That Vermont Beer Guy: 2014

Mike Czok is the owner of Bent Hill Brewery located in Braintree, Vermont. Bent Hill is currently producing on a 1/2 barrel system, but Mike is looking to upgrade to a 2 barrel system by opening. The soft opening for the brewery is early May 2014. They plan to offer 22oz. bottles and growler fills at the brewery to start, but Mike plans to distribute to the community and restaurants once the paperwork and capital is available. Below is our conversation. Enjoy this first installment of Meet The Brewer Mondays.

When did you first start home brewing beer, if ever?

I first started home brewing back in 2011, I was a senior in college at the University of Maine, I started with a single 10 gallon kettle, doing my first all grain batch. I believe it was a centennial blonde. Which is similar to the Vienna Blonde that I brew today as one of my flag ship beers. It is funny to look back on the mess I used to make in my small college apartment kitchen, and how I always made the house host the smell of the grain and hops. It was a great first experience and I was sucked in.

When did you know you wanted to open a professional brewery?

I knew in the fall of 2012, I was coming into the winter of 2012/2013 and my first idea's started to take hold. I had some serious encouragement from my family and friends to go for it. I started designing the brewery, talking with people and attempted to start to get the idea out about what I had planned to do. This was was a huge task, being just turned 23 the idea of starting a business was enormous. But now we are here only a few months from opening.

Any idea when consumers will be able purchase your brews, bottles or growlers?

We will be exclusively selling 22oz bombers and growlers from the brewery for the first month or two from opening our doors. This is to allow sometime for us to do more local tastings, to showcase what is Bent Hill. The business plan from there will be to self distribute with the proper permitting to sell bombers to stores within 30 miles of the brewery. We plan to sell limited amounts of log kegs to local bars as well as possibly to a restaurant in Burlington that I have worked closely with since this project started taking shape.

Tell me a little bit about your business name, what made you decide on Bent Hill?

My business name represents exactly where I am, which is Bent Hill, in Braintree Vermont. When creating it I wanted it to be something simple that was a part of who I am. I spent a great amount of my childhood on Bent Hill in Braintree with my friends and family, and in the end these are the people who have contributed to my life thus far and I believe have given me motivation and support to continue my career in brewing. Its great, its something that when I walk into the brewery on the weekends it reminds me why I started this project and where I plan to bring it.

What styles of beer do you plan to sell?

I am currently into the artisanal style ales. I use a lot of natural herbs and spices in my brews to bring out slight flavor profiles that compliment the most important aspect of the beer which is the MALT. Malt is by far the most important choice in my brewing process, and what I care about the most when a consumer is drinking a Bent Hill brew. I like to use these natural ingredients to bring out a slight recognition of diverse flavoring into the beer, while making sure first and foremost that you actually taste the beer and not the additional ingredients through out the entirely. I love it, the places you can bring your beers is endless with this style, and its how I have really developed myself as a brewer.

With all that said our four flag ship beers that we will be offering in 22oz and growler sales will be:

- Bent Hill Vienna Blonde Ale

- Bent Hill India Pale Ale

- Bent Hill Coconut Porter

- Bent Hill Maple Irish Red Ale

If you could give one piece of advice to an up and comer, whether it be home brewer or professional, what would it be?

The one piece of advice I would give is READ. The knowledge that is available is unbelievable and endless. The best thing you can do is pick up a book about brewing every night and read it. I myself do not have the certificate of a Master Brewer however I do have a love and passion for learning. Its what drives me when creating a new recipe or even doing maintenance on equipment.

The next thing I will say is brew how you like doing it, every brewer does is different and not one way is 100% correct, its what makes all of these brewery's different. If you have found success doing it your way, do not be swayed by all kinds of outside opinions. I trust my instinct on lots of things when brewing, which just comes with time and a feel for being a part of the beer you are creating.

What is currently your favorite Vermont beer or brewery?

I love Steve Parks at Drop In Brewery in Middlebury. He has been kind of enough to sit down and speak with me, and has always been a resource. Their beer is top notch, and they have the knack for wanting to progress the industry further rather than looking to make a large stack of cash. I really like how that place is run, and they are a part of how my brewery is now.

Why are you running a kick starter campaign?

We are running this campaign to show the greater Vermont area what I am doing. I have spend close to the last two years of my time building this project. I have invested my own savings as well have obtained loans from outside sources to build our building and obtain half the equipment we need to run at full capacity.

I don't want people to feel like they are opening our business, we will open regardless. I want them to know that we are trying to create something different and special on Bent Hill and we want everyone to be a part of it. Its just as I know that everyone I have met thus far in my life has taken a part in this project whether it be big or small, they helped shaped it.

So we are seeking help for funding part of the last pieces of the puzzle we need which are some of brew kettles to allow us to run at full capacity. I have striven to make this a community concentric business that cares about the communities that don't have the options of these other great breweries in Vermont, and we will add to the list and will show case our talents and be successful.

This is my love, passion, and drive and I work on it every single day of the week and sometimes at night when I should be sleeping. It means more to us be able to showcase our talents then to just open another brewery, this is why we are putting on this campaign.

Lastly how can your fans reach you? FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, etc?

People can always reach out to me by email, cheers@benthillbrewery.com, or Facebook. I am around both quite a bit through out the day. We also do have a twitter that we courage people to follow for updates on our opening. We love hearing from anyone with questions.

Good Evening Fellow Beer Lovers!

Happy New Year to you all and I hope everyone had a safe and beer filled holiday season. It's cold up here in Vermont so I have been enjoying some of my home brewed Vanilla Coffee Porters, nicknamed Hazards Porter, to warm my belly and mind tonight. I have just returned from a fun filled week in Pittsburgh. I was able to try some new beers and even visit The Church Brew Works. If you haven't been there, and live within the area, I would highly recommend it. Check out my instagram tab to see some of the photos of from inside. This place is massive! Pictures can't display it's beauty. No wonder this place won the 2012 GABF Brew Pub of the year.

I sampled 8 beers (their flight) while at the Brew Works. 4 flagship beers and 4 seasonal beers.
- #1: Celestial Gold (German Pilsner, 4.1%)
- #2: Pipe Organ Pale Ale (English Pale Ale, 4.3%)
- #3: Pious Monk Dunkel (Dunkel Munich Lager, 4.3%)
- #4: Blast Furnace Stout (Oatmeal Stout, 4.8%)
- #5: Thunderhop IPA (American IPA, 8%)
- #6: Black & Brett (Stout, 7.6%)
- #7: Sleigh Wrecker (Winter Warmer, 7%)
- #8: Rye IPA (Rye IPA, ??)

That Vermont Beer Guy

Life Through Instagram

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Update:

Monday, March 31, 2014

Meet The Brewer Monday #1 - Mike Czok

Friday, February 21, 2014

Meet The Brewer Mondays

Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Church Brew Works