We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Garrett Hickey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Garrett, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

There is no such thing as a gimmicky beer; if we believe in what we’re doing and strive to make a well-made and delicious beer, then gimmicks have nothing to do with what we’re making. People don’t consider a honey pistachio latte a gimmick; they enjoy the drink. Why do people think of a honey pistachio stout as a gimmick? It’s a mental hurdle the industry needs to get past.

Garrett, 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?

I started as most people my age do, as a homebrewer. I started homebrewing shortly after college to kill time during the offseason (I was an account executive for a minor league baseball team). From there, I approached my parents, who had always dreamed of opening a bar in our neighborhood in Cincinnati, about opening a family-owned brewery with me as the head brewer. I left my job at the baseball team six months later and moved home. I worked as a barback and volunteered at a local brewery while I looked for brewing schools that I could attend to learn the finer points of the brewing process. I chose BrewLab in Sunderland, England, which offered both practical and theoretical brewing; I jumped at the chance and spent roughly six months abroad learning about brewing and exploring Western Europe. I moved back home to Cincinnati after school and started a job as a brewer at a now-defunct brewery; when Streetside got closer to the opening I moved on and bartender at a friend’s bar for a few months to try and round out my education. We opened Streetside shortly after and have been in business since 2016. We’ve achieved things I never could have dreamed of when we first opened from winning an award for a beer before we’d even officially opened our doors, to winning silver at World Beer Cup for a beer that I brewed in honor of my time in Sunderland. As we enter our 8th year in business we continue to strive to create great beer and a great environment for our patrons.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Making the best beer we can, I’ve been lucky to learn from some great brewers and have significant assets in the brewing community that I can ask questions when needed. I think it’s essential for any small business owner to have a group of people they can turn to when needed, whether that’s a question about business or asking for advice on a wide array of issues.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Just as everyone did, we had to make a hard pivot during COVID. We went from a business whose entire lifeblood was people being in our taproom to being a packaging-based brewery, and we had to move the product we had made as best we could. Luckily, we have great salespeople who helped immensely in getting our beer into stores, and our customers, who would typically come in and have a pint, would come in and grab a four-pack. One of the most illuminating things about COVID, though, was it showed us people’s desire to be outside when the weather is nice is extremely strong. Because of COVID, we expanded our patio by 150%, which has helped the summer business immensely.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.streetsidebrewery.com
• Instagram: streetsidebrewery
• Facebook: Streetside Brewery
• Twitter: streetsidebrew

Image Credits
Andy Sohoza