EPISODE S.4, E.14

Heather (00:09):
Welcome back to another episode of the Brew Deck Podcast. I am your host today, Heather Jared, and I am joined by my lovely friend, Cheyenne [inaudible 00:38:48]. Hi, Cheyenne.

Cheyenne (00:18):
Hey. How’s it going?

Heather (00:20):
Doing pretty good. And I am super excited about today’s episode, because it is Pride Month and it is our second annual Pride episode. So Happy Pride, everyone. A couple things about Pride Month being Celebrated in June to honor the Stonewall Uprising from 1969, which happened at the Stonewall Inn New York City. Toby and myself talked a lot about this last year in our last Pride episode, which was called Liquid Pride with a Purpose, season three, episode 10. So go get back and give a listen to that. We talked to some amazing brewers from across North America doing some really, really cool Pride beers.

Cheyenne (00:55):
I actually just went back and re-listened to that one and it is such a good episode, so highly recommend.

Heather (01:00):
It was one of my favorite episodes we did last year. So yeah, definitely go back and give that a listen.

Cheyenne (01:05):
Yeah, for sure. We also wanted to share some resources with our listeners while we’re here. The Brewers Association has an article titled The Craft Brewers Guide to Cultural Observances Observing Pride Month. This has a lot of fantastic resources about how to safely and respectfully observe Pride Month at your business. So go ahead and check that out. If you’re interested, we’ve linked the article in our episode description. I also want to give a shout-out to the authors of that article, Rachel Engel of Bosque Brew Works, and Jodi Valenta of Pure Madness Brewery Group. So thank you so much for the work that you put in the article. I personally know Rachel from the brewing industry in Washington. She’s awesome and she makes fantastic beer. So if you’re in Washington, go check out Bosque Brew Works. She makes a great Schwartz beer.

Heather (01:48):
Oh, that’s amazing. And yeah, that article is fantastic and has a lot of really, really great information and resources in it. In this year’s Pride episode, we’re very lucky to be speaking with the folks over at Necromancer Brewing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about how they are going to be celebrating Pride, but more importantly, we’re going to talk about how they’ve created a safe and inclusive space for their employees and patrons all year round. So without further ado, let’s jump in.

(02:15)
And we are very lucky now to be joined by Lauren Hughes, who is the head brewer, and Nina Santiago, who is the lead brewer from Necromancer Brewing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Welcome, Lauren and Nina.

Nina (02:27):
Thank you.

Lauren (02:27):
Thanks for having us.

Heather (02:30):
So this is round two for us. We’ve got a lot going on at the brewery, and we did try to do this recording before, but putting in a new brewhouse and doing an expansion just puts a little background noise. So we still hear a little bit going on, but that’s really, really exciting. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on at the brewery right now?

Lauren (02:48):
Yeah. So we brewed our first batch in our new expanded system today. We’re going to more than double our capacity, which is pretty awesome. And then we’re expanding our tap room quite a bit. I think everyone’s pretty excited. We’re hoping to open the tap room, I think, Wednesday.

Heather (03:09):
Oh, awesome.

Lauren (03:09):
And then get a couple more beers in the tanks, hopefully before then.

Heather (03:13):
Oh, that’s awesome. Before we dive into talking all things Pride, because it is Pride Month, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves, how you got into the brewing industry, and a little bit about Necromancer itself?

Lauren (03:26):
Sure. I’m Lauren. I’m the head brewer at Necromancer. I’ve been brewing professionally for about eight years, and before that, I home brewed a ton. I’ve worked in quite a few breweries, doing various roles, a ton of breweries in Pittsburgh, and then I held brewing positions at Rock Bottom and [inaudible 00:03:50] when I was there [inaudible 00:03:51] and then got ahold of me through Necromancer, and things took off, and that’s where we’re at now.

