<b>- My wife, actually, I think</b> <b>she feels guilty about it</b> <b>to this day 'cause it uprooted</b> <b>her entire life and plans.</b> <b>But,</b> <b>I think for my 20th</b> <b>or 21st birthday,</b> <b>I can't even remember now,</b> <b>she bought me a book</b> <b>about home brewing.</b> <b>She's like, "Well,</b> <b>Kaleb likes beer</b> <b>"and always likes</b> <b>to build stuff,</b> <b>"this will be an</b> <b>entertaining book for him.

"</b> <b>And, that was it.</b> <b>She didn't think</b> <b>it would change the trajectory</b> <b>of our lives, literally.</b> <b>I'm Kaleb West, I'm one of</b> <b>the founders and brewers</b> <b>of Pondaseta Brewing Co.</b> <b>I've partnered with one of my</b> <b>close friends, Trever Martin.</b> <b>We've known each other</b> <b>for more than a decade,</b> <b>and, decided to both move</b> <b>back home to open this.</b> <b>- Well, I was in bands,</b> <b>so, that was like, my hobby,</b> <b>is kind of playin',</b> <b>did a little tour</b> <b>with my last band that I was in.</b> <b>And then my wife and</b> <b>I had a new baby so,</b> <b>she was like, "You know, I</b> <b>think you should stop touring</b> <b>"and doing all that.

"</b> <b>So I was like, "OK, cool.

"</b> <b>Gonna be a family man.</b> <b>But, I needed a new</b> <b>hobby, a new outlet.</b> <b>So, I started home brewing,</b> <b>and I actually told her</b> <b>that it would be cheaper</b> <b>than me buying</b> <b>beer every weekend,</b> <b>which turns out is</b> <b>absolutely not true.</b> <b>Especially today, now</b> <b>that we have a brewery.</b> <b>- I loved home brewing.</b> <b>Well, I met with a friend,</b> <b>we were brewing a lot.</b> <b>And then, like I was travellin'</b> <b>to Dallas, for my job,</b> <b>'bout every six weeks.</b> <b>I was comin' back</b> <b>and forth with that.</b> <b>That scene was just</b> <b>startin' to take off.</b> <b>Come back home and</b> <b>there was nothing here.</b> <b>So, then we brought it back.</b> <b>And, just decided we're</b> <b>gonna start a brewery.</b> <b>And, we did.</b> <b>I'm Jared Read, I'm the</b> <b>co-owner and head brewer</b> <b>at Long Wooden Spoon Brewery,</b> <b>also know as LWS Brewing.</b> <b>We actually have started</b> <b>our fifth year of selling.</b> <b>We've been here six years.</b> <b>Amarillo is it's own creature.</b> <b>You can't really compare</b> <b>it to like, Dallas, Austin,</b> <b>or any of those things, even</b> <b>though we want to, we're not.</b> <b>And, it's hard to explain to</b> <b>people until you live here.</b> <b>The people that live here,</b> <b>they set a pretty high bar.</b> <b>You see it all the time</b> <b>in reviews with places</b> <b>that they set that high bar.</b> <b>And so, with beer,</b> <b>people were traveling,</b> <b>they were going</b> <b>to Dallas, Austin,</b> <b>everywhere they went</b> <b>that was the first thing</b> <b>most of them were lookin'</b> <b>for, those craft beers.</b> <b>So, when we got goin', that bar</b> <b>was already set pretty high.</b> <b>And so, we have</b> <b>to meet that bar.</b> <b>And sometimes, we have to</b> <b>push that bar even higher.</b> <b>That was the most difficult</b> <b>thing, was making sure</b> <b>that our quality was there</b> <b>and we keep it there.</b> <b>- When we first started</b> <b>this kind of, thought,</b> <b>Tallahassee didn't really</b> <b>even have a brewery.</b> <b>But, there was a few places</b> <b>where I got to explore,</b> <b>like, import craft</b> <b>beer from Germany</b> <b>and England, and</b> <b>things like that.</b> <b>And then, some</b> <b>places that focused</b> <b>on current American</b> <b>beer at the time.</b> <b>So really opened my eyes</b> <b>to a lot of the things</b> <b>that were available to us.</b> <b>- Really, it's the market</b> <b>has just overall,</b> <b>nationally, it's changed.</b> <b>So, as people</b> <b>travel, and I said,</b> <b>that's one of the first</b> <b>things they look for</b> <b>is a craft beer place,</b> <b>even a craft distillery</b> <b>now, even a winery.</b> <b>They're starting to</b> <b>go to those things.</b> <b>Then they come back, and</b> <b>because of where we located</b> <b>in the nation, Amarillo,</b> <b>we're kinda slow</b> <b>to pick those things up.</b> <b>What's on the east</b> <b>coast, and west coast,</b> <b>it used to take two years</b> <b>or more before it came here,</b> <b>before it ever caught on.</b> <b>Now, because of social</b> <b>media and the internet,</b> <b>those things catch</b> <b>on a little quicker</b> <b>'cause people go and</b> <b>they post online "Hey,</b> <b>"this is where I'm at,</b> <b>this is what I'm drinkin',</b> <b>"I really love this.

