2,500 breweries are operating in the U.S., the most since 2,011 were recorded in 1887. All but about 100 of those are craft brewers.”

“The number of breweries hit a low point — fewer than 100 — in 1980 before seeing a steady rise, with a sharp increase from 1990 to 2000 when more than 1,000 breweries were operating.”

“The craft industry is a unique collection of entrepreneurs who are competing but embrace a collective effort.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/craft-beer-breweries_n_2287906.html

-Photo showing history and beginning of microbrewery’s

http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/about-us/history-of-craft-brewing

“Up until the early-1980s the popular image of beer in America was simply that of a mass-produced commodity with little or no character, tradition or culture worth mentioning.”

“The 1980s marked the decade of the microbrewing pioneers. In a time when industry experts flat out refused to recognize their existence as anything serious, the pioneering companies emerged with their passion and a vision, serving their local communities a taste of full flavored beer and old world European traditions; all with what was to become a uniquely American character.”

“The number of craft brewers has gone from 8 in 1980 to 537 in 1994 to over 2300 in 2012.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tRJ3o0QnDeU

-Video about small brewerys

http://www.californiacraftbeer.com/the-history-of-craft-beer-in-california/

“From those humble beginnings, small California breweries continued to open, first concentrated in the north and then spreading throughout the state. Today there are over 400 breweries in the state.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-27/four-milestones-made-u-s-the-world-s-craft-beer-champ.html

“The Brewers Association, the main trade group for U.S. beer-makers, announced June 20 that the number of American breweries had surpassed 2,500, more than at any time since at least the 1880s and more than in any other nation.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/craft-beer-breweries_n_2287906.html

-See video at the bottom which explains what a Craft Brewery is.