This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with members of the brewing community from across the US. Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Brewmasters, Head Brewers, Brewing Managers, Sales Directors, QCQA Managers and others each weekend to help you get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.
Douglas Hasker, Brewery Operations, Puesto Cervecería — San Diego
BREWER: How have recent challenges in your position helped make you better? What were those “pain points” and how did you solve or adjust to the issue?
HASKER: Not so much challenges to the position, but challenges in the brewing industry. We’re seeing a lot of seemingly strong breweries closing or drastically downsizing. The climate is shifting. The kids aren’t drinking as much beer now, so the models are changing on the fly. Here at Puesto, we’re in a good position having a restaurant attached to the brewery. It seems we’ve come full circle in the last 30 years and the brewpubs are the stronger outline for business. Offer a little something for everyone, not just the beer drinkers. The new wave are drinking more cocktails and mocktails than their parents drank beer. So the brewpub idea is successful. Puesto is an extremely popular upscale taco restaurant that now provides our own world class Mexican-style beer, keep with the theme of high quality components moving forward. Anyone without a brewpub is competing in a pretty crowded market, and it’s tough to stand out.
BREWER: What has been your brewery’s most recent accomplishment and how is it going to improve your business going forward?
HASKER: We’ve recently entered the canned beer market at stadiums and specialty beer markets in the San Diego area. Our art and marketing teams came up with an excellent pink can, and it’s very appealing. We’re available at Petco Park where the Padres play baseball, and it’s fun to see the pink cans all around the ballpark. These are very good “mini-billboards” around the park, for our three taco and burrito stands located strategically throughout the park.
BREWER: How did you start in the industry and why do you still want to be a part of it?
HASKER: I started brewing professionally in 1990, so I’ve seen quite a lot during more than 30 years in the industry. I was employed by a mainly German Bier company and learned to make the best beer from the best brewers. I started out bartending and moved into the brewery when I hit my wall at the bar. Recently I was talking to someone and reflected that, yes, I want to still be a part of the beer scene. Mostly because I’m still having the best time doing what I like, and at the same time doing the best work of my career. These beers at Puesto are the best beers consistently that I’ve (we’ve) ever made. What I reflected on was that there aren’t a lot of people who can say they’re doing their best work and the tail end of their careers, and enjoying it. I feel very fortunate. Make no mistake though, I couldn’t do this without the help of a great assistant and co-worker, Jacob Bauch. I’ve aged out on a lot of the physical aspects of the job, of which there are many.
BREWER: What are you sippin’ on right now from your brewery that you really enjoy?
HASKER: Here at Puesto, we brew four or five core beers all year round, all of which I’m proud of and would drink every time I can. Right now I’m especially fond of the lighter beers we offer, usually our Clara Cerveza (a Mexican Helles beer), or our Puesto Pilsner, which has a touch of an Italian influence and goes down very easily.
BREWER: Be it in styles, ingredients, business strategies or sales & marketing techniques, what are some recent industry trends that you’ve tried or are excited about trying this year?
HASKER: I’m fortunate with Puesto to be surrounded by the most talented people in every position. The team assembled here is second to none. So, from can design, social media, strategies, and marketing there are very capable people at every step to rely on. As I’ve said, we introduced our canned Clara on the market, and we’re still finding our way but so far we’ve seen only positive results. Like the food side at Puesto, we’ve grown and are recognized for using only the highest quality ingredients and freshest of everything, so we’ve carried that over to the Cerveceria component as well. I’m tasked with making the highest quality beers I possibly can to pair with high-quality food and cocktails (mostly margaritas, haha). I’m not sure that surrounding yourself with very talented people is an industry trend, but it’s something every brewery operator should experience. As far as practical trends, we’re having fun dry-hopping our Pilsners. Having been trained by serious Bavarian brewers who must be turning in their graves, we’ve been playing with adding hops to our Pilsner after fermentation, ala the Italian Pilsners, or even the West Coast IPAs. The results are phenomenal.
BREWER: What are some adaptations to business practices in the industry that you’ve observed over these past few years, and how has your brewery adjusted to stay competitive?
HASKER: As I’ve alluded to before, the beer industry is always morphing, and the beer market is quite saturated at this point, so being part of a successful, small, family-owned chain of high-quality Mexican food is a good place to be. We’re able to grow the brand a little more slowly and surely, and to not be solely dependent on beer sales to keep us afloat. With all these larger breweries downsizing or just closing up shop, we’ve seen more competition in the contract beer brewing market. That side of the industry is getting a bit more crowded, causing some scheduling problems. But these are good problems for these contract brewers.
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