QC, That's Where Podcast on the Quad Cities brewing scene
Where do you find a family of communities connected by the storied Mississippi River? Where young explorers and dreamers, investors and entrepreneurs thrive? Where can you connect with real people living and creating in a place that's as genuine as it his quirky? QC: That's Where.
Katrina Keuning 00:44
Welcome to QC:That's where I'm Katrina, your host and today I've got two people in the brewing space in the Quad Cities. We've got Kate Schlotfeldt from Crawford, the general manager and Kurt Johnson from Green Tree Brewing over in LeClair, he's the co-owner and brewer. So hey, you guys, how are you today?
Kate Schlotfeldt 01:04
Doing pretty good. The sun's out finally have patio open.
Curt Johnson 01:08
Great day.
Katrina Keuning 01:10
Yes, I know. Right? It's great. We were finally are in the 70s. I think we cracked the we cracked the spring code somehow. Thank you guys, both for being on our podcast. We wanted to talk to you about like the QC Ale Trail and just getting kind of, you know, getting visitors or people who haven't really explored the brewing scene a taste of what's out there. So, Kurt, I'll go ahead and start with you. Because you've had a pretty massive career shift, hey?
Curt Johnson 01:39
I mean, yeah, I guess. I'm still making beer for a living. But now, myself and Matt, own the place.
Katrina Keuning 01:51
And you were over at Five Cities prior for a long time. I know a lot of people really appreciated what you were making over there. So what's kind of in store for Green Tree going forward?
02:01
Oh, we're just gonna try to keep the variety moving. Because that's what people like, they like variety. Of course, we keep, you know, certain core beers that people don't want to veer from. Which I'm okay with that, too.
Katrina Keuning 02:14
Do you have like something that you're bringing with you as far as a recipe or flavor?
02:21
Not really I mean, like styles. I know what the market kind of wants as of right now. I mean, it always changes too, so I'm just trying to figure that out. I don't know. It's pretty straightforward stuff. You just just try to figure out what people want. That's the trick.
Katrina Keuning 02:37
What do people want right now?
Kate Schlotfeldt 02:41
I want to know too Curt.
02:43
One of the most popular styles out there, I mean, most selling, of any brewery making right now, I would say it be like a fruited wheat.
Katrina Keuning 02:53
I'm always a fan of that, too.
02:55
Yeah. So what most breweries I know of are making something along the lines of that, as far as pleasing the masses.
Katrina Keuning 03:06
Kate, so general manager over at Crawford, how is Crawford going? How many years in are you guys now?
Kate Schlotfeldt 03:12
We will be celebrating our five year anniversary on May 11th
Katrina Keuning 03:17
Woo! Coming up. That's awesome.
Kate Schlotfeldt 03:19
Yeah, that's awesome. Things are going good. We've recently installed a small batch brew system, which has been a game changer for us, we can make a bigger variety of beers without having to make a large quantity of every beer we brew. So that's really allowed us to, like what Kurt was talking about, people want a variety and we can give them that variety a lot easier now.
Katrina Keuning 03:41
You can see in the back of Crawford, if anyone has not been been there inside, you can see, you know, the tanks, the machinery, everything you guys are using. Does it look any different now that you have this small batch tech?
Kate Schlotfeldt 03:54
The small batch is located downstairs so you can't see that. Everything else that you would see as you come in is the same.
Katrina Keuning 04:01
Okay, gotcha.
Kate Schlotfeldt 04:03
Except, well, visually, we have six more taps now. We had 10, and now we have 16.
Katrina Keuning 04:08
So what are you brewing up for this spring-summer, like what's on your docket?
04:13
We have a kalamansi sour that we're working on. We just did a collab with Quad City Home Brewers, which I know Curt did too. And we're doing in Old English pub ale. Called a Old Bitter Brewers. I love it. And then we also have a Spicy Mexican Chocolate Stout for Cinco De Mayo.
