58 - Mike Foniok

Like many craft brewers this week’s guest, Mike Foniok, started out homebrewing. But as we discuss, Mike’s approach to homebrewing was on a whole other level, including microscopes and a yeast lab, making him incredibly well prepared as a Founder and Brewer at Establishment Brewing.

"Ever since I touched homebrew equipment I was like ‘Man it'd be sweet to have a brewery right?' Little did I know how much it actually is!"

Mike’s foray into homebrewing began more than a decade ago with his now-business-partner Brandon. They had gotten involved with local homebrew club The Cowtown Yeast Wranglers in pursuit of likeminded people to exchange ideas with, and Mike later became a certified beer judge.

Under Establishment Brewing one of their core values has been preserving the passion and the fun around brewing, which is a challenge for many entrepreneurs turning their hobby into a business both in and outside of the craft beer industry. Mike and his partners achieve this in large part by basically brewing whatever they want, which he says is hugely rewarding.

Brewing whatever they want is a big driver behind their barrel program, which includes more than 70 barrels for barrel aged beers such as sour beers. We talk a bit about how barrel aging beer can be scary and how there is a lot of risk involved. Mike shares a common analogy from one of his business partners, that barrel aged beer is a lot like a shopping cart with a broken wheel - you sort of know where it is going, and you know where you want it to go, but it still has a mind of its own.

“I’m not the boss, the yeast is the boss!"

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Mike Foniok - Establishment Brewing: website | twitter | instagram | facebook