"</b> <b>So those trends change a lot</b> <b>faster now than they used to.</b> <b>So you can't really sit on it.</b> <b>Plus the manufacturers are</b> <b>starting to bring stuff in</b> <b>a lot better 'cause</b> <b>there's a demand for it.</b> <b>And that has helped.</b> <b>Used to, you'd go, like</b> <b>to Dallas, get a beer,</b> <b>and you couldn't get it here.</b> <b>Now, we're able to</b> <b>get those things here.</b> <b>Can't get everything,</b> <b>but it's getting</b> <b>better for Amarillo.</b> <b>- After Tallahassee</b> <b>we moved to Austin,</b> <b>and immediately</b> <b>we were blown away</b> <b>by the amount of craft</b> <b>beer culture there.</b> <b>Breweries were popping up</b> <b>everywhere, and quickly.</b> <b>It's when I reached out to</b> <b>Trever and was like "OK,</b> <b>"we should really do this!

"</b> <b>We looked at Austin,</b> <b>we considered Lubbock,</b> <b>where Trever was living.</b> <b>My wife's from Florida,</b> <b>so we actually considered</b> <b>Tampa area very briefly.</b> <b>But around this time</b> <b>was when the Canyon local</b> <b>option election happened,</b> <b>and Canyon became wet.</b> <b>Trever and I both</b> <b>grew up in Canyon,</b> <b>so that was sort of</b> <b>the initial, like wow,</b> <b>things are changing at home.</b> <b>Never dreamed of having</b> <b>a brewery in Canyon</b> <b>or Amarillo Texas.</b> <b>Our friends opened</b> <b>the Imperial Taproom,</b> <b>they seem to be having</b> <b>a really good start.</b> <b>And we're looking</b> <b>at places like Crush</b> <b>in downtown Amarillo and</b> <b>Yellow City Street Food,</b> <b>doing this forward</b> <b>thinking, higher end food,</b> <b>craft culture,</b> <b>beer, it could work.</b> <b>- Our very first beer we had</b> <b>was our 6th Street Wheat,</b> <b>which is the first</b> <b>beer that we did</b> <b>on the home brewing side,</b> <b>over and over and over</b> <b>to make sure we were</b> <b>consistent all the way through.</b> <b>And so we did that</b> <b>over and over.</b> <b>That was our first beer.</b> <b>And then our Texas Witty Twister</b> <b>which is a Belgian wit.</b> <b>That was our second.</b> <b>And then we had our</b> <b>501st Dunkelweizen</b> <b>which was something</b> <b>we did over and over.</b> <b>- [Interviewer] What is a wit?</b> <b>Describe it?</b> <b>- A Belgian wit, it's a</b> <b>pretty light beer style.</b> <b>Wit just means white in Belgian.</b> <b>Basically we took our</b> <b>6th Street Wheat recipe</b> <b>and then we converted</b> <b>over to wit,</b> <b>and we added an orange peel</b> <b>to the brew and coriander</b> <b>and orange blossom honey.</b> <b>So it really brings</b> <b>out that orange.</b> <b>Probably on the market,</b> <b>the big guys, Blue Moon</b> <b>is probably the</b> <b>most popular one.</b> <b>In my opinion it's a little</b> <b>heavy for a Belgian white.</b> <b>It should be a lighter beer.</b> <b>And that's one of our beers,</b> <b>when we brew it, it moves quick.</b> <b>It doesn't stay on</b> <b>those taps very long.</b> <b>The Dunkelweizen just</b> <b>means a dark wheat beer.</b> <b>So dunkel is dark, and</b> <b>weizen is wheat in German,</b> <b>so it's a dark wheat beer.</b> <b>And we developed that one...</b> <b>My best friend's father-in-law</b> <b>was stationed in Germany</b> <b>when he was in the army</b> <b>and he was talking to us</b> <b>about this Christmas beer</b> <b>that they had, and he</b> <b>wanted us to brew it.</b> <b>And I was like</b> <b>"Well what was it?