Katrina Keuning 04:41
Oh my gosh, that sounds awesome. Have you found that like, people gravitate to something specific at Crawford? They're coming back to specifically for a repeat?
04:52
Definitely our Kinda Kolsch'ish is our best selling beer. The Road Rash raspberry is definitely a fan favorite. We recently released butchers blood which is a red corn lager and that has been very, very, very popular and is now going to become one of our flagship beers.
Katrina Keuning 05:10
Oh, awesome. Okay that's great. Kurt over at Green Tree, how many do you have on tap at one given time?
Curt Johnson 05:17
Oh, we have 13 beers and two seltzers.
Katrina Keuning 05:23
Okay. One of my favorites over at Green Tree has always been the, I can't remember what it's called, it's like a maple flavor.
Curt Johnson 05:31
Oh, the Canadian Breakfast.
Katrina Keuning 05:32
Yeah. Is that something that that'll stick around?
Curt Johnson 05:35
Yeah, I've been messing around with those flavors from before and kind of making them my own. Yeah it won't be you know, available all the time. But I will definitely be incorporating those as you know, along the way.
Katrina Keuning 05:51
It's maybe not something people want like on a hot summer day.
05:56
We just are collab with Mugz Homebrew Club. We did on Friday, Mexican lager. So hopefully, fingers crossed in time for Cinco De Mayo
Katrina Keuning 06:07
What are you guys, both of you, each of you, what are you looking forward to any point this year that your breweries, you know, cooking up or some events going on?
Kate Schlotfeldt 06:17
Hmm, I'm looking forward to our five year anniversary party. We're partnering with Kings Harvest Animal Shelter. So they'll be here trying to get people to adopt dogs as well as raising money for the shelter. So that's one of my events I'm looking forward to most.
Curt Johnson 06:35
We have a few things that are not finalized yet. So I don't know if I should be promoting him until they are. So there's things that we have ideas for going to be very fun. So I guess I have to say stay tuned for now because I don't have those things finalized.
Katrina Keuning 07:01
All right, well, we will come back to you on that. So
Curt Johnson 07:04
Lots of patio things happening.
Katrina Keuning 07:07
I love the patio over there and at Crawford as well. But yeah, it's gonna be beautiful. So excited for the summer season, and whatever you are preparing for I won't push anymore. I don't want to get myself in trouble.
Curt Johnson 07:19
I really wish I could say but like I said, I don't want to say you know, on record and then something fall through and then get people's hopes up
Katrina Keuning 07:27
So just, you know, a big, like, put a pin in that everyone if you're listening to this and just be ready for whatever, you know, Green Tree has coming out. Just keep your eyes peeled.
Curt Johnson 07:39
Follow our social media page.
Katrina Keuning 07:41
Yes. Okay, we can do that. So let's talk QC Ale Trail. So Visit Quad Cities has grouped together all of the breweries in area. There's 18 on the QC Ale Trail. So basically, the way it works, people can sip their way to prizes and explore the brewing scene. And it always seems like the Quad Cities is like, we're kind of a smallish area, and we've got tons of breweries, it seems popping up all over the place. But if you live here, you get your favorites and whatnot, but it seems like there's room for everybody. I mean, do you guys feel that way as well? Or?
Curt Johnson 08:19
Absolutely. I've been a firm believer in that for a while now, even as more pop up. Because, I mean, all the places around the Quad Cities are fairly small, right? And it's more of a neighborhood bar. And some places are you know, can be I don't know, I just satisfies like your neighborhood and then visitors if you want to travel. You can hop around. That's my thought. If you get to be too big, then I don't know. Yeah. I feel like that's where everything's going. It's just you know, your smaller places like us and Crawford, and everybody else around. I agree with you. I definitely think that, I almost don't even notice how many different breweries there are. But everyone picks their favorite and they definitely - I know for us we really have a lot of people that live close to us and can walk here or it's on their way home from work. So it's it's almost just more like a little family. You know, so many people that are coming in every single day. And I think that's great that we all can have that relationship with our customers.
