We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Clay Gridley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Clay below.

Clay, appreciate you joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Six Bridges Brewing is a local brewery and distillery with locations in Johns Creek & Milton, GA. As such, we welcome folks into our taprooms daily. It’s our job and our pleasure to educate & serve beer. One of the kindest things that someone can do for us is to celebrate a life-changing moment at the brewery because we are their home away from home. Trusting us to take care of them in that moment of celebration or grief is something that we do not take for granted. We have hosted birthdays, graduations, rehearsal dinners and celebrations of life. At one memorial, the entire group sang the Georgia Tech fight song in honor of their friend. It was particularly special for them to share that moment of remembrance with us. Our regulars also take great care of our bartenders and staff. One of our bartenders is graduating college soon, and the outpouring of love from our regulars was amazing. The kindness was directed towards her, but as a team we all felt their love and care.

Clay, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About 8 years ago, my father and I were both looking for a change of career. He was retiring after a lifetime in fiber optics. I was leaving the fire department. We had talked about opening a brewery for a long time and decided the time was now or never. We had home brewed together for several years, but there was a steep learning curve from home brewer to professional. Six Bridges focuses on small batch craft beer, particularly IPAs and lagers with the highest quality ingredients and quality control. Medlock Hazy IPA is named after one of our Six Bridges in Johns Creek. It connects us to our community and reminds why we do what we do every single day. In recent months, we have invested in new equipment to make our Craft Light Lager as clean & crisp as possible. We don’t want to take our equipment or recipes for granted, so it’s important to us that our team have the best tools to make the best beer at a great price. We are particularly proud of our team, both in production and in the taprooms. Our bartenders are the face of our organization. They give us constant feedback from our guests that we turn into action, including beer & event requests. They also host events on their own initiative like music bingo & trivia.
Our production team runs a tight ship, balancing needs between both locations. They take a lot of pride in quality control and efficiency so that our beer is always fresh, whether someone is enjoying a pint in the taproom or a 6-pack at home.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We have several ways to keep in touch with our customers on a daily and weekly basis. Daily: Instagram & Facebook
Weekly: Emails

We foster brand loyalty through a number of initiatives detailed below, but our primary focus is on their experience in the taproom. We want our spaces to feel like an extension of their homes and neighborhoods. Our bartenders do a great job creating connections with and between our guests.
Bridge Builder Mug Club: This is an annual membership with specific perks for members. Their best perk is an extra 4 oz every time they order a pint, but hey also get behind the scenes information and early access to beers.
Loyalty points: Guests can earn points redeemable in the taproom.
Community events: We actively support our guests involved in charitable organizations. Throughout the year, we support our local schools and retail neighbors with special events.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

We are a father-son business. As the son, I have known my co-founder my entire life! My wife and brother are also part of the business; she manages our second location, and he is one of our brewers. Meeting each other was the easy part. The challenge has been protecting those personal relationships while growing the business together. There is no one size fits all approach to working together, and the strategies are constantly involving. Aside from family and friends, our investors also include regulars that we met in the taproom. They have become trusted advisors and have helped grow our business with their encouragement and advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sixbridgesbrewing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sixbridgesbrewing/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/33262103/admin/dashboard/
• Other: Untappd: https://untappd.com/SixBridgesBrewing