Brewbound 2022 Rising Stars Interview: TALEA Beer Co.

Zoe Lacata [00:05] Hi, I am Zoe Lacata, reporter for Brewbound, and I am here with two of our rising stars this year. We are here with the co-founders and CEOs of Telea Beer Company in Brooklyn, New York, Leanne Darland and Tara Hankinson. Welcome guys.

Speaker 2 [00:24] Thank you. Happy to be here.

Zoe Lacata [00:26] Yeah, uh, very excited that you guys are on. I actually just visited your brewery recently, so this is, um, very exciting for me. Um, I wanna start out with you guys started Talea Beer Company. A couple of years ago, you left corporate jobs and like tech and media. Why did you want to enter this industry which can kind of be a little bit of uh a much different world than the corporate world?

Speaker 2 [00:56] Yeah, so Tara and I met at a company that was our first step away from the corporate world into craft beer. We both loved craft beer. We were both homebrewers, um, and meeting each other was really the catalyst to be able to take the step and start a brewery of our own. Um, but as much as we loved a wide variety of different craft breweries and, and styles on the shelves, we really felt like Brands weren't doing a great job, job resonating with us in the same way that, say, a hard seltzer company or a wine company might be. And when I say customers like us, I'm primarily referring to women, but also just people of all genders who Aren't the typical craft beer drinker. Um, sometimes craft beer can be a very exclusive, if you know, you know, culture. Um, and we wanted to create a beer company that would speak to all the other beverage drinkers out there, um, primarily ones who thought that craft beer wasn't for them.

Zoe Lacata [02:00] I like this description that you guys have on your website from a New York Times piece describing your guys' beers as easy drinking and possibly a replacement for like a glass of rose. What is it about your beers and your brands that may attract those typical wine drinkers or bring more consumers into the fold?

Speaker 3 [02:21] So our brewing philosophy that also extends to our hospitality philosophy is to make beers that are easy to love, and easy to love for us means, for the most part, relatively lower ABV. The highest ABV beer we've ever brewed, I think was 8.5%. Um, we make classic styles like a pilsner and an Italian style pilsner, but our most differentiated beers, in our opinion, are fruited sours, which are inspired by everything from uh lemon torta dessert at one of the currently the best restaurants in New York City, to cocktails or other alcohol profiles. And so, for us, Thinking about a customer who, you know, is intimidated by craft beer and thinks that craft beer is all about having the highest percentage of alcohol, the most I'VU, the most bitterness. Um, we really want to open up their world and show them that beer can be so much more than You know, a watery, uh, macro beer that you had in college, or a hard seltzer, or a high ABD, um, high bitterness, you know, West Coast style IPA. We also have gluten-free options at our brewery, and we recently started offering some non-alcoholic versions of our beer. So, we're really trying to be inclusive. And again, um, for us, it's not just about the beer, it's about the experience. And I think the ambience that someone thinks about when they're drinking a glass of rose, you know, it's not usually in a dark room with barrels, it's usually in a light, bright and airy space. And that's something we strive to emulate in our spaces, which are Um, our taprooms, we work with an architect and interior designer to make it a really open, uh, a warm space that welcomes you in. So, there are a lot of components of the brand that are all working together to, again, attract a new type of customer to craft beer. And I think it really starts with the, the liquid itself, though.

Zoe Lacata [04:29] Yeah, I wanna talk about the taprooms in a little bit too because it definitely has a very unique feeling about it and look to it. So we'll get into that in a second. Um, but first, I just want to get into the successes that you guys have had in the past couple of years. I mean, you started right before the global pandemic and even While the world was kind of battling this really tumultuous time, you're still able to increase production. Uh, the brewers Association had you at 1700 barrels in 2021, which was like an over 450% increase year over year, which is huge. What did you guys do to kind of adapt during that time and still grow and stay resilient when kind of all the world was, was struggling and trying to figure things out?

Speaker 2 [05:18] So we had our first beer in hand to go door to door selling around New York City in spring of 2019. Um, at that time, we were contract brewing at another facility in the Bronx and just self-distributing around the city, trying to raise funds to build our own production facility and start to build out taprooms of our own. So 2019 numbers were very low. It was a limited operation, just meant as more of a proof of concept for the business. Um, 2020 happened and we had already signed a lease on a space, um, the one I'm sitting in right now. We had investors on board and so we really had no choice but to continue with construction through the pandemic and things were definitely delayed and the budget was drastically cut, um, because we had no idea if we could even serve people by the time we opened. And we did a little bit of wholesale that year still, um, through contract brewing. But when the pandemic happened, uh, I was 7 months pregnant. Tara just found out she was pregnant, and it was just 2 of us and 1 other person, and New York City was the epicenter of that, of the entire pandemic. So, we stopped all production and sales for about 6 months, um, from April of 2020 until about September of 2020. Um, 2021 was when we first launched our own production facility, which is why there was a, a fairly big jump, um, between, from the year before. Um, and we're on track to do about 4500 barrels this year in 2022. So growth has still been great, and, um, just expected to continue this way for the next few years.