Katrina Keuning 09:35
Feel free to plead the fifth on this one. But if you had to pick up a craft beer from one of our local breweries that is not your own. Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna get?
Kate Schlotfeldt 09:46
Oh, man. I don't go anywhere!
Curt Johnson 09:57
But, if you did…
Kate Schlotfeldt 09:59
If I did. Uh, yeah. Can you answer first?
Curt Johnson 10:03
No.
Kate Schlotfeldt 10:06
I honestly really, really don't know. I can't tell you the last time I was in a brewery in the Quad Cities that wasn't this one. But if I did go to a different brewery, I can't tell you what I would order. But I would probably end up at Wake.
Katrina Keuning 10:27
Good choice. I like Wake. Wake is one of my neighborhood bars or breweries, so I definitely end up there more often than not. I've been on kind of like an IPA kick lately, and I'm one of those people who, maybe five years ago was like, oh, ew, no. Like, I can't,I couldn't, you know? Do you have that with your customers, do you have people who have like, very strong, like, aversions to certain drinks?
10:57
Oh, they have strong opinions. And if you run out of one that was just a limited release, it's hard to break that news to them.
Curt Johnson 11:06
That's true.
Kate Schlotfeldt 11:09
It's like the sky is falling, for sure.
Katrina Keuning 11:12
Do you have a beer, whether you are making it now or you made it in the past that you were extremely proud of - wish it could live forever? I'll start with you, Kate.
Kate Schlotfeldt 11:23
I know that our Crusher IPA was just one that was amazing. We got great feedback from it. And everyone was like, You got to keep this on forever. You got to keep us on forever. I mean, you can only have so many IPAs on at a time. So that just wasn't gonna happen. But that was definitely a hit, and I could see it coming back around again once a year. Yeah. And do you want the failures, too?
Katrina Keuning 11:48
Yeah. So you can go ahead if you have one that like a recipe that was tried, or
Kate Schlotfeldt 11:53
There wasn't like any recipes recently that didn't turn out nice. But we did one we did a chocolate coconut milk stout. And everyone was asking for something chocolate coconut, and then it didn't move. And we were like, What the heck, you all asked for it? And we gave it to you. Now you're not drinking it? Yeah, so so it can just be really hard to figure out? What's going to move fast, I guess.
Curt Johnson 12:18
Oh man, if you figure that out, let the rest of us know.
Kate Schlotfeldt 12:21
No way. I'm gonna keep that to myself.
Katrina Keuning 12:27
All right, Kurt. What do you got?
Curt Johnson 12:30
I don't know. That's a very, that's a really hard question. Especially the failures, because even what I would consider, like a failure, per se, isn't really a failure, because people like different things. So whether I didn't necessarily like how it turned out. Other people have a different opinion. In that same way with what I think is absolutely great. You know, you don't want to see it not move is fast. And you wonder why. But I can't I don't really have a good answer for that.
Katrina Keuning 13:09
It's okay, I forgive you. Okay, so on the other end of the spectrum, something you're, you're really proud of you wish you could have around all the time?
Curt Johnson 13:18
I have an answer for that. That's our newest one we released a couple weeks ago now the American lager Pitter Patter. I don't know if anybody is a fan of Letterkenny, but I understand the irony of naming a American lager after a Canadian television show.
Katrina Keuning 13:43
So Kate, in June, you've got the Iowa Craft Brew Festival you guys will be attending. Have you been to it prior?
13:54
I have been as a person there enjoying samples. It's a good time. Um, it's fun. I love the Des Moines area. There's so many great breweries up there too. I'll probably make a weekend of it.
14:10
Make sure you go to Lua. I highly recommend it.
14:15
I've been there a couple times. It's good. And it's within walking distance of you know, downtown.
Katrina Keuning 14:28
What are you bringing with you?
