Left Hand Brewing: Independence, Homebrewers’ Influence & Craft’s Future

By John Moorhead, National Homebrew Competition Director & AHA Project Coordinator

Eric Wallace, President of Left Hand Brewing and Vice Chair of the Brewers Association Board of Directors, is gregarious, sports facial hair and an earring, and has more passion than a passion fruit pale ale. He’s been brewing beer for more than 20 years now and has helped build Left Hand Brewing to represent what it means to be a craft brewer.

I got to sit down with Eric and talk to him about his early days in beer, the power of homebrewers, and what the future might hold for craft beer and homebrewing.

Origins of Left Hand Brewing

Why did you start to develop an interest in great-tasting beer?

I was exposed to good beer at an early age, living internationally as a son of an Air Force officer in Germany, where my high school soccer coach would buy us a beer if we won our game. Later in life, I returned to Europe after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, spending 8 years in Italy and Turkey as a Communications Officer, where I continued to encounter good beer.

I became very familiar with the beer quality and sense of community these European breweries brought to their area. Unfortunately, this was in stark contrast to what I experienced here in the States at that time, which was nothing but big macro beers with little flavor.

What was the defining moment of “this is what I need to be doing with my life—make great beer”?

In 1993, I returned to the U.S. and spent a summer traveling the country with my wife, looking for what the next chapter of our lives would be. In our travels through the Pacific Northwest all the way to Alaska, I was excited and inspired by the renaissance in craft brewing developing here in the U.S. It seemed like a beer culture was finally starting to take root in the states.

After deciding to settle down in the Front Range in Colorado, I began to learn how to homebrew from a friend and fellow Air Force Academy graduate, Dick Doore. After receiving good feedback from neighbors and friends on early batches, combined with some soul searching and the fact that we both needed to get a job, we had our epiphany: let’s start a brewery!

How significant was homebrewing to your desire to get into the beer industry?

My time as a recreational homebrewer quickly accelerated to starting a small brewery of our own. My original desire to begin homebrewing was based on curiosity of how the flavors were made by the ingredients. After those early successes and making the decision to go into the brewing business, Dick and I focused our attention on refining our craft and developing our first recipes.

I remember visiting our local homebrew shop, managed at that time by Paul Gatza (now director of the Brewers Association) who said after seeing us buying the same ingredients several trips in a row, “You guys are up to something.”

Left Hand Brewing Early Success

What has led to Left Hand’s continual success in the beer world?

Left Hand’s continual success is who we are—an independent, community-focused brewery that brews balanced and innovative beers, driven by quality, integrity, and the customer experience.

Does educational background help with running a brewery?

Much of my education at the Air Force Academy has relevance and is valuable in running a brewery. There’s much science in brewing, from thermodynamics and gas physics to chemistry, biology, and several kinds of engineering. Never thought about that while I was in school, but useful to have that background now.

Why does Left Hand continue to support homebrewers and the hobby of making beer at home?

Till the day I die, I will continue to seek out world-class and unusual beers being produced in this country and beyond. Most great breweries in the U.S. started with good homebrewers. Supporting homebrewing is a way of giving back to our community and industry that is innate and goes full circle, hopefully continuing the culture and vitality of independent beer in America.

In what ways does Left Hand keep in touch with its “homebrew roots?”

We encourage homebrewing with all team members at Left Hand through regular employee homebrewing events and have a small inventory of grain and equipment available for team members to use. As of last fall with our new 7 BBL pilot system, we will even begin brewing team beers, so even our out-of-state sales reps can jump at a chance of brewing their own beer.

Beyond our own team, we work with our local homebrew club, the Indian Peak Alers, to accept entries and judge the Peak-to-Peak Pro-Am, and consequently, regularly partner with a participating homebrewer to enter the GABF Pro-Am. We’ve also been fortunate to host AHA Rallies through out the years and participate in the AHA Member Deals program.

Do homebrewers have a major influence on the climate of the commercial beer industry?

Definitely. Homebrewers are often our most dedicated and informed beer drinkers out there…

Why do people homebrew when there is so much high-quality, interesting craft beer available?

Beer is special. It’s different from a lot of industries in that you, too, can join the action. It’s readily accessible, and there’s a solid community behind it with the AHA. What inspired me and so many of my colleagues to brew our own beer is the same passion that carries on with homebrewers today.

Left Hand Brewing & Craft Beer

Do you accept the title “craft brewer,” and what does that mean to the Left Hand Family?

Absolutely. It means small, independent, and true to its values. Money to us is a means to our greater purpose, not the end itself like in some other breweries.

What is the value of the Brewers Association (BA) in craft brewing?

The BA defines and defends the craft brewing community at large. Without that, the value and meaning of craft would be eroded away by faux and crafty brands. The BA is engaged in the battle to preserve the value of true craft.

Do you anticipate any major changes coming up in the beer industry? Do you think that has any tie to the homebrew community?

A crunch is at hand—so many new breweries, rotating handles, limited shelf space, easy access to capital, and other factors are going to result in a significant slowdown in individual breweries’ growth rates overall, and an increase in the number of closures.  This will impact homebrewers in that there will likely be fewer turning their hobby into a livelihood in the upcoming years.

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Eric Wallace is the co-founder and president of Left Hand Brewing, Longmont, Colo. He also sits as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors at the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo.