Randy Fredericks, Jr. and Jeff Gude are the founders of Heavy Brewing
Over the past four years, I have had the opportunity to tell the stories of many Nebraska breweries on how they came to be. Every one of them has been fascinating to me to know the amount of work that goes into starting a brewery. The one thing I have never done is to follow the startup of a brewery in each of the key phases of the inception, buildout, and opening.
The Heavy Brewing logo lit up nicely
This past summer, I met Jeff Gude and Randy Fredericks, Jr. at an event where they were pouring samples of their beer. The two of them had this enthusiastic energy that everyone loved! With every pour of one of their brews or craft seltzers, the crowd grew even more curious about the guys with the monkey logo!
I had remembered seeing the logo on a post on Facebook but didn’t know anything about them. I introduced myself to Jeff, and he knew about my blog site. Jeff and Randy were very busy that day, but we briefly chatted about meeting sometime soon. I was very excited to learn more about where they were at in getting the brewery started. It seemed that they were pretty far along in their journey, judging by how good their beer was!
One of the many great IPAs from Heavy Brewing
Jeff and Randy told me that they were in the inception phase of the brewery. I told them that it would be fun to do a series of blogs showing what it takes to go from concept to opening the brewery. They liked the idea and since then we have had several conversations. So let’s talk about how the idea of Heavy Brewing came to be!
The Aha Moment
Jeff and Randy have been friends for over twenty years. They have had many common interests over the years, but one day at Brix would add an everlasting one! It was all about an IPA from Deschutes Brewery called Chasin’ Freshies. This fresh-hopped IPA caught their attention of what craft beer was all about.
During the same time, Randy was traveling for work to Chicago regularly. It was in Chicago that he started to enjoy Hazy IPAs. Each trip, Randy would bring back several beers to the point that the cost of the beer was noticeable, especially to his wife. Randy and Jeff discussed the possibility of learning how to brew beer. Brewing was the type of challenge that would be fun in the learning process and the possibility of producing something you could enjoy!
The early days of homebrewing were about IPAs. The guys were having a blast learning how to create the hazy IPAs! With each batch, it was dialing in the recipes and enjoying the outcome. It is one thing to enjoy your beer, but what would others think of it? Sometimes it is hard to have close friends give you that honest opinion you are looking for, so the guys decided that they should enter some homebrewing contests to get an honest opinion about their beer. There was a competition in Minnesota that caught their eye, and they were excited to register. There was one big problem that held them back, Covid. It was a terrible time for a pandemic to hit, but what could you do.
A shift in plans would take place to solicit feedback on their beer still. Jeff and Randy came out with the concept of doing Brewouts. A Brewout is an event where you can share some samples of your beer. It is a perfect opportunity to get feedback from people in the community. Randy built this excellent cabinet for the events that started with six taps but it would grow a bit over time. The very first Brewout was very IPA-focused. The people at the event enjoyed them but wanted a wider variety of beer. This was great feedback to take forward to additional events.
Each event continued the positive momentum forward of new crowds enjoying the beer. The thought of launching a brewery was not just a dream, it was becoming a reality with all the support! By the fourth and last Brewout at Spikers in Gretna, it was clear to the people who attended, Heavy Brewing is ready to launch! I was at the event and got to hear firsthand all the comments on the wide selection of craft beer. There was a Peanut Butter Stout, Pumpkin Ale, Oktoberfest, Cream Ale, Witbier, West Coast IPA, NE IPA, and a tasty Prickly Pear Seltzer.
Was there an exact Aha Moment? If I were to take a guess, it was the first beer poured at the first Brewout!
The Heavy Brewing logo wear is definitely eye catching!
The Name
One of the most daunting tasks has to be coming up with a name that no one else has. The name reflects your brand, so it also has to have a deep meaning to yourself and those you serve.
Heavy Brewing expresses the early beers that they guys had brewed. The first few batches seemed to be low on the ABV (alcohol by volume) side. The beers were coming in at around 3 to 4%, so they kept adding more grain to the point they had 19 pounds in one 5-gallon batch.
The ABV came up some, but not to what they expected. The odd part was that they felt the effects of drinking it after only having small amounts of the beer. What could be the reason behind this?
Beer geek speak time! When measuring the gravity of the beer, there is the original and final gravity. There are two standard tools: a refractometer and a hydrometer. For the original gravity, you can use a refractometer. The refractometer works well since there is no alcohol yet. Holding the wort (unfermented liquid) up to light gives a pretty accurate reading. For fermented wort, the alcohol alters the refractive index of the beer since light cannot come through as well. There is a specific calculation needed to come up with the true gravity.
The guys said they were initially using the refractometer for both original and final readings. However, for the last measurement, they weren’t applying the calculation. Thus the ABV was much higher than he thought it was. The original beers were coming in between 9 to 13%. They all were heavier in alcohol than expected which provided the appropriate name of Heavy Brewing.
The Logo
Regarding the monkey head, one of the first beers that Randy and Jeff brewed was called Monkey Munch. It is another name for that sweet treat called puppy chow. The guys had a few friends over to try some of their beer. During the sampling, with a chalkboard in hand, it was time for Jeff to have fun drawing images for each beer. A few creative chalk renditions closely represent the logo that came to be. Jeff and Randy liked it, and it went well with Heavy Brewing, so Heavy the Monkey was born!
The Business Plan
Over the past couple of years, Jeff and Randy have spent a tremendous amount of time on the business plan. This is a new venture for them trying to establish their first business. Together, they have incredible ideas for the beer and seltzers and a vision of what the brewery could be. One thing that was missing though was the knowledge of how to launch a new business. Jeff’s father-in-law has owned multiple companies and would be very instrumental in helping to get the business plan put together.
Creating your business plan can be a daunting task. Do I want to serve beer just from my taproom or distribute it also? Do I want to serve food? If so, what will I need for a kitchen? Then there is the financing aspect. Can I find funding on my own? Should I consider angel investors? What opportunities are out there for small business loans? Researching all of the options and understanding the pros and cons of each of them can be overwhelming.
One of the most important if not the most critical parts of the plan to be successful is finding a good location. Jeff and Randy spent a great deal of time researching the Omaha area and mapping out the current breweries. The desired location ideally would be an area that needed a social gathering place. In addition to that, the population required to support a brewery would be essential, and a nice bonus would be an area that was growing.
The search took some time, but the home for Heavy Brewing would be Gretna, Nebraska. Gretna was the right location that would fit their vision of a family-friendly space that could provide the community with a social gathering place.
The next challenge would be finding a building that could support their vision of an open floor plan. A courtyard with room for families to enjoy games during a beautiful day is essential for the outdoor space. Last but not least, would be having enough parking at the brewery.
The Craft Beer Community
There are so many factors that come into play when launching a brewery. What is the right equipment setup? What are the best places for buying malt, hops, etc.? One thing about the Nebraska craft beer community is the openness to help others out.
Jeff and Randy appreciate all the mentorships from the local breweries including:
Site-1 Brewing
Kros Strain Brewing
Jukes Ale Works
Vis Major
The time that they got to spend with the other breweries was priceless in the help it has provided!
Taking down this sign will be memorable day!
The stage is now set! The building for the brewery has been secured. How exciting it must be to take that For Rent sign down knowing you are the new tenants!
Stay tuned to follow along with how the buildout phase transforms this current building in Gretna, Nebraska into a brewery! Time will go by fast, and I know we are all looking forward to the summer of 2022 when Heavy Brewing opens!
Cheers!