Kate Schlotfeldt 14:29
I knew you're going to ask that.
Katrina Keuning 14:30
You don't have to answer if you don't know yet.
14:34
I know that we'll bring Butchers Blood, but outside of that I'm not really sure yet. Probably our Bavarian Sun Hefeweizen because it will be brewed and released just a week prior to that.
Katrina Keuning 14:47
That is one thing, going to something that large scale and you know the travel that comes with it like what does it take for you guys to prepare? And Curt if you've ever gone to any of these either, please chime in.
14:58
I've gone to more of these festivals than anybody cares to imagine. I will say it is a absolute ton of work to get beer from point A to point B and servable. It's a ton of work and you hate it while you're doing it. But once you get there and like see the amount of people drinking and having fun and tasting, and positive feedback. Then that's when it makes it worthwhile, then you start having a good time and sampling yourself and it's really good gor me personally. And in you know, in this industry, it's a great way to see my friends that I don't normally get to because we're busy making beer. But that's a huge event. And we're kind of sad that we're not gonna be able to make it but things are pretty chaotic around here. As of right now, we'll start getting back into more beer events after we get our bearings.
Katrina Keuning 16:00
How can people find you guys on social?
Kate Schlotfeldt 16:03
The easiest way and what we utilize most on social media is definitely Facebook you'll see a post about our weekly events every Monday. There's a daily post about what food truck we have, what we have going on, because we do have a set food truck that comes every single day of the week. That is the fastest and easiest way to find that information.
Curt Johnson 16:26
It's the same for us Facebook and Instagram they're linked together so whatever platform you follow, we update weekly what we're doing and reminders for special events.
Katrina Keuning 16:39
You guys gotta get on Tik Tok.
Curt Johnson 16:44
You're right, I've seen some really awesome - some of my brewing buddies have pretty hilarious Tik Tok channels they do crazy stuff with it's hilarious.
Kate Schlotfeldt 16:55
Yeah, I don't know we're that funny.
Katrina Keuning 16:58
You'd be surprised, once you start it what you can come up with like just what comes out of your coworkers brains.
17:05
I would love to see Scott on Tik Tok.
17:08
I would hate Scott to be on Tik Tok. Scott are you up here? If we can make that happen I think that we could get so many hits on social media.
Katrina Keuning 17:26
Would he be like totally against it?
17:28
Mmm, probably. But there's ways that maybe we just like don't tell him it's a tiktok?
Katrina Keuning 17:42
It's a staff photo, Scott. Smile.
Kate Schlotfeldt 17:45
Yes, exactly. So it could it could happen and that would make it much more enjoyable in my opinion.
Katrina Keuning 17:52
So for listeners, what do we need to know about Scott? Who is Scott to Crawford?
17:57
He's our Brewer. He's great. We like to call him Big Grumpy.
Katrina Keuning 18:05
You can make a Tik Tok out of that. I will come to Crawford and I will collab with you guys. Visit Quad Cities and Crawford. Get big grumpy on Tik Tok.
18:23
I like it? I'm on board.
Katrina Keuning 18:25
Well, good. I'm ready too. I'll take the project on we'll see what can do.
18:30
I might be job searching after that, but it's fine.
Katrina Keuning 18:32
Okay, well, I won't put your job in jeopardy, so nevermind. Table that discussion. Thank you guys so much. I want to throw it over to you to answer the age old question. QC, That's Where? and fill in the blank. So Curt, do you want to go first.
Curt Johnson 18:48
Sure. The Quad Cities: that's where beers made.
Kate Schlotfeldt 19:03
Quad Cities, home of the pickle rap war.
Katrina Keuning 19:09
Amen. Well, thank you guys. This was really fun. I really appreciate it. So follow Green Tree, follow Crawford on social media. I will link all of those in the description to whatever platform you are listening on. And for more brewing news and where to find some local taps, go to QC Ale trail.com and we will see you guys next time.