Zoe Lacata [07:07] That's huge. That's, that's a big jump, so that's quite impressive. Um, going off of that, what has this year looked like for you guys? What have been some of the highlights of 2022 for Talea?

Speaker 3 [07:20] So, on the taproom side, as Leanne mentioned in March 2021, we opened our Williamsburg production facility and taproom. And this year, we opened 2 more taprooms, which is really exciting because that's, uh, that's our plan for the future is to expand via additional taprooms across New York City and the state of New York. This year, we opened, uh, in May, a pop-up in Grand Central Station. So it's about 3000 square feet of outdoor space for people to drink our beer before they hop on the trains and head home after work. Um, That is closing in less than a week, but it was a great, uh, outdoor beer garden concept and a great way to introduce a new audience to Talaa being the Midtown office, um, clientele. And then we also opened our second permanent location, which is in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, which is a really quaint neighborhood with a lot of professionals and families. Um, we leased that space last Last year and it took until June this year to open it up. But again, the brick and mortar for us, you know, is huge. It's a great way to connect with our customers. It's a way to build a relationship with the local community. Um, since we're focused on expanding the craft beer market, there's no better way to do that than directly with a customer in front of you, having them try one of our flights, which are 44 ounce pours of our beers and, um. You know, from seasonal beers to rotational fruit and sours, it's, it's what we're really known for and what we're passionate about. So, on the, the taproom side, it's been really exciting, and the wholesale business has been phenomenal. We work with Union Beer for just Distribution here in New York City and Long Island. And this past year, we launched in Trader Joe's. We now have 22 different skews in Trader Joe's. We're in all New York City, Whole Foods, um, as well as in Westchester and Long Island, which is something we've been working on since we were self-distributed, um, and probably 200 to 300 other bars and restaurants in the city, which is great for us because we really view that as a way to Introduce people to the brand and help people think about beer a little bit differently, to have a fruit and sour instead of a martini with your appetizers. Um, you know, beer can be so much more than just something you drink in someone's backyard while you're barbecuing. Obviously, I'm, I'm preaching to the choir here.

Zoe Lacata [09:49] When you are crafting your taproom spaces, what is really important to you about what that space has and the message that's coming across to drinkers and consumers?

Speaker 2 [10:03] Some common patterns we saw at a lot of craft beer bars or breweries, which there's nothing wrong with this, but um, You know, pretty dark industrial spaces, um, barrels used for tables, um, antlers on the wall, things like that, that, you know, when, when I lived in San Francisco and I would try to convince my girlfriends or my mom to go brewery hopping, they never really got excited about it. But when we went to taste wines in that valley, you know, it was a completely different experience, and people wanted to get dressed up and take photos, and Get married there and have their bridal showers there. And so we really wanted to create a space that could elevate um what craft beer can be, and one to draw in new customers, which we've absolutely done, about 70% of our customers here are female. Um. And we get many people who walk in and say they hate craft beer, and so we can, that's what we consider the Telea challenge, and we start them with one of our tart Deco sour IPAs, um, and change their minds. But just to get people in the door, it has to be a space where they feel comfortable and they feel like they belong, and, um, making sure that Um, the details from the type of marble bowl or granite we choose on the counter to the temperature of the lighting and the accent colors we have around the space are just, they're critical, and they're thoughtful, and people notice.

Zoe Lacata [11:31] So, what can we expect from Talea in 2023?

Speaker 2 [11:36] Our number one focus is opening more spaces, um, and increasing production to go along with it. So we just doubled our capacity here in our brewery. So we are set and poised for growth for the next at least 3 to 4 years, all coming out of here in Williamsburg. Um, but We want to expand the Teleia experience into Manhattan. So our goal is to open at least 2 locations in Manhattan next year, um, and possibly look for some sort of outpost in the Hudson Valley in the next 2 years. But, um, There are a lot of challenges we're facing just as a new and scaling company, so keeping our focus on our employees and making sure they are happy and secure and comfortable, um, is our number one priority. And together with that team, hopefully we'll be able to expand our presence in New York City.

Zoe Lacata [12:38] Great. Well, with that, thank you, Leanne and Tara for joining me and we look forward to seeing what happens with Talaa, one of our Brewbound rising stars. Thanks

Speaker 2 [12:48] guys. Thank you.