Nina (03:57):
Hi, everyone. My name is Nina. I’m the lead brewer here. And I’m newer to the industry, about a little over two years in. I come from a retail management background. And during COVID, just like everyone else, I had a crossroads moment where I wanted to get something different in my life. So I got into craft beer through the Trace Vocational Program. I used to home brew and make wine and cider with my wife and her family, so that’s what sparked the passion. And through the vocational program at Trace, which helps a lot of underrepresented minority groups, women, queer folks, get into the industry, I gained some experience, got an interview with Necromancer, and now I’ve been part of the team for about a year and a half or so now, and I haven’t looked back. I’m really enjoying my experience, and it’s a great team and a great place to work.

Heather (04:55):
Sorry, you said Trace Program?

Nina (04:58):
Yeah. So Trace Brewing is located over in Bloomfield. It’s one of the neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. And they’re also newer to the area. And what they brought with them was the foresight and mission to help minority and underrepresented groups break into a predominantly cis white male industry. So it’s a six-month month program. It’s paid. And they give you lots of hands-on experience under their head brewer, Zach. And it was honestly a great experience for me to get more of the hands-on training with CIP, the ins and outs of a brew system, cleaning lines.

(05:42)
And the way they teach it, it’s very much, from my experience, there’s no such thing as a dumb question. They’re here to teach and share their wealth of knowledge and help people break into the industry. And that was something I was always worried about, as a queer Latina, how do I get into this industry? Are people going to just look at me and be like, “Ah, you don’t know anything about beer?” So it really helped not only boost my confidence, but boost my knowledge and my skillset and my tool belt and get a job in the industry. And now I built a lifelong family, a network of resources and friends. So I recommend to anyone in the area who is wanting to break into the industry but doesn’t know how, to definitely apply for their program. It is worth it.

Heather (06:28):
Oh, that’s awesome. How do you apply for that? And do you have to be in the Pittsburgh area, obviously? I couldn’t apply for it.

Nina (06:36):
So they have an application on their website. So if you go to their homepage on top, there’s a tab that says “vocational program,” and it gives you all of the ins and outs of what you have to do. And they pick two students a year. I don’t know necessarily if it’s a requirement you have to live in Pittsburgh, but I would see it as hard if you didn’t.

Heather (06:57):
Mm-hmm. Well, that’s great. Just a nice crash course in brewing.

Adam (07:04):
Obviously, it’s worked out well for you guys. I’ve noticed that at the most recent World Cup, you guys picked up a bronze medal for your extra special bitter, Can of Worms. Tell us a little bit about how that beer came about, and just how awesome it was to actually be recognized.

Lauren (07:24):
That beer came about because we like British beers. Ben, the owner, is a big fan of British beers. I’m a big fan of British beers. One of the breweries I worked at, Sun King, had a house beer for a while that was an ESB, and so we decided to make one. I think that was the fourth iteration of that beer. I think all four times, it did pretty well at competition and we just tweaked it a little bit, and I was totally surprised that it won. I think we’re really excited. It’s been hard to let it settle in with all the busyness around the brewery, but we have an awesome team and everybody tries to do the best they can. And it was just really awesome to be recognized for the beer that we make.

Adam (08:15):
That’s amazing. And I mean, I’m a huge, huge fan of English ales as well, so anytime… you don’t see them as… They’re not as prolific as all the IPAs that are out on the market. So it’s nice to see something like that being recognized the way that it should be.

Lauren (08:28):
Thanks so much.

Heather (08:29):
And such a great name. I love it.

Adam (08:31):
Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

Nina (08:32):
Yeah.

Lauren (08:33):
I wish that Nina and I had had any influence in that name. That was all the marketing folks.

Heather (08:40):
Well, we talked a little bit about this last time about your marketing and about your branding in general, and just… It’s awesome. Anybody listening, go check it out. Your branding is just ridiculous. And that comes from the owner, you said? They have a marketing background?

