SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Just seven months ago, Andrew Brooks, his wife Patricia, and Susan Kimmel fulfilled their life-long love for craft beer by opening their own microbrewery. Talking Cursive Brewing Company has quickly grown from a passion, to a hobby, and now an expanding business, Andrew Brooks said.
“It started with a love for craft beer,” Brooks said. “That turned into wanting to learn how to make it. Once we knew how to make beer, the three of us brewed on the weekends for about three years straight.
They began self-distributing to local bars and restaurants, but orders kept coming in. The trio had to expand production to meet the soaring demand.
“If someone calls and they want eight kegs for two different locations, you figure a way to do it,” Brooks said.
Talking Cursive distributes throughout Central New York, from Ithaca to Pulaski, and Auburn to Cazenovia thanks to its seven-barrel brewing system. A barrel is approximately 30 gallons, which means each batch of their beer is about 210 gallons. This makes Talking Cursive one of CNY’s larger microbreweries, according to Sales Manager and Assistant Brewer Billie Smith.
“We get a lot of reach in the community,” Smith said. “This is great because we can share our passion and unique beers with others.”
The brewers like to experiment with distinct recipes at home before scaling them for larger batches. Smith is currently working on a pineapple milkshake IPA, and this creativity has been a key to the brewery’s success, he said.
“We know that our beer is different and unique, and we try to capitalize on that,” Smith said. “We’re not chasing the popular crowd, we’re after those with niche tastes.”
The brewery is also using its platform to help others. This week Talking Cursive is joining forces with hundreds of other microbreweries across the country for Drink Local Think Global Craft Beer Week. This initiative engages breweries to provide clean water to people in need all over the world. Talking Cursive will donate three percent of this week’s taproom sales to the cause.
“We thought it was a great cause,” Brooks said. “On average, beer is 95 percent water, so this is a perfect initiative for the craft beer industry.”
He added, “Part of our mission is to donate one percent of our annual sales to charity, so for us to do this three percent for a week is following along with want we want to do.”
Drink Local Think Global has helped 5,400 gain access to clean water since they began in October 2016. The organization’s craft beer week fundraiser runs from Oct. 21-27.
