It Takes a Village to Stand Out in the Craft-Brewing World

In the complex world of craft brewing, the art of creating exceptional beer is often a collective effort. A successful operation requires a harmonious blend of expertise, innovation, and reliable equipment to produce a quality product. As the craft-brewing industry’s premier provider of chilling technology, we at G&D Chillers have had the pleasure of witnessing how the industry’s best and brightest teams are working together to bring their brews to life—adapting to challenges along the way to deliver a consistent product to their customers.

Read on as we delve into the collaborative efforts of two distinct craft breweries, Big Grove Brewery and Chafunkta Brewing Co., who have both built world-class teams focused on delivering a premium product. Although each team navigates its own unique challenges, one thing they both have in common is a commitment to teamwork.

Celebrating a Decade of Successful Expansion

Our journey begins with Big Grove Brewery, who just celebrated their 10-year anniversary with the opening of their fourth location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 2013, Big Grove Brewery opened its first location in Solon, Iowa. With a foundation of quality beer, great food, and genuine Iowa hospitality, their team has seen amazing success in the past decade.

According to Big Grove, “We’re committed to crafting authentic food and beer—and through that work, creating a better world for everyone.” A trip to Big Grove is a true taste of what locals call “Iowa Nice” and some of the best craft beer in the Midwest.

Head brewer Andy Joynt leads a team of 26 passionate people who all share a love of hospitality, and many of them have been with Big Grove for more than half of the past decade.

Joynt highlights what makes their team special and able to keep up with the impressive growth Big Grove has experienced: “We try to lead with passion. We’re passionate about the quality of our beer, of course, but we also try to keep lines of communication open so anyone across the organization can feel free to speak up. That’s allowed us to grow quickly but still maintain the integrity we want. Critical and open feedback and having everyone be comfortable with that has been so important.”

Like many breweries who have successfully navigated rapid expansion, the crew at Big Grove Brewery understands the importance of having a solid foundation.

“We’ve spent a lot of energy developing a culture here and communicating that culture to people, which has helped us grow the team and grow it the right way. We’ve also been able to land people from across the country who have moved to Iowa City from Hood River and Boise and Colorado—very desirable craft-brewing spots in the West—and it’s impressive to see people want to come and work with us here in Iowa.”

And why wouldn’t they? Big Grove’s emphasis on quality and culture has paid off. They were able to open their latest Cedar Rapids location, which is their fourth taproom, on time, on budget, and despite the challenges of opening a new brewery on the heels of the global pandemic.

Accelerating Growth Through Solid Partnerships

Joynt says that without dedicated engineering talent in-house, Big Grove relies heavily on its equipment suppliers, such as G&D Chillers, to help them with the construction process involved in a new project. “When you find good suppliers like G&D that can execute and deliver on what they say they can, that’s the path to building out facilities and breweries on a short timeline and doing it at a high level.”

Joynt notes how G&D Chillers became an integral part of their team, providing tailored solutions that aligned with the brewery’s needs. The reliability and efficiency of G&D's glycol chillers allowed Big Grove to focus on their craft, knowing that their chilling needs were in capable hands.

What advice does Joynt offer to other brewers who are evaluating suppliers? “When you find a supplier that makes high-quality equipment and can support it and will pick up the phone when you call, that’s massive.” Joynt also advises brewers to seek out partnerships with suppliers who share a dedication to quality and hospitality and a long-term vision for your brewery’s success. “It’s not a one-way street. We try to build long-term relationships across everything we do.”

We here at G&D Chillers have certainly seen the return on investment in quality and hospitality for Andy Joynt and the rest of the folks at Big Grove, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.

When asked what Joynt loves most about working at Big Grove, he answered with incredible perspective: “Here at Big Grove, we have a unique opportunity to be a part of people’s lives, whether they’re celebrating the good times or just spending time with friends and family. We take a lot of pride in that, and we want to make sure we’re adding to that. We lead with hospitality, and we know that we can deliver hospitality through our high-quality beer.”

Big Grove’s passion for creating exceptional craft beer is shared down south by another brewery with a similar approach to team building. Let’s meet Chafunkta Brewing Co.

Josh Erickson, founding brewer and owner, Chafunkta Brewing Co..

Building a Family Legacy

In Louisiana, founding brewer and owner Josh Erickson leads his small but mighty team at Chafunkta Brewing Co. with the same heart and hustle he had as a homebrewer. After getting bit by the brewing bug in college, Erickson brewed his first beer on the well-known Mr. Beer kit, but it didn’t turn out well, so he and wife Jamie focused on raising their family of four boys. In 2009, once their boys were older, Erickson and Jamie began homebrewing again as the craft-beer scene began to catch fire. From those humble beginnings, Chafunkta has seen tremendous success since its founding in 2011, including expanding its production capabilities by tenfold and opening a successful taproom as the 7th brewery in the state of Louisiana (where taprooms were illegal until 2015).

