Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eddie Gutierrez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Eddie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Downshift Brewing Company has our definition of downshift painted on a wall in both of our taprooms.

Downshift – A change in course or perspective. Choosing to celebrate the beauty and brevity of life and embracing the things that make it great

This captures how changes in our lives and our perspective has led us to moving back to our hometown and starting the brewery. We try to incorporate this definition in all that we do. Life is to short not to enjoy the best that it has to offer and we want to create beverages, food, events, and spaces that reflect this. In sharing this philosophy with our community, it is incredible to see how many people share our outlook.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Like many in the craft brewing industry, I started out as a homebrewer. In college, I took a beer brewing coarse and the final for the class was to make a batch of beer. Luckily we weren’t graded on the quality of the product! Despite starting with less than desirable results, I continued to brew at home throughout college and during my years as a design engineer. I eventually could not deny that my passion was in brewing beer and became a professional brewer and eventually became the head brewer and production manager for one of the largest craft breweries in the nation. Throughout that journey, i honed my skills and found my own voice and style of brewing beer. After 8 years, I decided it was time to start my own brewery!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

In one phrase, “Go an inch wide and a mile deep”. This is especially true in the craft beer industry. With rising cost of goods, shipping, and other logistical challenges, do not go outside of your backyard until you have fully saturated the market. If you are unable to make reasonable gains in your local area, your ability to do so in further markets will be near impossible or come at a lower profit margin or even a loss.

Once you have gained the momentum in your home market, it is safer to expand into additional territories.

Any advice for managing a team?

Treat your team with respect before you expect to be respected. As an employer, if you consider it your responsibility to take care of the people who work for you, the vast majority of your employees will recognize and appreciate that, and work to take care of your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.downshift.beer
• Instagram: @downshiftbrewingco