Lauren (08:58):
Yeah. So Ben, who’s the founder of Necromancer, also is the founder of Top Hat, which is a marketing firm who represents a lot of your brands, most notably, Rubens Brews out in Seattle and Iron City here in Pittsburgh, which is a huge brewery. And they do a great job. I’m happy because I would’ve just named it ESB. I’m not really great at naming beers. And I’m not great at putting artwork in there. They’re really great at doing all of those things so that I don’t have to worry about it. And they’ve won a couple of awards on their side, which is really cool to see. And yeah, I love it. They do an amazing job.

Heather (09:39):
Let’s jump to talk about the Even Gayer Beer, which, A, great name, B, amazing branding. And you dropped that beer about a month ago and it completely sold out. So can you tell me a bit about that beer, tell me a bit about the merch and all the stuff that’s going on with that?

Lauren (09:57):
Yeah. That beer came about… I think it was a team effort. We had seen everything that had happened with Bud Light, and I had actually gone to Ben and I was like, “We need to do something to say that we align with this.” And he was like, “Okay, but let’s do it in our own way.” And at the same time, the team really wanted the marketing and the branding of specifically the beer labels and such to represent who we are and what we’re made of and the makeup of the team. And through all this, Even Gayer happened, and it was amazing. It’s an American light lager. We actually just packaged the second go around for Pride, which we’re excited to release. It drops on Thursday. And yeah. I was blown away by the response. It’s sold out. The cans sold out, I think in an hour of releasing the beer. And it’s just been a hit. It’s great to see the positive.

Heather (11:04):
Yes.

Lauren (11:07):
And there’s also been a lot of negative talk, which is fine. [inaudible 00:11:12]-

Heather (11:09):
I mean, it’s not.

Lauren (11:09):
It’s not, yeah.

Heather (11:09):
It’s not fine.

Lauren (11:15):
It’s not fine. But I try not to dwell on the negative so much. To be honest, I was completely blown away by the negative. I didn’t know that we would be getting blown up like that on Facebook. I never look at our Facebook because no one follows us on Facebook. And then all of a sudden, I just happened to look on there and there’s 2000 comments and I’m like, “2000 comments?”

Heather (11:40):
2000 people still use Facebook?

Lauren (11:42):
Apparently.

Heather (11:43):
Shocking.

Nina (11:43):
[inaudible 00:11:48].

Lauren (11:48):
I mean, that’s the thing. It was weird. But the positive feedback, it’s been great. I’m excited to release it again. I’m just proud of our team and proud of everybody coming together to make the beer, and super proud of the marketing side to say, “Yeah, let’s do this. We don’t care.”

Heather (12:12):
I love that.

Adam (12:12):
That’s awesome.

Lauren (12:13):
“This is who we are and this is what we stand for.” And if we’re going to walk the walk, it’s good to talk the talk, I guess, for lack of a better phrase. But no, we’re completely pumped about it. We’re really grateful that folks see it and it gives more people a reason to come to Necromancer and know that we accept everybody here and we’re not going to… It’s a place where everybody’s safe, everybody’s welcome, and we can all have a good time. So I’m pretty pumped about it.

Heather (12:45):
I love that.

Lauren (12:47):
That’s pretty awesome.

Heather (12:47):
And we talked… So we said you made merch for it that says Even Gayer Beer. You can check this all out on Necromancer’s website. I highly recommend it. But proceeds from the merch went to Gay for Good Pittsburgh. Can you tell me a little bit about that program?

Nina (13:03):
So Gay for Good is the local Pittsburgh chapter. It’s a service based organization. And honestly, they help with so many facets with the local community, whether it’s service projects, volunteering, donation drives, even raising supplies for animal shelters. They try to bridge the gap between the queer community and the local community to show, “Hey, we’re here. We’re helpful. We’re not this scary group of people who are trying to indoctrinate children. We are here to help and show you that we are human, and we want to help everyone else.”

(13:43)
They feel like everyone deserves that love and respect. So they go out into the community. Community gardens, mental health crises. They just do a lot of great things for the local community. So it was an easy choice to pick them to have all the proceeds from the merch and the beer go to them, [inaudible 00:14:04] organization because they have such a huge impact and footprint on the Pittsburgh community. So like I said, it was a no-brainer to pick them to receive those benefits from what we were doing. And it just again, aligns with our values, our mission, and what we’re about.