"</b> <b>And he's like "I don't remember,</b> <b>"it was just dark and</b> <b>it was Christmas.

"</b> <b>I'm like "Well that</b> <b>didn't help any.

"</b> <b>So I did a lot of research.</b> <b>Finally I found out</b> <b>what I thought it was.</b> <b>We brewed it, he</b> <b>said that was it.</b> <b>And so we brewed it for him.</b> <b>We started out naming</b> <b>after his unit, the 501st,</b> <b>and then it's kinda gradually,</b> <b>'cause we're such big</b> <b>"Star Wars" nerds here,</b> <b>it has gradually coalesced</b> <b>with the 501st Legion</b> <b>in "Star Wars.

"</b> <b>- It's awesome to see all</b> <b>the restaurants in town</b> <b>that have the capability</b> <b>of adding more taps,</b> <b>and adding craft beer.</b> <b>It's really expanding.</b> <b>People are starting to</b> <b>understand what an IPA is</b> <b>or a sour, or an amber.</b> <b>- There's essentially</b> <b>three primary focal points</b> <b>in a beer, if you will.</b> <b>So there's the hops, there's</b> <b>the malt, and there's yeast.</b> <b>Obviously there's water</b> <b>included in this process too.</b> <b>But those three points</b> <b>can be the focal point.</b> <b>All of it plays together</b> <b>in a very important way.</b> <b>But the amber ale is</b> <b>our American Amber,</b> <b>actually it looks a lot like</b> <b>this, this is our Oktoberfest.</b> <b>It's called Volks Bier.</b> <b>But our American Amber we</b> <b>keep around year-round.</b> <b>It's actually one of</b> <b>our most popular beers.</b> <b>But it's a malt influence</b> <b>beer, or malt focused beer.</b> <b>And so the emphasis is</b> <b>on the sort of bready</b> <b>caramely notes, it</b> <b>doesn't finish sweet</b> <b>but it doesn't finish</b> <b>super bone dry either.</b> <b>Very easy to drink,</b> <b>and has these sort of rich</b> <b>kind of complementary notes</b> <b>that go really well with food,</b> <b>especially meat dishes,</b> <b>things like that.</b> <b>Whereas an IPA, it actually</b> <b>stands for Indian pale ale,</b> <b>and there's a whole</b> <b>bunch of history there,</b> <b>and a whole bunch of</b> <b>stories that turns out</b> <b>who knows what the actual</b> <b>truth of the scenario is,</b> <b>but originally it</b> <b>started in England</b> <b>and they were making</b> <b>these fairly hoppy beers.</b> <b>Hops have a preservative effect</b> <b>so a lot of those beers</b> <b>ended up making it to India.</b> <b>All those thing, that doesn't</b> <b>have almost anything to do</b> <b>with what we do now, but</b> <b>it's kind of the background.</b> <b>And so those beers are</b> <b>emphasizing hop flavors.</b> <b>And so when we say</b> <b>IPA, sometimes it</b> <b>means really bitter.</b> <b>Sometimes it just means</b> <b>really hoppy in flavor.</b> <b>And surprisingly</b> <b>to a lot of people</b> <b>that doesn't mean bitter.</b> <b>There is some bitterness</b> <b>to every beer.</b> <b>There's hops in every</b> <b>single beer you drink,</b> <b>sometimes in very</b> <b>small quantities,</b> <b>and sometimes in</b> <b>very big quantities.</b> <b>In fact, some of our</b> <b>most popular IPAs</b> <b>have the most hops we've</b> <b>ever put in a beer.</b> <b>And they're not</b> <b>incredibly bitter,</b> <b>but they're</b> <b>incredibly flavorful.</b> <b>And so a lot of</b> <b>American IPA these days</b> <b>is actually more</b> <b>fruit flavor in a way,</b> <b>although no fruit might be used.</b> <b>It's flavors that come naturally</b> <b>from different</b> <b>hop-like varietals.</b> <b>So one of our most popular</b> <b>ones recently was called Pyrite</b> <b>and it was brewed</b> <b>entirely with Citra hops.</b> <b>We used over four</b> <b>pounds per barrel.</b> <b>So the recipe had like</b> <b>44 pounds of hops in it.</b> <b>It wasn't bitter, hardly at all,</b> <b>but it had this incredible</b> <b>texture and flavor</b> <b>and citrusy and</b> <b>tropical fruit notes.</b> <b>And then the third category</b> <b>for us is a yeast driven beer.</b> <b>So whereas the other two</b> <b>emphasize malt or hops,</b> <b>this emphasizes yeast.</b> <b>And that'd be</b> <b>something more like,</b> <b>potentially a wheat</b> <b>beer or a saison,</b> <b>a German Hefeweizen,</b> <b>you know, the hops</b> <b>and the malt are there</b> <b>but the emphasis becomes flavors</b> <b>that we derive from</b> <b>yeast specifically.</b> <b>- Each taproom's different.</b> <b>So we're different</b> <b>from Pondaseta,</b> <b>we're different from Six Car.</b> <b>So everybody likes that they go</b> <b>and it's a different</b> <b>atmosphere in each place.</b> <b>It fits.</b> <b>They'll find their</b> <b>place they like.</b> <b>And some people, they</b> <b>like all of them.</b> <b>So they go in between.</b> <b>That atmosphere and the culture,</b> <b>the beers are different too.</b> <b>Pondaseta has their</b> <b>styles of beers</b> <b>that they really focus on.</b> <b>Six Car has their styles,</b> <b>we have our styles.</b> <b>- We got the doors open.</b> <b>That was both,</b> <b>the most exciting,</b> <b>and most stressful</b> <b>moment of my entire life.</b> <b>We'd just spent way more money</b> <b>than we ever dreamed we could</b> <b>spend to open a brewery,</b> <b>and then I had to tell people</b> <b>they couldn't have our beer</b> <b>because there was too</b> <b>many people inside.</b> <b>That was a crazy experience.</b> <b>But I think it was just a</b> <b>sign of what was to come.</b> <b>- People told us "You</b> <b>won't be able to sell IPAs.</b> <b>"People only drink</b> <b>Coors Light or Bud Light</b> <b>"or Michelob Ultra here,</b> <b>they don't understand.

