This week we brewed Fe15, a beer brewed in honor of our 15th anniversary. It will be an Imperial American Triple, brewed with lots of American hops, over a ton of pilsner malt that will result in a wonderfully unique version of my favorite style, Belgian Tripel.
But enough about the beer; although I was here in our flagship Newark store to “help” brew the beer and stir the mash, the reality is that most of the work is being done by Newark’s head brewer Justin Sproul and his assistant Bobby Douglas. That’s the funny and most satisfying thing after 15 years in the restaurant and brewery business, that as we have grown we become more dependent upon the employees that really make our business successful.
For instance, Justin started almost 15 years ago as dishwasher here in Newark. He worked his way up through the kitchen, finally taking over the brewery after than head brewer (and my brother) Brian Finn moved on to be the head brewer in West Chester.
This is typical of how we have grown our business over the years, developing people from within. The current general manager in Newark, Neil Campbell, started out as a server here over 12 years ago. Another example of that original crew in Newark, Doris Kerr, went on to become our current Director of Operations, starting as a hostess in Newark back in 1996.
I could go on and on about our home grown talent, with many employees coming up through our ranks to have taken on more responsibility in helping us to successfully grow our business. So as satisfying as it is to be able to about to hit the milestone of 15 years, it is much more satisfying to be able to create a business that has created so many opportunities for so many of the people. Thanks to all of my staff for making the last 15 years so rewarding!