Adam (14:20):
I guess that leads me into my next question here. You guys are very involved in community. And you’ve got your Necromancer Pride Fest ’23 coming up, and proceeds are benefiting another foundation, the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation. Can you tell us a little bit about this one as well?

Nina (14:43):
Yeah. So the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, again, another great organization that we can’t stop talking about. But they do a lot with health and wellness. So a lot of the money that they get, they use in these critical care services where they provide shelter in case of emergencies, they provide food in case of a crisis for people who can’t afford food, or mental health services, testing, advocacy. They take it the whole approach and have people on call. If you call the line and need anything, basically it will put you in contact with someone who can help you.

(15:20)
And again, it’s specifically for the queer community of Pittsburgh. And it is really awesome to see that that is where the money goes. It has a direct impact on the community that we serve and that we stand behind and we’re part of, because there are a lot of times where someone is in a mental health crisis or contemplating suicide, and they just need someone there to help walk them through it, to get through it and show them the services and that they’re loved and that they’re cared for. And these organizations, that’s what they do. So again, it is an easy pick to want to benefit those organizations and help them so they can better help directly the community that is here in Pittsburgh.

Adam (15:59):
Not a question, just more of a statement really. I know how busy breweries are. Heather and I are in them almost on a daily basis with our jobs, and we know how hard you guys work as brewers. And the fact that you’re able to find the time and the energy to do all the stuff above and beyond just making beer is absolutely upstanding. And hats off to you. Thanks.

Heather (16:26):
It’s absolutely inspiring. You’re amazing.

Nina (16:30):
Thanks. That means a lot to us, because it definitely is a lot of work. And sometimes it doesn’t seem like it because it’s the missions that we care about, and again, what we stand behind and that is what it’s all about. Making great beer for people to enjoy, but also to have a positive impact on our community and give back what we’re getting.

Heather (16:53):
So great. Let’s jump into Pride. It’s Pride Month and you’re doing a Pride Fest. And is this your second year doing the Pride Fest?

Lauren (17:01):
Yeah, that’s correct.

Heather (17:03):
Awesome. Tell us everything. I know we went through this before, and I’m going to be just as jealous that I can’t be there this time as I was last time when you explained all the events you have going on. But tell everybody about all the awesome Pride events you have going on.

Lauren (17:17):
Sure. So Pride kicks off on Tuesday. I think we’re all excited. Tuesday starts out with our Queer Beer Club night. So we have a Queer Beer Club that meets every third Tuesday of the month. And last month, we had them do a hops selection to pick hops to make a beer so we can do a collab with the Queer Beer Club. So they picked the hops and we made a pale ale, and it’s pretty tasty, honestly. I’m not going to say how much the team has, and by team, I mean Ben and I, have had of the beer, because it’s just waiting until Pride. It’s been a stressful week, couple weeks, so Ben and I maybe have cracked into it. But we’re pretty excited about it. So that’s going to come out.

(18:01)
And we also have Queer Karaoke with Formosa and Pithy. And then Wednesday, we’re going to have Pride Trivia with Buzzworthy Trivia. Thursday, we’re going to have a Pride market with tablers and organizations and vendors from the community who are allies. And then we’re going to have two bands play. That’ll be super fun. I’m really excited about that. And then Friday is Teeny Weeny Beanie Night, and that is our night for femmes and thems. And it’s going to have an amateur drag competition hosted by Brick and Mortar. And then we’re going to have flash tattoos from Golden Gaia Tattoo who is a tattoo shop that we worked with before and we’re really excited to have them back. They do amazing work. And then Saturday, to end it, is our roller skate rave and drag extravaganza with Honey DJing and the Dollhouse Queens, co-hosted by Wicked Skates. So we’re excited.

Heather (19:04):
Yes.

Adam (19:06):
Yes. Fair. Fair enough. [inaudible 00:19:08].

