We recently connected with Kellan Bartosch and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kellan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

WISEACRE was zigging when others were zagging back when we opened in 2013. At the time and still somewhat today, craft beer has been defined by big beers – IPAs, Barleywine’s, Stouts, etc – but WISEACRE’s first beer was a 129 calorie light lager in Tiny Bomb Pilsner. These days more craft brewers are making the harder to execute styles of lagers, but making it our calling card from the start has differentiated us. We still make all different kinds of beer, but Tiny Bomb has gone on to win a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival, become the best selling TN made craft beer, and is the #4 Craft Pilsner in the country.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My brother started homebrewing in college which led to him going to brewing school in Chicago and Germany. Somewhere in there, we decided we’d open a brewery one day so I went the other direction going to grad school for business, working for a beer distributor, and working for an established craft brewery out West. When we opened the two of us had been working in our industry for 6+ years and my brother had won acclaim in the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. We also both had great mentors and bosses. We weren’t learning on the fly and that experience was critical to give us a strong start.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For the first couple years, our industry was going through somewhat of a boom which was definitely a part of our growth. While we have grown double digits every year we have been able to (at capacity for a few years and then that whole pandemic thing), our industry began hitting some headwinds a few years ago. Because of that, we used a distiller’s permit we have to launch a new brand of spirit based canned drinks called The Set Up where we feature Vodka, Tequila, Gin, and Whiskey based canned drinks. My brother’s wife doesn’t like beer and it’s definitely not for everyone. It’s a new category that we are still learning about, but it’s been a great addition to our business.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I worked for a beer distributor in another city, one store I serviced had a pitbull named Carlito who used the beer stock room as a toilet. During an in store argument over a game of dominoes, the store owner confronted the customers and got Carlito riled up ready to attack anyone in the store. I called my brother and said “let’s get this show on the road!” It took another 3 years before WISEACRE opened up, but those experiences shaped us in important ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wiseacrebrew.com/
• Instagram: wiseacrebrewingcompany
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WiseacreBrewingCompany/
• Twitter: wiseacrebrew