Five Questions with Brutalist Brewing Collective (Plus Beer Events)
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The beers from Brutalist Brewing Cooperative have been in the world for a couple of months now, and with today’s release of their newest beer - a farmhouse ale called High Rise - we thought we’d check in with BBC “Worker-Member” Damian Padilla to answer some questions about their structure as a co-op, if and when we all might be able to join as co-op members, and other pressing thoughts.
GDB: Can you explain how the worker-owned co-op structure works as it pertains to your project?
DP: Our Cooperative is filed in organization as a Limited Worker Cooperative Association, which means that our business was founded by and is comprised of Worker-Members whose various skill sets constitute a sweat-equity partnership in development.
Our team has commanded professional space in a number of disciplines for years, and we're proud to have brewers, designers, salespeople, and front-of-house experts in our membership.
Through our own set of internal practices and bylaws, all of our decision-making is 100% democratic between members and serves to further healthy cooperative growth over short-term gains or myopic investor return.
GDB: I know other breweries in the Midwest have used this model (Fair State, for instance), but what made you want to start this as a co-op - and are you doing anything structurally different than other co-ops?
DP: I can't speak for the operations of our cooperative contemporaries (other than to say that we love the beer!), but a key point of differentiation is that Brutalist is tackling our Cooperative development sans brick and mortar.
We've elected to launch through a lauded brewery incubator (Pilot Project) to utilize their infrastructure in market saturation and production, while keeping overhead low in delivering our brand identity to the public.
This tactic allows us to be "everywhere at once" to discuss the value of cooperative ownership, labor equity, and thoughtful consumption without being bogged down by the back end.
GDB: How does operating out of Pilot Project impact the co-op structure?
DP: Pilot Project's role in our growth is two-fold: not only are they our first "investor-members" (we'll open that opportunity up for others in the future), but they also help establish a pace of production and proof of concept with a healthy market presence in Chicagoland and the Great Lakes region.
GDB: With that in mind, do you intend to eventually move on from Pilot and move into a space that the co-op owns/runs itself?
DP: Absolutely! We're grateful for the platform that Pilot is allowing us, but we've got clear goals and dates by which we'd love to see Brutalist striking out on its own. Not only will that allow us to offer a greater depth of community engagement and benefit, but it'll give us more opportunity to experiment and test the waters with what people want.
To that point, we're targeting to open up the Cooperative to public membership at some point later this year (or early next, depending). For less than a Netflix subscription, we're looking to offer the benefits of being an active voice in how Brutalist grows and sets its roots, as well as all of the traditional perks (exclusive events, merch, discounts, etc.) We're excited to help folks connect the line between people and product!
Finally, since you are a co-op, does that cooperative spirit extend to things like recipe formulation and what beers you want to make?
Our recipe ideation is generally pretty rigorous! We discuss and discuss and discuss what we'd like to see and (perhaps more importantly) what we think people would like to see. Then we do a whole mess of research and back and forths, before we agree on a recipe to proceed with. Eventually, we'd like to open up small batch recipe development to our public members! But that'll be down the line.
Thanks to Damian for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. Learn more about Brutalist at their website and follow them on Instagram.
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This Friday / Starting Friday:
What, you mean you aren’t already on your way to get a High Rise from Brutalist at Friends of Friends as mentioned above?
Starting today at Stormcloud Brewing in Frankfort, MI: Alpaca Friday, most Fridays this summer. Go have a beer with a fluffy friend.
Beer On The Wall Elmhurst is hosting a Cocktail, Beer and Drag party for Pride Month and are hosting the founder of Catan Pisco if you’re down for a Chica Morada or two.
Saturday, June 28:
Beermiscuous Chicago turns 11 years old! They’ll be partying all day with a special anniversary beer, Japanese-style beer service, special tappings and a raffle and more.
You know who is also turning 11 years old? Hailstorm Brewing! They’re partying by releasing a couple different barrel-aged beers, pouring some slushie beers, and offering a special food menu.
You can also head to Brews at the Zoo at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Straight west of Chicagoland, you can also join the inaugural Tour de Coo, a 25 mile bike ride from Hairy Cow Brewing in Byron.
Sunday, June 29:
Somos Monos Cerveceria is hosting a “Libros Y Lager” book fair at their space at Whiner Beer in Back of the Yards from 1-4pm today.
Next Week:
In case I opt to not send an email on Friday the 4th (chances of that are very good!), you should know that The Beer Temple is partying with an outdoor bbq, prizes, a mystery cooler - and they’re putting an extra 20% surcharge on all British beer, which is very funny to me.
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