Heather (19:07):
I was going to say, yeah. You’ve had one or two things on the go lately, so I think you deserve four or five of those beers, minimum. So I hope you’re dipping in.

Lauren (19:21):
I’m trying not to anymore. It’s on draft now. We didn’t have a draft system until we got it put up, so now I’m no longer dipping into the can stock. I’m just having the draft. Which, no one can tell how much of that goes away.

Adam (19:34):
You can hide that better.

Lauren (19:35):
Except for me.

Adam (19:35):
That’s amazing.

Lauren (19:35):
You can hide that better. Yeah.

Heather (19:36):
Put that in a coffee cup and nobody has to know. It’s fine. [inaudible 00:19:41], you mentioned the Queer Beer Club. How did the idea of this come along?

Lauren (19:48):
The idea was that we tried to have an safe, inclusive space, and most of our staff was queer. Myself being a queer person, when I was coming up in the brewing world, there was nowhere for me to go and feel comfortable and just go and have a pint and be around folks like me and folks who aren’t like me. And so I was like, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we had our own Queer Beer Club where one night a month or however we wanted to do it, queer folks could come and feel comfortable and come and enjoy the beer and do something fun?”

(20:25)
We made membership cards, because I’m a little bit older and one of the things that made queer clubs and nightclubs a thing was these membership cards that you had. And I thought it would be cute. Yeah. I mean, it’s been a huge success. The first one was just a mixer to get it going, and then we had the Queer Karaoke event for the second one, and then we had amateur drag for the third one, and then the hops selection. And it’s been really awesome. I love going in the tap room and seeing folks from all different backgrounds feeling safe and having a beer and enjoying it and not having to worry about not fitting in or just being in a space that might not be geared to them. And it’s great, because folks can just come and enjoy the beer and enjoy each other’s company and meet people. And I think it’s been a huge success, and I’m pretty pumped about it.

Adam (21:20):
Yes, you should be. I think one of the things that we were looking at on your website was, you guys actually have your workplace code of conduct posted on the site for anybody to take a look at. When we talk about Pride, we also need to be talking about physical and psychological safety for the employees and guests. Can you tell us a little bit more about your code of conduct and why you chose to post this publicly?

Lauren (21:46):
Yeah. So the code of conduct actually has been in place since I got hired, and I was the first employee. So when Ben hired me, he had it in the contract. And I remember saying to him, I was like, “Oh, that’s sweet.” Because usually, you don’t see one of those in a… At least two years ago, you didn’t really see a code of conduct in a brewery when you got hired. And I thought it was amazing. And then, I’m sure most folks know about Brave Noise.

Adam (22:15):
I don’t know what that is. Can you actually-

Lauren (22:17):
Oh, I’m so sorry.

Adam (22:17):
Yeah, no.

Lauren (22:18):
Yeah. Brave Noise is a collaboration beer that was started by Bree who used to work at Notch, and now is the co-owner head brewer of [inaudible 00:22:30] in Maine. Because of all the discrimination… She had put an Instagram story up that had said that she had faced some discrimination during their expansion at Notch, and asked, “Who else has gone through this? I want to hear your stories.” And it blew up. Within I think a couple hours, [inaudible 00:22:52] overflowed.

Heather (22:53):
That was a weird weekend. It exploded. And yeah, it was everywhere.

Adam (23:01):
Except [inaudible 00:23:01].

Lauren (23:04):
So out of that came the Brave Noise Project, which was trying to have safer and more inclusive workspaces. And in order to do it, you would brew the beer, much like Black is Beautiful, or what’s the other one? The Altogether from Other Half. And then you would pick a organization to donate to that was either one that represented underrepresented folks, or one that helped anti-discrimination. And then part of that was that you had to have a code of conduct and post it. So not only are you donating, you’re also saying, “We don’t want this in our workplace. We have this code of conduct. We want everyone to feel safe here.”