The word “Chafunkta” is the phonetic spelling of the Tchefuncte River, which was home to an early Indian settlement located in what is now the city of Mandeville, Louisiana. In true Southern spirit, Erickson and his wife run a family-oriented business that includes two of the couple’s four boys in day-to-day operations.

“Everything I do is with my family’s legacy in mind,” says Erickson. “Every person we brought on for a particular reason. They were people we’d meet in our taproom who eventually became friends. Trust and value are critical. We’ve been very strategic about allowing people into the family.”

As parents to four boys, the Ericksons are no stranger to growing pains. “It’s just a part of life, and as any parent knows, as you get bigger and start to grow, you realize you can’t do everything on your own.” So Erickson relied heavily on his tight-knit team to begin steadily expanding its production capabilities, first by acquiring additional square footage for its facility and custom-built equipment to support its ramped up production.

All with one focus in mind—legacy.

“When you’re in your 30s, most folks’ grandparents pass away, then in your 50s, it’s your parents. You start thinking about longevity and about your future. The last thing I want is Chafunkta to suffer if something happens to me.”

That focus on legacy allows Erickson to lead his team with heart, which supports their growth as a team. And establishing trust among your team is a critical component to growing sustainably and avoiding costly mistakes.

When DIY Pays Off

Erickson, along with two other team members, were able to channel their inner contractors and roll up their sleeves to complete a recent brewery expansion project. “We installed all of the infrastructure ourselves and installed the entire brewery ourselves, minus electrical, boiler, and some plumbing work, which we needed the help of certified professionals to complete,” says Erickson. “It was a very tough job.”

By figuring out how to DIY elements—such as piping for G&D Chillers equipment installation with support from G&D’s 24/7 engineering and support team—a lot of their expansion work saved the Chafunkta crew an estimated “tens of thousands of dollars.” Plus, Erickson and his team were able to plan for future growth by laying the groundwork for the next evolution of Chafunkta’s expansion.

“When you have a passion for what you do and you build a team that shares that passion, it’s not hard to put in the extra effort to finish a huge project like this,” says Erickson. Chafunkta plans to complete its third phase of expansion efforts this year as it moves from 12,000 square feet to max out the 15,500 square feet available in its current production facility.

When working with partners like equipment suppliers, it’s natural that Erickson applies Chafunkta’s signature family-oriented approach to the selection process. Whenever possible, Erickson prefers to keep partners as local as possible. “But we’re really looking for partners who are going to pick up the phone when we call and help us troubleshoot whatever problem we’re having.”

In Craft Brewing, It Takes a Village

As we reflect on the journeys of Big Grove and Chafunkta, a clear theme emerges—it takes a village to craft success in today’s craft-beer business. The seamless collaboration of talented and hard-working people, coupled with cutting-edge solutions from equipment providers such as G&D Chillers, is the recipe for a superior product, which both of these breweries have achieved many times over.

In the world of craft brewing, where every detail matters, G&D Chillers stands out as the premier chilling solution for craft-brewing teams of any size. Our commitment to understanding the unique needs of each brewery and 24/7 engineering support make G&D a seamless extension of any brewing team on their journey from concept to completion.

As the craft-brewing community continues to evolve in the face of new challenges, it's clear that success is not just about the beer; it's about building a solid team that shares the same commitment and dedication to the product, then carefully selecting partners such as equipment suppliers that share that same passion. The result is a quality experience that will set your brewery apart from the competition.

About G&D Chillers

Since 1993, G&D Chillers has been manufacturing glycol chillers specifically for the commercial brewing, wine, dairy, cannabis, food processing, and manufacturing industries. We understand working with customers like Big Grove Brewing and Chafunkta Brewing Co. because they’re just like us. G&D President Justin Thomas says, “We truly feel like our customers are our partners. We want to make them happy; we want to help them grow.” For more about G&D’s commitment to cold, listen to more of what Thomas has to say here.

We are proud to provide chillers for our industry-leading customers such as Ninkasi, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Sara Lee, Angry Orchard, Stumptown Coffee, Jim Beam, Samuel Adams, Boeing, Diageo, and Humm Kombucha. With well over 6,000 clients, we’ve built high-quality chilling units for specialty installations throughout the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, India, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the West Indies. No matter what your cooling needs are, whether you require a permanent installation, a portable chiller, or a heater, we engineer the finest quality chilling systems in the USA. For more information, visit www.gdchillers.com.