Episode 004—Nick Impellitteri of The Yeast Bay

Contract brewing and alternating proprietorship business models were once shunned by previous generations of brewers. Many lobbed accusations that without their own brick-and-mortar locations, the beer start-ups that pursued these models didn't have enough "skin in the game." But since then, this approach to the business of brewing has become fairly common among hopeful entrepreneurs looking for a flexible, less risky way to enter the industry.

In recent years, breweries like Sweden's Omnipollo, California's Almanac Beer Company, Maryland's Stillwater Artisan Ales, plus Evil Twin Brewing in New York and Mikkeller in Denmark (led by their infamous pair of feuding twin brothers) all built their businesses this way, and have later gone on to invest in their own breweries or bars after proving themselves with this model. Their example makes it clear that this method is no longer reserved for those making private-label beers for giant corporations and restaurant chains. I, too, find myself looking at a possible shared space for my own brewing project instead of investing heavily in my own build-out.

So how does one apply this model to another industry—one that's directly connected to the brewing supply chain?

Nick Impellitteri of The Yeast Bay in Portland, Oregon runs a boutique microbiology lab that supplies the beer industry with a wide variety of yeasts and bacteria. Most of his production is housed at a much bigger facility, home to perhaps the biggest name in craft yeast: White Labs in San Diego, California.

On today’s episode, I speak with Nick about where he sources his yeast, what’s new from the Yeast Bay, and how he runs the business according to this same alternating proprietorship model. We also go deep into the results from a bio-prospecting hike we did together in the hills outside Berkeley, California, where we captured some microbes Nick is very excited about.

Contract brewing and alternating proprietorship business models were once shunned by previous generations of brewers. Many lobbed accusations that without their own brick-and-mortar locations, the beer start-ups that pursued these models didn't have enough "skin in the game." But since then, this approach to the business of brewing has become fairly common among hopeful entrepreneurs looking for a flexible, less risky way to enter the industry.

 

In recent years, breweries like Sweden's Omnipollo, California's Almanac Beer Company, Maryland's Stillwater Artisan Ales, plus Evil Twin Brewing in New York and Mikkeller in Denmark (led by their infamous pair of feuding twin brothers) all built their businesses this way, and have later gone on to invest in their own breweries or bars after proving themselves with this model. Their example makes it clear that this method is no longer reserved for those making private-label beers for giant corporations and restaurant chains. I, too, find myself looking at a possible shared space for my own brewing project instead of investing heavily in my own build-out.

 

So how does one apply this model to another industry—one that's directly connected to the brewing supply chain?

 

Nick Impellitteri of The Yeast Bay in Portland, Oregon runs a boutique microbiology lab that supplies the beer industry with a wide variety of yeasts and bacteria. Most of his production is housed at a much bigger facility, home to perhaps the biggest name in craft yeast: White Labs in San Diego, California.

 

On today’s episode, I speak with Nick about where he sources his yeast, what’s new from the Yeast Bay, and how he runs the business according to this same alternating proprietorship model. We also go deep into the results from a bio-prospecting hike we did together in the hills outside Berkeley, California, where we captured some microbes Nick is very excited about.