(23:54)
So we participated in that two years ago. A little less than two years ago. It was about a year and three quarters ago. And it was great. I also want to do it again if I can. I know that they shut it down for a little bit right now, but I’m hoping to do it again when it comes back around. So yeah. We had the code of conduct on the website, and we give it to everyone that comes in the building. It’s for employees, it’s for vendors, it’s if we rent the space out. People that come have to follow the code of conduct. Everyone that comes for Pride, all the participants, everyone gets a copy of it. It’s our way of doing things, and we just want to make sure everybody’s taken care of and everybody feels safe. And for us, this is how we are and we want everybody to feel safe and included and welcome.

Heather (24:47):
That’s amazing. Obviously, you worked really, really hard to create a safe space for everyone in your community to come and gather. What advice would you give to other breweries that want to really start on the journey of publicly making this a safe space for one and all?

Lauren (25:07):
I get that question a lot, actually. The first thing, you definitely need a code of conduct. Protect your employees, protect your customers, make your space safe. Having a code of conduct will help you create that safe space and help folks feel like they’re protected if something did happen. And then the rest of it, it’s always a tough question because you don’t want to make it performative. And I feel like we work really hard on not making it performative for us.

(25:39)
And also, it’s just not. Our staff is really diverse, and we do things mostly because it’s me talking to the staff saying, “What do you want to see? What do we want to do?” And for us, that makes it… I don’t want to say it makes it a little bit easier. But we know what we want, and what we’ve faced in past jobs or spaces, and I think that that helps us figure it out.

(26:10)
I think partnering with other organizations, asking employees, you don’t want it to be just a checkbox. And I feel like for a lot of people, it is. And talking to your team, talking to folks that are doing it, trying to get involved with different communities and giving back, I think, is great. I think those are ways to not only make your space safe and inclusive, but you’re also giving back to these communities, saying, “Hey, we support you,” in partnering with those organizations.

Adam (26:50):
You spoke of performative actions, which we talked about this last week. But the whole idea of Pride Month and how it has, to a point, become a marketing tool for a lot of companies, and it’s their one month to wave a flag and then put it back in the closet next to their St. Patrick’s Day stuff and move on to the next thing. What do you speak to that to help companies move away from that kind of idea? Because I mean, if you look from my perspective, as a cis white male, I really have to pay attention to other people’s perspectives, because this world was created by cis white males for cis white males. And unfortunately, that’s what we’re trying to break the mold of right now. So how do you get people to take a look at themselves in the mirror and change that from just, like you said, a checkbox to moving into something a little bit more meaningful?

Nina (28:02):
For this one, I would say for a lot of people who are not sure how to approach the idea of, “This has to be in your mind actively trying and have it part of everything that you’re doing for your business,” that is the only way I feel like it won’t come off as just performative. It has to be genuine. So maybe start with self-reflection. Think about your hiring practices. Think about those communities that need allies, that need advocates to say, “Hey, let me talk to the community that is directly involved or impacted, and how can we do this better?” Because you have to put your money where your mouth is. It can’t just be, “Okay, it’s June, Pride Month. Here we go. We’re going to make some money off of the queer community,” and then that’s it. No. People don’t want that.

(28:50)
Especially for people who are actively researching the places that they’re visiting, we’re actively thinking about, “Okay, what is their business practices? Do they really care about our communities, or are we just profit for them?” And people will call you out when they find that you’re just rainbow washing or capitalizing on the queer peer community.

(29:10)
And I think every day, diversity has to be part of everything you do, and that’s how it’s going to seem genuine. So do you raise money and give back to those communities that are impacted? Do you volunteer your time at those other nonprofits and organizations? Do you do anything to really help support that community? Whether it’s queer folks, people of color, the trans community, you have to do more than just, “Hey, here’s a rainbow flag. It’s Pride Month.” And like you said, just put it back up with the decorations until next year. People watch that, and they will praise the businesses that they see that are not just using it for Pride Month. Because we make a saying here, “Every day is Pride Month for the community,” because it’s part of who we are. It’s ingrained in us.

