Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryce Baker.
Hi Bryce, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Myself and my partners, Jeff Handojo and Brandon Moss, really got into visiting breweries and trying different craft beers in the early 2000’s. Brandon’s wife got him a homebrewing kit for Father’s Day one year and then Jeff and I decided to take the plunge as well and we all started homebrewing for several years. Like most homebrewers, we thought about the whole “what if we started a brewery” idea. It took a lot of convincing and business planning with our families, but we made the numbers work and opened up 11 Below in 2015.
At the time, we were the 15th brewery in greater Houston. It’s hard to keep up but we’re at 70+ breweries now and it’s still growing. We’ve had to adapt to the growing competition, but our overall business plan hasn’t changed dramatically. in the past 6 years. We still focus on making approachable beers that the general public and craft beer fans can enjoy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The early days of starting the brewery were a challenge because we were handling the production and distribution of our beers all over Houston. We self-distributed our products for the first 3 years and it took a lot of time and energy to manage 300 accounts from Conroe to League City. Eventually, we signed with a distributor so that we could focus on expanding our product offering and selling the beers. The relationships we built over that time were well worth the effort and we definitely wouldn’t change a thing.
The COVID pandemic has had its own set of challenges. We lost 60% of our revenue stream overnight and had to adapt quickly. We offered a drive-thru for people to come by and pick up beer to-go and it was a huge success. Our drive-thru business was able to help keep us afloat while our taproom, bars, and restaurants were shut down and our to-go sales have continued to be stronger than pre-pandemic business. In addition to the loss of business, we’ve also had to work around serious supply shortages of aluminum cans for the past year. We’ve been able to work through quite a bit of unfortunate circumstances since 2020 and it’s made us pretty resilient and humble.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I look after the sales, marketing, and taproom operations at the brewery. My background is in engineering so my brewery responsibilities are quite different from my previous life. We’ve got a great team of sales and taproom staff that keep us going. Whether we’re selling beer to a restaurant or getting a taproom guest to explore our beers, we’re trying to solve the problem of finding the right beer for the right situation. What I like isn’t what everyone else likes so it’s all about understanding the customers’ needs and finding the right solution for it. That’s the engineer in me trying to problem solve getting more people into craft beer.
Amongst our team at the brewery, I’m probably most known for being critical about beer. Whether it’s our beer our another brewery’s beer, I will pick out the things I don’t like about the beer or what could’ve been improved. We put a lot of effort into keeping our beers balanced and ensuring a quality product, so I guess those are my pet peeves when it comes to beer. I’ve got a pretty good palate for beer (and food) so it’s kind of second nature to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses…even if it’s not nice.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important thing I’ve learned on our journey in owning a craft brewery is that people and relationships are everything. It starts with having a great team of people at the brewery with the same mindset and common goals. The relationships that we make with our customers out in the market and in the taproom are what make us successful. We strive to go above and beyond to provide a quality product, provide great service, and ensure customers are happy. Happy customers have a way of becoming your best word-of-mouth referrals that help grow the business and advocate for you.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@11belowbrewing.com
- Website: www.11belowbrewing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/11belowbrewing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/11belowbrewing
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/11belowbrewing
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