Business Opportunities Weblog

October 26, 2009 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that when Matt and Kathy Chappel decided to open the Indigo Imp Brewery in Cleveland, they wanted their beer to stand apart.

So they opted for an unusual beer-making process — at least for U.S. brewers.

They use open fermentation, which exposes the soon-to-be beer to the air and means that any wild yeast can jump in, splash around and affect the flavor.

In addition, the brewery doesn’t filter its beer, meaning the liquid is cloudy.

Also, the beer is bottle-conditioned, meaning the carbonation takes place inside the bottle and leaves a layer of sediment at the bottom.

In other words, Indigo Imp is brewing like many traditional European breweries, and more in line with how beer was made hundreds of years ago, before enclosed stainless-steel fermenters and computer-controlled equipment.

“I think it’s the most natural way to have beer,” brewer Matt Chappel said. “It has all the flavor in it with the yeast. And it has all the color it’s supposed to have.”

“We are selling as much as they can make,” said Heinen’s wine and beer buyer, Ed Thompkins. “It came out of the gate strong, and there has been a critical mass of the beer audience that has tried it and become loyal customers.”

Photo by Indigo Imp Brewery.

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Tags: Beverage, Niche, Start Up