(29:59)
So that would be how I would answer that. You have to step out of your comfort zone, self-reflect, use your resources. There’s tons of them out there. There are a lot of consulting agencies, groups that will come into your place of business and have those conversations and help you navigate something that you may think it’s… “Well, how do I have this conversation? I feel so uncomfortable. Am I going to make a mistake? Am I going to use the wrong terms?” And just know that no one’s going to judge you and think you’re a terrible human being if you’re trying and you make a mistake because you’re just not informed or aware. But you have to try to be a better human being and understand, like how you were saying, you have to go outside of your perspective, out of your lens and acknowledge your privilege and say, “Hey, I really want to try.” And that’s how it’s really going to come off very genuine.

(30:47)
And people pick up on it. People will know. And once you do it the right way, they will support you and really support your business. Because that’s something that I always look for, is if I’m out of town or I’m going somewhere on vacation, where are the safe spaces can I go? Where are the places that I would feel safe that I could walk into with my wife and not get harassed or get looks or things like that? And it really does matter to a lot of people that they could see the effort, because people will go to where it’s safe. They won’t go anywhere that they feel like they’re going to be used.

Lauren (31:20):
Bouncing off of that too, I would say, what are your core values as a business? Because it’s not just about having events. What are your hiring practices? For us, it was a core value that was laid out, and it’s one of the reasons I took the job here, was Ben came to me and said, “I want to have a really diverse workplace. I don’t want to have this cookie cutter brewery where it’s mostly straight white guys.” He was like, “And how do we achieve that? I want to make it a part of our hiring, the culture.” So I think starting also with the core of your business and how you hire and how you think about hiring and what you do, to what Nina said, I think makes a big impact.

Adam (32:14):
Thank you for that. Especially from my standpoint, it’s necessary to hear, and I’m glad that you guys are open to sharing this with us. One other thing I wanted to ask, aside from Pride, what else has happened at Necromancer? You’ve got, obviously, as we spoke of, the expansion. What can our listeners look out for over the course of the next six, eight months from you?

Lauren (32:47):
Oh, gosh. Sorry. I’ve been-

Adam (32:50):
Is this the toughest question I’ve asked today?

Lauren (32:52):
This might be the toughest question, because I’ve been in so much in expansion Pride mode that I’m like, “Wait, there’s stuff after this?”

Heather (32:59):
We have to get through this. We have to get through the next couple of weeks.

Lauren (33:01):
I have to get through this month. I’m trying to think. We do a whole bunch of different things here at the brewery. We did a dark beer month last year. I don’t know if we’ll do that again. Maybe a dark beer week.

Heather (33:18):
That would be my favorite month, if you do a dark beer month.

Lauren (33:22):
Nice. We always have Oktoberfest, which is really fun. We make Oktoberfest and we drink a lot of Oktoberfest and have a big party. And then we also do a Krampus Fest for the holidays, which is really fun. The last one we did was a banger. It was really fun. We had tattoos, we had drag, we had a market. It was great. And then I think it’s just whatever the team dreams up at this point. We’re going to get through Pride. And then I bet the normal thing that we do where we wait three weeks and we’re like, “Wow, this is a nice break.” And then we’re like, “Oh, we should do something.” And then we [inaudible 00:34:08]. And then we’re like, “Yeah, what are we going to do? We haven’t done anything in a while. Let’s do something.” So we always do this thing where we have a big event and we’re like, “All right, we’re going to take a break for a minute.” And then about three weeks go by and it’s like, “Oh, we haven’t done anything. What are we going to do?” So we’re going [inaudible 00:34:23]-

Heather (34:20):
You’re addicted to the chaos. You’re addicted to the chaos.

Lauren (34:20):
Apparently.

Nina (34:20):
Yeah.

Lauren (34:25):
We’re going to continue to have Queer Beer Clubs on every third Tuesday of the month, and I need to figure out what we’re doing for July and August and the past months. But we’re going to continue to do that. And yeah. I mean, we don’t have anything super set in stone other than that. I think we’re still just all pedals to the medal for Pride, and then we’ll probably have some more stuff. But we’re excited to get a lot of beer in the tanks and make a ton of beer and see what happens.

