Brewer Magazine Q&A: Mark Medlin, Sweetwater Brewing

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 Wednesday and weekends 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.

Mark Medlin, Brewmaster, Sweetwater Brewing — Atlanta

BREWER: What is a lesson learned within your position that sticks with you to this day?
MEDLIN: I learned early on the importance of always striving to improve brewing processes and do better at the things we do.

BREWER: Who is your mentor in the industry and why? What have you learned from them?
MEDLIN: Greg Hall, former Brewmaster at Goose Island Brewing Co. He taught me the importance of quality and how to make great craft beer.

BREWER: What have you added to your brewery lately that’s unique or making your business more successful?
MEDLIN: We just added a new “tank souring” process to one of our large fermentation vessels. We’re excited at the possibilities of making sour beers on a large scale.

BREWER: In today’s business climate for craft beer, how will your brewery grow?
MEDLIN: By being unique and maintaining excellent quality in the marketplace. With so many breweries out there and increased competition, this is more important than ever before.

BREWER: What sort of innovations in craft beer excite you?
MEDLIN: Right now New England style IPAs and fruited wood-aged beers are some of my favorites.

BREWER: If you had one strategy that you could implement to better the craft beer business, what would it be?
MEDLIN: We should all be doing our part to keep the quality of craft beer high. We don’t want consumers to gravitate away from craft because of a few bad experiences with old beer.