Brewer Magazine Q&A: Dave Goldman, Urban Village

This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with brewers from across the U.S.
Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Brewmasters, Head Brewers, Brewing Managers and others each weekend to help you, a fellow brewer, Brewmaster or brewing manager get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.

Dave Goldman, owner/head brewer, Urban Village Brewing — Philadelphia

BREWER: What is a lesson learned within your position that sticks with you to this day?
GOLDMAN: There is more to learn about brewing than I’ll ever know. Therefore we never stop learning and taking in knowledge nor do we ever stop making improvements to our process.

BREWER: Who is your mentor in the industry and why? What have you learned from them?
GOLDMAN: I have almost no experience working at another brewery other than my own, so I don’t know that I have a professional mentor per se. I did an internship at Double Nickel Brewing Company and Drew Perry taught me so much about using commercial equipment there. Wayne Milford was my consultant that helped me get Urban Village open. He had so much experience and helped me through many a brewing challenge early on.

BREWER: What have you added to your brewery lately that’s unique or making your business more successful?
GOLDMAN: Getting into small-batch canning, while not unique, has been incredible for us. It’s something the consumer looks forward to and even expects from their local brewery. It’s also a great opportunity for us to get our beer in front of a much wider swath of people. Plus the can label is a really cool canvas for us to have fun with.

BREWER: In today’s business climate for craft beer, how will your brewery grow?
GOLDMAN: Slowly and steadily. If your local customers like the beer you’re making they’ll continue to drink it and feel a connection to you because of closeness. We’d like to continue to grow within our local market, but don’t want to branch too far away where we would just be another can in a cooler. We want everyone drinking our beer to feel a connection to the brewery.

BREWER: What sort of innovations in craft beer excite you?
GOLDMAN: Definitely the hop products and varieties. Some of the new products that have come out that give you more hop resin or a more condensed powder are cool. There’s so many new varieties of hops that provide some amazing flavors and aromas. I’m an IPA drinker at heart and finding new hops or hop combinations is really exciting.

BREWER: If you had one strategy that you could implement to better the craft beer business, what would it be?
GOLDMAN: Considering the exponential growth of craft beer, it’s hard to say that craft beer needs an additional strategy at this point. For me personally, I wish craft beer were more of small and local product versus a regional/national one. That’s not to take away from any of the amazing beers being made by some incredible and large breweries. That’s just personal preference for me.

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  1. Master the Art of Small-Batch Canning

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