Heather (35:02):
So for Queer Beer Club, do people have to sign up? Can they just show up?

Lauren (35:07):
I totally forgot. Before we talk about Queer Beer Club, we are opening a second location, if we weren’t busy enough.

Heather (35:13):
Whoa.

Lauren (35:18):
Yeah.

Heather (35:18):
I love that that’s-

Adam (35:18):
Oh, I just forgot about the second location.

Lauren (35:19):
I forgot about it, because I’ve got too much going on. So we recently acquired… It used to be called Huffs. It’s a neighborhood bar in Greenfield, and we’re hoping to open that in September. I’m excited because it’s a 10 walk to my house and I can just walk there and drink my beer and have fun, and yeah. We’re stoked about that.

Heather (35:44):
So is that going to be a satellite location?

Lauren (35:47):
It will be. Yeah.

Heather (35:47):
Okay.

Lauren (35:48):
So it won’t be a brewery. It’ll just be a tap room restaurant concept. So we’re thinking-

Adam (35:55):
Oh, so super easy to put together, then.

Lauren (35:59):
Yeah. Ben’s calling it a British pub, but make it Necromancer, which I think we’re all pretty excited about.

Heather (36:05):
I like this combination.

Lauren (36:07):
Yeah, I’m pumped. Thank you, Nina, because that just totally slipped my mind. Yeah, we’re opening another location.

Heather (36:15):
A whole other location.

Nina (36:16):
[inaudible 00:36:18].

Adam (36:18):
She’s holding up posters in front of you. “You forgot this.”

Lauren (36:22):
She looked over and I have my headphones in and she’s looking at me like, “You forgot something.” And I was like, “What did I forget?” And I was like, Oh.”

Nina (36:28):
I didn’t want to steal your thunder.

Heather (36:31):
A whole other location totally slipped your mind. That’s pretty fantastic.

Lauren (36:36):
It’ll be fine. We’re going to do great.

Heather (36:38):
You are doing great. I have to say, it’s just honestly, like Adam said, it’s pretty amazing. You’re doing everything, and that’s pretty freaking fantastic. And I said it before on this podcast, representation really matters in this industry. So I think just what Necromancer is doing in creating a safe workspace and a safe space for everybody in the community, it’s just absolutely fantastic and we really, really appreciate you coming on and talking about all the stuff that you’ve been up to.

Lauren (37:08):
Thanks so much for having us.

Nina (37:10):
Yeah, thank you. We really appreciate the opportunity to… Again, like you said, visibility matters. So people hearing your podcast, listen to our stories, that’s what it’s all about, is making those connections, leading by example and saying, “Beer is for everyone. The industry is for everyone. Don’t think you can’t break into it. Don’t think that you won’t have role models or mentors or whatnot.” So I’m really glad to have the opportunity and have it reach such a big audience. So thank you for the opportunity.

Heather (37:39):
Thank you.

Adam (37:40):
Thank you. For sure.

Heather (37:44):
We’ll let you get back to brewing and the apparently million other things that you have on the go. If any of our listeners are in the area, go check out all of the awesome Pride events that they have going on at Necromancer. If anybody wants to ship me one of the “Bone Who You Want to Bone” shirts, I’m totally fine with that. I’m not going to be opposed to it. And enjoy the rest of Pride.

Nina (38:08):
Thank you so much.

Lauren (38:10):
Thank you.

Cheyenne (38:11):
And a huge thanks to the folks over at Necromancer Brewing for joining us on this episode. If you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello to them. You can grab some of their Even Gayer merch. The proceeds from both the merch and the beer release are being donated to Gay for Good Pittsburgh. You can also swing by and join their celebrations for Necromancer Pride events the week of June 20th.

Heather (38:32):
That’s amazing. Next week, we will be back to discuss water chemistry. Thanks, all.