"</b> <b>So we were very nervous.</b> <b>But since the day we've opened,</b> <b>we've had an extremely</b> <b>diverse crowd.</b> <b>- Almost 50% of our</b> <b>customers are travelers.</b> <b>Amarillo's just in that</b> <b>unique spot on I-40</b> <b>that they don't</b> <b>always stay here,</b> <b>but it's a nice stopping point.</b> <b>Beer just makes you happy.</b> <b>It makes you comfortable.</b> <b>It's one of those things</b> <b>that you can actually</b> <b>sit and have a couple</b> <b>and hold a conversation.</b> <b>It brings people together.</b> <b>That's one of my favorite</b> <b>things of this taproom</b> <b>is watching people, they're</b> <b>sitting at two separate tables,</b> <b>then the next thing you</b> <b>know, chairs are turned,</b> <b>and they're actually</b> <b>having a conversation</b> <b>and they're talking,</b> <b>and they'll be here for</b> <b>two, three hours talking.</b> <b>Or families will come in,</b> <b>and they'll pull out a game.</b> <b>And they're playing a</b> <b>board game for three hours</b> <b>with their family.</b> <b>It's the glue, it just</b> <b>brings people together.</b> <b>- Being at a restaurant</b> <b>and seeing somebody</b> <b>who you wouldn't even anticipate</b> <b>being a craft beer consumer</b> <b>being like "Oh you have</b> <b>Pondaseta, I'll take that.

"</b> <b>Almost regardless of</b> <b>what the beer might be.</b> <b>It's a really surreal</b> <b>sort of exciting thing.</b> <b>I'll be sitting</b> <b>there drinking a beer</b> <b>and talking to my wife.</b> <b>And then over here somebody</b> <b>down the way order something,</b> <b>I'm like "Oh!</b> <b>"That's us."

(laughing)</b> <b>It's pretty fun.</b> <b>(hip hop music)</b>