Jim Gokenbach like many in the craft beer industry got
started by brewing a beer as a hobby at his house and sharing his beers with
his friends and family. Jim quickly realized that his hobby could be something
more. Back in June, four and half years after opening his brewery, I met Jim
Gokenbach and his Zaftig crew at a beerfest in Boston. I loved Zaftig beer and
wanted to learn more. Recently I was able to sit down with Jim to discuss all
things beer, music and what Zaftig means.
Jim how did you get
into the craft beer business?
I got into this business when a friend and I got into home
brewing. We started brewing small batches in the kitchen. The hobby quickly
expanded to the garage, where we started brewing larger batches of beer and
having people over to try them. The get togethers turned into parties with over
100 people walking through the doors to drink/try our beers. That is how I met
my current business partner. He was impressed and wanted to start a brewery. Four
and a half years later here we are :)
What is the most
difficult part of opening a brewery?
The toughest part for us is size and boot strapping the
business. It has been a huge time commitment for my entire family, and cashflow
and money is always an issue. We don't have the luxury of just dripping in
dollars like many other breweries are so it presents lots of challenges in that
regard.
Jim, I like the name
of your Brewery. Can you tell us more about the name and what does it mean?
Zaftig is a German or Yiddish word typically used to
describe women. It means full bodied, or voluptuous. Originally we didn't know
what it meant, but when we found out, we thought it would work great for our
brewery because we specialize in large full bodied high gravity beers. With my
background in marketing it is always fun naming beers like Juicy Lucy, Hazy
Miss Daisy, Heavy Hearted Amber, and Shadowed Mistress etc... That goes right
along with our name and branding.
You have five year
round beers, which one of your five beers is your most popular?
Juicy Lucy is certainly our flagship and most popular. It is
a 7% IPA. Between the name, branding and last but not least being a really nice
beer, we can hardly make enough of it.
Where can people find
Zaftig Beer?
We are distributed state wide in the Great State of Ohio. As
far as specifics I won't go crazy on that but here are a few
Columbus:
Giant Eagle Market District stores in Upper Arlington and
Grandview
Wine and Brew Emporium
Kenny Road Markey
Crafted Drafts
Brass Tap
World of Beer Easton
Crafty Pint
101 Beer Kitchen's
Pint Room
Condado's Tacos locations
Up North:
Heinen's Markets
Swig
Joseph’s
Beuhlers Markets
Barrio Taco's locations
The Rail locations
Dayton and Cincinnati:
Jungle Jim's
Dorothy Lane Market locations
Jim the craft beer
industry has been growing rapidly over the last 10 plus years. Do you think the
industry can sustain this rapid growth?
I think you will see it really plateau over the next couple
years. I think you will probably still see a lot of new breweries pop up but
you will start to see many breweries go by the wayside due to competition in
the market. In my opinion you will start seeing a lot more brewpub breweries
pop up and I think that is probably the best way to survive the marketplace now
if you are not already well established.
Jim if you could go
on a beercation anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
Beercation--- That is tough. I would probably stay here in
the great USA and split a 10 day vacation between Michigan, California and
Colorado. These are where some of the best barrel aged stouts and strong ales
are made in the world in my opinion and that is what I really dig.
Jim what music do you
listen to when you are brewing and what music do you have playing in the taproom?
I get out ruled on this all the time... The guys don't let
me control the tunes. We typically listen to rock, alternative and sometimes
bluegrass. I am known around town as the brewer in the camo hat (a bit of a
country boy) and they don't let me listen to that. Taproom almost always
classic rock or alternative/punk music.
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