Congratulations this week to Wrong Crowd Brewing. According to Next Glass, the parent company of the popular beer app Untapped, the Hannum Ave Brewery is among the fastest-growing breweries in the U.S. based on the percent increase of check-ins on the app. From 2020-2022, Wrong Crowd saw its check-in numbers increase a whopping 1056 percent, making it the fifth fastest-growing brewery in the country.
That’s some eye-popping there growth, so I checked in with Wrong Crowd Head Brewer Dan Shaw to see if he had seen this coming.
“We’ve definitely undergone a lot of growth,” he says. This is despite, or perhaps, because of their continued push to see where styles can go. “We have a great creative team as far as product development. We are excited to see how that has matched up with people’s tastes.”
Dan suspects the growth comes from a favorable mix of regulars and outsiders. “We have a very dedicated local following. It’s great to get their feedback,” he says, especially on those brews that push the envelope. “But so is talking people that have traveled hours to come and see what they have been hearing about.”
Will Wrong Crowd be slowing down and enjoying its success?
Of course not. “We have a few new projects we’re excited about,” says Dan including their first-ever series of bottled beers which they will release this summer, and a foray into wild ales, a naturally fermented brew that has been compared to the beer version of sourdough.
“It’s definitely a niche type of beer but we try to make what challenges us,” says Dan.
New to Wrong Crowd and want to get a good look at what makes them special? Before jumping to a wild ale or one of their famous sours, Dan suggests starting with a pilsner or a lager.
“You can always get a really good idea of a brewer’s ability by testing his (or her) pilsners or lagers because finesse is required. You must pay attention at all levels of the process.”
Published, June 9, 2023
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